Race to the Future: Integrating 21st Century Skills into Science Instruction

Race to the Future is an exciting and dynamic activity modeled after the reality television show The Amazing Race. It exemplifies how 21st century skills can be incorporated into core subject instruction and at the same time positively enhance student engagement. In this activity, students work quickly and cooperatively with their teammates and use 21st century skills to successfully decipher five clues related to science content. We have used this activity with excellent results with different groups of students (middle school, high school, and university students), for different purposes (ice-breaker, team-building, course assessment, and evaluation), and in broad curriculum areas (science and math). However, the activity is especially powerful when introduced during the first day or week of class. The meaningful and enjoyable student collaboration, the upbeat class environment, and the enhanced student engagement achieved at the conclusion of this challenging activity set an optimal teaching and learning environment for the entire quarter/semester.     

On-line integration of computer controlled diagnostic devices and medical information systems in undergraduate medical physics education for physicians

We designed and evaluated an innovative computer-aided-learning environment based on the on-line integration of computer controlled medical diagnostic devices and a medical information system for use in the preclinical medical physics education of medical students. Our learning system simulates the actual clinical environment in a hospital or primary care unit. It uses a commercial medical information system for on-line storage and processing of clinical type data acquired during physics laboratory classes. Every student adopts two roles, the role of ‘patient’ and the role of ‘physician’. As a ‘physician’ the student operates the medical devices to clinically assess ‘patient’ colleagues and records all results in an electronic ‘patient’ record. We also introduced an innovative approach to the use of supportive education materials, based on the methods of adaptive e-learning. A survey of student feedback is included and statistically evaluated.The results from the student feedback confirm the positive response of the latter to this novel implementation of medical physics and informatics in preclinical education. This approach not only significantly improves learning of medical physics and informatics skills but has the added advantage that it facilitates students’ transition from preclinical to clinical subjects.     

ESP理论参照下的临床医学英语教学实践探讨

目的:由于传统的英语教学无法满足全球化对于双语医学教育的新要求,ESP特殊用途英语如何在中国医学教育中得以实践并取得有效成果成了医学教育者的新课题。方法:为了解决这一课题,在上海交通大学医学院进行医学双语教学的试点培训,以学士,硕士和博士三种学历组成人数为3-5人的小型试点班级,目的在跟踪不同阶段的医学生在培训期间的专业素质水平与英语水平的成效,并参照语言学家Pauline Robinson的ESP方法论,归纳总结出适应我国不同阶段学生的教学方法。Pauline Robinson的ESP方法分别为:角色扮演和模仿,案例学习法,项目教学法和演讲。结果:培训教师从三组不同学生的实际情况出发,结合上述四种教学方法,经过三个学期的培训分别得出了博士生组的口语能力,硕士生组听力能力以及本科生的写作阅读能力进步比较突出的结果。结论:中国教育体制所导致的被动接受的学习习惯是中国的特殊情况,而角色扮演和模仿,案例学习法,项目教学法和演讲是紧密相扣的四环相连的教学方法,每一种教学方法都是对彼此的补充和丰富,符合我国当代学生的个性特点和医学教育的方向,从而需要更多的医学教育工作者更好地利用四种教学方法以不断提升医学英语教学的教育事业以更好地帮助医学工作者融入国际舞台。     

Ethics,jurisprudence, and economics in the medical school curriculum.

Medical ethics, medical jurisprudence, and medical economics are recognized as important components of a medical school curriculum. These subjects were introduced through a course given at the University of California, Davis, School of Medicine. Four aspects of the format and content of the course were instrumental to its success. Teaching principles of medical ethics within the context of jurisprudence and economics permitted the students to gain an understanding of the institutions and processes that act as positive and negative constraints on physicians'' clinical and professional behavior. The course was offered during the fourth year following required clinical rotations so that all aspects of the course could be based on the clinical experiences of the students. It was presented in a continuing medical education format away from the normal teaching environment of first- and second-year classrooms and third-year clerkships. Finally, the course was designed by a multidisciplinary, multidepartmental planning group that included students.     

A blended approach to active learning in a physiology laboratory-based subject facilitated by an e-learning component

Learning via online activities (e-learning) was introduced to facilitate existing face-to-face teaching to encourage more effective student preparation and then informed participation in an undergraduate physiology laboratory-based course. Active learning was encouraged by hypothesis formation and predictions prior to classes, with opportunities for students to amend their e-learning submissions after classes. Automatic or tutor feedback was provided on student submissions. Evaluation of the course was conducted via student questionnaires, individual student interviews, and analysis of student marks in examinations and of the e-learning component. Student feedback on this entire subject in the university-wide quality of teaching survey was very high by University of Melbourne standards and most encouraging for the first implementation of such a curriculum modification. Results from further detailed surveys of student interactions and engagement and correlation analysis between student responses were also very supportive of the effectiveness of the course. There were no significant differences between examination marks in the new course with e-learning and the previous year without e-learning. However, there was a significant correlation between assessment of student e-learning work and their final examination mark. Correlation analysis between various survey responses helped interpret results and strengthened arguments for e-learning and suggested future improvements for student use of e-learning. This mode of e-learning used to support face-to-face learning activities in the laboratory can be adapted for other disciplines and may assist students in developing a greater appreciation and a deeper approach for learning from their practical class experiences.     

