Evaluation of an interactive, case-based review session in teaching medical microbiology

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Oklahoma State University-Center for Health Sciences (OSU-CHS) has replaced its microbiology wet laboratory with a variety of tutorials including a case-based interactive session called Microbial Jeopardy!. The question remains whether the time spent by students and faculty in the interactive case-based tutorial is worthwhile? This study was designed to address this question by analyzing both student performance data and assessing students' perceptions regarding the tutorial.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Both quantitative and qualitative data were used in the current study. Part One of the study involved assessing student performance using archival records of seven case-based exam questions used in the 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 OSU-CHS Medical Microbiology course. Two sample t-tests for proportions were used to test for significant differences related to tutorial usage. Part Two used both quantitative and qualitative means to assess student's perceptions of the Microbial Jeopardy! session. First, a retrospective survey was administered to students who were enrolled in Medical Microbiology in 2006 or 2007. Second, responses to open-ended items from the 2008 course evaluations were reviewed for comments regarding the Microbial Jeopardy! session.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Both student performance and student perception data support continued use of the tutorials. Quantitative and qualitative data converge to suggest that students like and learn from the interactive, case-based session.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The case-based tutorial appears to improve student performance on case-based exam questions. Additionally, students perceived the tutorial as helpful in preparing for exam questions and reviewing the course material. The time commitment for use of the case-based tutorial appears to be justified.</p

The Use of PebblePad ePortfolio as a Tool for Teaching First-Year Engineering Design Practice

Engineering design practice is a new first-year engineering course at Griffith University that aims to give students an understanding of engineering for sustainability and to develop the foundational design and communication skills they need for their professional engineering careers. In 2017, students completed the Engineers without Borders Challenge (EWB Challenge) in teams of three to five to produce a design solution for a selected problem in Vanuatu. They also spent one week visiting a range of engineering workplaces where they prepared notes, recorded reflections and created a resume tailored to a graduate position. The PebblePad personal learning environment was used to guide the development of their 12-week engineering design project through a workbook called the Scoping Document and a portfolio called the Design Portfolio. A stand-alone workbook called the Employability Workbook was also used for one week to explore and reflect upon real-world futures they encountered through research and site visits. There was a significant positive correlation between student’s self-assessed achievement (SAA), and finding PebblePad was effective and helpful for achieving the learning objectives of the course, and when students were asked to finally judge the use of PebblePad, more than 80% said they would recommend the ePortfolio to students in the following year. While collaborative features need improvement, the teaching team found the PebblePad workbook format well suited to the iterative nature of the engineering design process and supportive for developing project-based group assessments. The learning designs, including details of the workbooks used and the assessment tasks they supported, are provided. Suggested future refinements are given based on the experiences of using these tools over one trimester to teach engineering design practice.No Full Tex

The optimum prepaid monetary incentives for mail surveys

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