Evaluating the appropriateness of electronic information resources for learning in pre-clerkship medical education : an eye tracking study

Current U.S. medical students have begun to rely on electronic information repositories -- such as UpToDate, Access Medicine, and Wikipedia -- for their pre-clerkship medical education. However, it is unclear whether these resources are appropriate for this level of learning due to factors involving information quality, level of evidence, and the requisite knowledge base. This study evaluated the appropriateness of electronic information resources from a novel perspective: the amount of mental effort learners invest in interactions with these resources and the effects of the experienced mental effort on learning. Eighteen first-year medical students read about three unstudied diseases in the three above-mentioned resources (a total of 54 observations). Their eye movement characteristics (i.e., fixation duration, fixation count, visit duration, and task-evoked pupillary response) were recorded and used as psychophysiological indicators of the experienced mental effort. Post reading, students' learning was assessed with a multiple-choice test. Eye metrics and test results constituted quantitative data that were analyzed according to the repeated Latin square design. Students' perceptions and observations of their interactions with the information resources constituted qualitative data that were also obtained. Participants' feedback from semi-structured interviews and recordings of students' information acquisition behaviors were reviewed, transcribed, and open coded for the emergent themes. Compared to Access Medicine and Wikipedia, UpToDate was associated with significantly higher values of eye metrics suggesting higher mental effort experienced by learners when using this resource. No statistically significant difference between the amount of mental effort and learning outcomes was found. More so, descriptive statistical analysis of the knowledge test scores suggested similar level of learning regardless of the information resource used. Students' feedback and observations of their behaviors were informative in understanding and interpreting the differences in quantitative findings. Judging by the learning outcomes, all three information resources were found appropriate for learning. UpToDate, however, when used alone, may be less appropriate for first-year medical students' learning as it does not fully address their information needs and is more demanding in terms of invested cognitive resources

Information horizons of first-year medical students

This study reports on the preference and use of information resources by first-year medical students at the University of Missouri School of Medicine. It was part of a larger study that was conducted to understand their search competencies, Problem-Based Learning study approaches, and characteristics of online information seeking behavior. We report the findings by using the concept of "Information Horizons." Information horizons may consist of a variety of information resources whose use is determined socially and individually and may be conceptualized as densely populated solution space

Exploring the Usefulness of Awareness Widgets in Online Shared Workspaces: a Preliminary Case Study

ABSTRACT Users of different online shared workspaces have different activity awareness needs that should be supported by the application. This support could be provided through the use of widgets, which should be easily understandable, easy to use, and provide information expected by users. We conducted a preliminary investigation of the use of awareness widgets in uCern, a shared online workspace in the healthcare industry. In particular, we analyzed which awareness widgets uCern users used most, reasons for their choices, and perceived usefulness of these widgets for workflow management. Data collected through interviews and surveys showed that users chose widgets for general, team, and group awareness; content management; supporting connection among collaborators; and use of utilitarian features. Issues faced by users, implications of the study, as well as directions for future research are suggested

Cultural/Social Media Space of the Digital Generation

Taking the example of Kazakhstan, this study examines the formation and analysis of the cultural media space of the digital generation. Information and communication technologies are the basis of a communicative media environment that has an internal regulated structure, which affects the socialisation of a person. The content of the cultural media space of the digital generation is formed on the basis of digital technologies and represents people’s visual worldview with images, signs and symbols. The processes of transformation of society affect the young generation and the content of the media space that determines their social and ethnocultural identity. The study presents the results of working with schoolchildren and students aged 14-18 using focus groups to explore the impact of digital culture (media culture) on adolescents in Kazakhstan. Based on the interdisciplinary approach, the findings demonstrate intergenerational contradictions because of the active involvement of Kazakhstan in the global internet community. The cultural media space of Kazakhstan has been shaping the social communications of the digital generation that has grown up in a sovereign state. The theoretical concepts of P. Bourdieu, C. Mannheim and other scientists served as a methodology for this study. Based on the interdisciplinary approach, the findings demonstrate intergenerational contradictions because of the active involvement of Kazakhstan in the global internet community. The findings also unravel that the transformation of the value orientations of adolescents is influenced by the factors of geographical location and ethnicity

Myths and reality about personal health records

This poster was presented at the 2012 annual symposium of the American Medical Informatics Association, November 3-7, 2012.Despite recognized perceived benefits of personal health records (PHRs) for healthcare, their adoption rates remain low. A significant body of research has revealed a number of obstacles to PHR adoption. Among them are patient confidence and trust in the system, ease of access to technology determined by economic and environmental factors, satisfaction with the use of technology determined by level of education and/or self-efficacy, and attitudes to technology determined by its ease of use and usefulness