军校预防医学专业本科学员临床课程教学现状及建议

随着医学模式的转变,预防医学已经成为现代医疗体系的重要组成部分,在提高公共卫生健康水平方面发挥着越来越重要的作用。为了更好地开展预防医学工作,预防医学专业学员不仅要掌握牢固的预防医学专业知识,更要具备丰富的临床医学知识。针对预防医学专业本科学员的临床课程教学,我校经过多年的探索与改革,已经积累了丰富经验,教学质量较高;但现阶段仍然存在着一些问题。本文分析我校预防医学专业本科学员临床课程的教学现状及存在的主要问题,并提出建议;从而为进一步提高预防医学专业本科学员的临床课程教学质量提供依据。     

Challenges in teaching the mechanics of breathing to medical and graduate students

The mechanics of breathing has always been a difficult topic for some medical and graduate students. The subject is very quantitative and contains a number of concepts that some students have trouble with, including physical principles such as pressure, flow, volume, resistance, elasticity, and compliance. Apparently, present-day students find the subject more difficult than students of 20 years ago. A possible reason for this is that the teaching of elementary physics in high school and college is now given less emphasis, whereas other topics, such as molecular biology, receive a great deal of attention. Another factor may be that many of us grew up building radios and other such devices, whereas modern students tend to plug in an electronic unit with little idea of its function. Some examples of misconceptions of present-day students who have taken our course are given. To help the weaker students, we now include a primer at the beginning of our handout for the course that covers simple physical principles. Examples of some of the most difficult concepts for students are given.     

Electro-rheological fluids: an introduction for biomedical applications

The subject of electro-rheology is introduced to biological engineers in a concise manner to allow presentation of a procedure for effective quantitative evaluation of possible medical applications of this new technology. More detailed phenomena are included in the references. Characteristics of the current best available fluid are given in brief.     

My perpetual cycle: from student to researcher to teacher to student ..

This contribution stems from the personal experience of the author regarding how he became acquainted with embryology and how he finally entered the field of developmental biology. It reports his feelings as a student of the Histology and Embryology course as it was taught in the late 1970s, and his present efforts in teaching developmental biology to university students. In the Developmental Biology course at Pisa University today, students are taught the tissue, molecular and genetic mechanisms that regulate development of several model systems. Drosophila is introduced at the beginning, because of the great knowledge that it has brought to the unraveling of the molecular aspects of development and because it allows several basic concepts to be introduced, and vertebrate systems follow. Other topics include the classic experiments on amphibian systems, which are explained in the light of recent molecular advances, as well as the genetically more versatile vertebrate systems such as the mouse.     

充分调动学生的学习积极性,深化微生物学教学改革

微生物学是生物专业的一门重要基础课。在充分利用各种现代化教学手段的基础上对微生物学课程的教学方法进行了探究,在利用网络教学、提问式教学、研讨式教学、归纳式教学以及考核等多个环节上进行了一系列有益的尝试,尽可能使学生成为教学过程的主体,从而激发他们的学习兴趣和主动性,充分发挥了教学相长的作用。     

Formative Assessment and Increased Student Involvement Increase Grades in an Upper Secondary School Biology Course

This study shows that formative methods and increased student participation has a positive influence on learning measured as grades. The study was conducted during the course Biology A in a Swedish Upper Secondary School. The students constructed grade criteria and defined working methods and type of examination within a given topic, Gene technology. The procedure resulted in variation within teaching and examination carried out as an oral test in small groups. In the analysis, students’ grades on Gene technology were analysed in comparison with grades on other topics within the course, and the results show that mean grade is significantly higher on Gene technology. Based on the results and student course evaluations, I discuss the reasons behind the good results and the relation to participation, student interest, teacher and type of examination.     

Peer instruction improves performance on quizzes

Peer instruction is a cooperative-learning technique that promotes critical thinking, problem solving, and decision-making skills. Benson's think-pair-share and Mazur's peer-instruction techniques are simple cooperative exercises that promote student's participation in class and increase student's interaction with each other and with the instructor in a large classroom. We borrowed concepts from Benson and Mazur and applied these concepts to enhance student involvement during the respiratory component of the medical physiology class. The medical physiology class consisted of 256 first-year medical students. The peer-instruction technique was used for 10 classes. Each class of 50 min was divided into three or four short presentations of 12-20 min. Each presentation was followed by a one-question, multiple-choice quiz on the subject discussed. Questions ranged from simple recall to those testing complex intellectual activities. Students were given 1 min to think and to record their first answer. Subsequently, students were allowed 1 min to discuss their answers with their classmates and possibly correct their first response. The percentage of correct answers increased significantly (P < 0.05) after discussion for both recall and intellectual questions. These data demonstrate that pausing three to four times during a 50-min class to allow discussion of concepts enhanced the students level of understanding and ability to synthesize and integrate material.     

Active Understanding of the Processes of Science An Evaluation of Certain Aspects of the First Two Years of B.S.C.S. Biology Teaching in Israel

There are serious moves afoot to ensure that all science students take some course components which set their specialized discipline in a wider context. Considerable experience of doing this has already been accumulated for some student groups who have followed ‘Science, Technology and Society’ (STS) courses in universities and colleges. An account is given of a variety of approaches available under the STS umbrella. The particular attraction of one possibility, a study of the history of their subject, is considered for students of biology.     

定向免费医学生组织学与胚胎学教学改革初探

为了提高基层医疗水平,国家启动了免费医学生培养计划,组织学与胚胎学是免费医学生一门必修课程,本课程为后续相关医学课程的基础,此课程学习得好与坏直接影响相关医学课程的学习,甚至影响免费医学生的培养质量,因此加强免费医学生组织学与胚胎学教学改革十分必要。     

Effect of Supervised Students' Involvement on Diagnostic Accuracy in Hospitalized Medical Patients �� A Prospective Controlled Study

Background

During internships most medical students engage in history taking and physical examination during evaluation of hospitalized patients. However, the students'' ability for pattern recognition is not as developed as in medical experts and complete history taking is often not repeated by an expert, so important clues may be missed. On the other hand, students'' history taking is usually more extensive than experts'' history taking and medical students discuss their findings with a Supervisor. Thus the effect of student involvement on diagnostic accuracy is unclear. We therefore compared the diagnostic accuracy for patients in the medical emergency department with and without student involvement in the evaluation process.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Patients in the medical emergency department were assigned to evaluation by either a supervised medical student or an emergency department physician. We only included patients who were admitted to our hospital and subsequently cared for by another medical team on the ward. We compared the working diagnosis from the emergency department with the discharge diagnosis. A total of 310 patients included in the study were cared for by 41 medical students and 21 emergency department physicians. The working diagnosis was changed in 22% of the patients evaluated by physicians evaluation and in 10% of the patients evaluated by supervised medical students (p = .006). There was no difference in the expenditures for diagnostic procedures, length of stay in the emergency department or patient comorbidity complexity level.

Conclusion/Significance

Involvement of closely supervised medical students in the evaluation process of hospitalized medical patients leads to an improved diagnostic accuracy compared to evaluation by an emergency department physician alone.     

Multiple-format sessions for teaching endocrine physiology

The University of Kentucky medical curriculum was revised in 1994 to implement a more interactive approach. The Endocrine Physiology section of the new physiology course, Human Function, was modified from its former daily lecture and weekly laboratory format to eight daily 3 1/2-h sessions. Each session is composed of four components: a didactic lecture, a whole class discussion session, a quiz, and a patient presentation. These components are presented in a staggered format over the course of 2 days, i.e., the lecture is presented on the first day, and the remaining three components take place on the second day. This allows students to assimilate the new lecture material before participating in the discussion session, quiz, and patient presentation, which are more interactive. This format has been received favorably by the students because of its variety, and it is easier to keep up with the material.     

Impact of problem-based learning in a large classroom setting: student perception and problem-solving skills

Problem-based learning (PBL) can be described as a learning environment where the problem drives the learning. This technique usually involves learning in small groups, which are supervised by tutors. It is becoming evident that PBL in a small-group setting has a robust positive effect on student learning and skills, including better problem-solving skills and an increase in overall motivation. However, very little research has been done on the educational benefits of PBL in a large classroom setting. Here, we describe a PBL approach (using tutorless groups) that was introduced as a supplement to standard didactic lectures in University of British Columbia Okanagan undergraduate biochemistry classes consisting of 45-85 students. PBL was chosen as an effective method to assist students in learning biochemical and physiological processes. By monitoring student attendance and using informal and formal surveys, we demonstrated that PBL has a significant positive impact on student motivation to attend and participate in the course work. Student responses indicated that PBL is superior to traditional lecture format with regard to the understanding of course content and retention of information. We also demonstrated that student problem-solving skills are significantly improved, but additional controlled studies are needed to determine how much PBL exercises contribute to this improvement. These preliminary data indicated several positive outcomes of using PBL in a large classroom setting, although further studies aimed at assessing student learning are needed to further justify implementation of this technique in courses delivered to large undergraduate classes.