Information needs and search characteristics of first-year medical students

This poster was presented at the 75th annual meeting of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, October 26-30, 2012.According to the Association of American Medical Colleges Medical School Objectives Project, a student before graduation is expected to demonstrate the ability to retrieve, manage, and utilize biomedical information for solving problems and making decisions relevant to the care of individuals and populations (Anderson, 1999). This makes information searching a critical skill in preparation of contemporary medical specialists. Contemporary problem-based learning (PBL) approach to medical education uses patient problems that students need to tackle to acquire clinical problem-solving skills. While working on these problems, students eventually need more information to proceed. This results in generation of information needs. As the most natural way of expressing information needs is through asking questions (Cogdill & Moore, 1997), by the end of each PBL session students come up with questions that they distribute among themselves. Later, each student engages in information searching to find answers to his or her questions

Evaluating the appropriateness of electronic information resources for learning

Objectives: Current US medical students have begun to rely on electronic information repositories—such as UpToDate, AccessMedicine, and Wikipedia—for their pre-clerkship medical education. However, it is unclear whether these resources are appropriate for this level of learning due to factors involving information quality, level of evidence, and the requisite knowledgebase. This study evaluated appropriateness of electronic information resources from a novel perspective: amount of mental effort learners invest in interactions with these resources and effects of the experienced mental effort on learning. Methods: Eighteen first-year medical students read about three unstudied diseases in the abovementioned resources (a total of fifty-four observations). Their eye movement characteristics (i.e., fixation duration, fixation count, visit duration, and task-evoked pupillary response) were recorded and used as psychophysiological indicators of the experienced mental effort. Post reading, students’ learning was assessed with multiple-choice tests. Eye metrics and test results constituted quantitative data analyzed according to the repeated Latin square design. Students’ perceptions of interacting with the information resources were also collected. Participants’ feedback during semi-structured interviews constituted qualitative data and was reviewed, transcribed, and open coded for emergent themes. Results: Compared to AccessMedicine and Wikipedia, UpToDate was associated with significantly higher values of eye metrics, suggesting learners experienced higher mental effort. No statistically significant difference between the amount of mental effort and learning outcomes was found. More so, descriptive statistical analysis of the knowledge test scores suggested similar levels of learning regardless of the information resource used. Conclusions: Judging by the learning outcomes, all three information resources were found appropriate for learning. UpToDate, however, when used alone, may be less appropriate for first-year medical students’ learning as it does not fully address their information needs and is more demanding in terms of cognitive resources invested

Exploring the usefulness of awareness widgets in online shared workspaces: a preliminary case study

"Poster presented at the ASIS&T Annual Meeting. October 2011, New Orleans, Louisiana."Users of different online shared workspaces have different activity awareness needs that should be supported by the application. This support could be provided through the use of widgets, which should be easily understandable, easy to use, and provide information expected by users. We conducted a preliminary investigation of the use of awareness widgets in uCern, a shared online workspace in the healthcare industry. Data collected through interviews and surveys showed that users chose widgets for general, team, and group awareness; content management; supporting connection among collaborators; and use of utilitarian features

The effects of case libraries in supporting collaborative problem-solving in an online learning environment

Various domains require practitioners to encounter and resolve ill-structured problems using collaborative problem-solving. As such, problem-solving is an essential skill that educators must emphasize to prepare learners for practice. One potential way to support problem-solving is through further investigation of instructional design methods that employ case-based reasoning. These learning environments consist of narratives of practitioners as they reason through related ill-structured problems. However, very little research exists about how case libraries impact learning, especially collaborative learning. For this study, 22 participants enrolled in a teacher education program were randomly assigned to two groups as they resolved an ill-structured problem. The results demonstrated that both groups had similar patterns of discussion, but the case library condition collaborated at a higher rate for each of the categories of the content analysis. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

I don\u27t have time to dig back through this : The role of semantic search in supporting physician information seeking in an electronic health record

The purpose of the study was twofold: to understand how usability affected physicians\u27 performance as they used an electronic health record (EHR) and to ascertain whether use of a semantic search feature would better support physician performance during an information-seeking task. Participants (n = 10) were asked to complete two search tasks to find pertinent patient information. In the first task, participants located the information as they normally would (through browsing the EHR). In the second task, participants employed a semantic search tool. Upon task completion, participants were interviewed to further understand their perceptions and information-seeking behavior in an EHR. Statistically significant results confirmed that participants were able to more efficiently navigate through an EHR in terms of time and number of clicks when using the semantic search feature. Moreover, participants were more confident in the accuracy of their answers when using semantic search compared with the browsing method. Implications for practice are discussed. © 2014 International Society for Performance Improvement