Seven practical strategies to add active learning to a science lecture

Teaching developmental biology to drive social change: Pedagogy that challenges biologically deterministic views on phenotypic variation

Discrimination against groups of people based on socially-normed phenotypic variations is commonplace in many societies. The stigmatized phenotypic variations are dependent on specific societal norms but might include features that align with social constructs of race, phenotypic variations that may result in different ability levels, or those that align with social constructs of sex and/or gender identity. Science has contributed to this discrimination through biological essentialism, either by assigning specific undesirable biological characteristics to socially-normed phenotypic groupings, or more recently by assigning a genetic basis for these phenotypic differences. Biological essentialism can promote deterministic views lead to alienation and the persistence of social hierarchies. To overcome this, scientists have a responsibility to create positive changes to decenter practices that contribute to such discrimination. The study of developmental biology straddles the intersection of many biological concepts that have social and political ramifications. This paper outlines a pedagogical approach to create connections between concepts central to developmental biology and broader social issues to which they relate using a biocultural perspective. Specifically, the focus will be on understanding how phenotypes are generated through a combination of biological, environmental and social factors; exploring how deterministic views of biological essentialism contribute to social hierarchies and discrimination (such as racism, sexism, genderism and ableism); and understanding how this discrimination can become embodied through negative chronic and transgenerational biological consequences for stigmatized groups.

Guiding students to think critically about reproductive development and public conversations on sex and gender

Developmental Biology is intricately connected to current issues of societal and political importance. Bringing these connections into the classroom makes the biology relevant to our students and, when students find classroom topics relevant, they are more likely to think critically about the material. In addition, this type of engagement encourages students to remain in science majors and pursue careers in biological and biomedical fields. The use of guided inquiry methodology, scaffolded discussions, and a variety of source material on sex and gender, has been successful in engaging students in an undergraduate Developmental Biology course.

Hybrid teaching after COVID-19: advantages, challenges and optimization strategies

BACKGROUND

In the post-pandemic era of higher education, hybrid teaching has emerged as a prevalent approach and is anticipated to persist as a defining trend in the future teaching reforms worldwide. However, despite its widespread adoption, certain limitations have become apparent. The objective of this study is to identify the genuine factors that impact students' performance, explore strategies that teachers can employ to enhance their teaching effectiveness and enhance students' academic self-efficacy.

METHODS

The study was performed among undergraduate medical students enrolled in Physiology course at Harbin Medical University in 2020 and 2022. Since 2020, influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, a hybrid teaching method based on an established offline teaching model called BOPPPS was implemented. A questionnaire was performed in both 2020 and 2022 to evaluate students' satisfaction and efficiency of our hybrid teaching. A comparison was also carried out on the final examination scores of students majoring in Pharmacy and Clinical Pharmacy across the years 2020 to 2022.

RESULTS

The final examination scores of students in 2022 were significantly lower than those in 2020 and 2021 both in Pharmacy and Clinical Pharmacy majors. There was also a decrease of the score in students of Clinical Pharmacy in 2021 compared to 2020. The questionnaire indicated that over half (52.0%) of the students in 2022 preferred offline teaching method, in contrast to 39.1% in 2020. There were obvious changes in students from 2020 to 2022 about the disadvantages of hybrid teaching, the improvement of students' learning ability and the duration of students' autonomous learning. Through cross statistical analysis, online learning styles, learning ability improvement and students' learning burden have been identified as the primary factors influencing their preference for future teaching method.

CONCLUSIONS

Hybrid teaching is still a necessary trend in the future teaching reform base on its multiple advantages. However, in order to improve the teaching outcomes and foster students' participation and learning initiatives, it is imperative to undertake additional reforms in the future teaching process.

Enhancing medical education in respiratory diseases: efficacy of a 3D printing, problem-based, and case-based learning approach

OBJECTIVES

The present study aims to investigate the efficacy of utilizing three-dimensional (3D) printing technology in concert with Problem-Based Learning (PBL) and Case-Based Learning (CBL) pedagogical approaches in educating senior undergraduate clinical medical students on respiratory diseases.

METHODS

A cohort of 422 fourth-year clinical medicical students of from Anhui Medical University, pursuing a five-year program, were arbitrarily segregated into two distinct groups. The experimental group was subjected to a combined pedagogical approach, which included 3D printing technology, PBL and CBL (referred to as DPC). Conversely, the control group was exposed to conventional teaching methodologies for respiratory disease education. The effectiveness of the teaching methods was subsequently appraised using both theoretical test scores and custom questionnaires.

RESULTS

Post-quiz scores indicated a statistically significant improvement in the DPC group as compared to the traditional group (P < 0.01). Self-evaluation and satisfaction questionnaires revealed that the DPC group's self-assessment scores outperformed the traditional group in several aspects, including clinical thinking ability, learning initiative, self-study ability, anatomical knowledge mastery, confidence in learning, ability to analyze and solve problems, comprehension of the knowledge, help to clinical thinking and level of satisfaction on the teaching methods (P < 0.01). However, within the unsatisfied DPC sub-group, none of these self-assessment aspects, except for comprehension of the knowledge, impacted the learning efficacy (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The deployment of the DPC pedagogical approach may confer unique experiential learning opportunities for students, potentially enhancing theoretical test scores and promoting self-evaluation and satisfaction in the context of respiratory disease education. Hence, it may be instrumental in augmenting the overall teaching efficacy.

Implementation of an interactive virtual microscope laboratory system in teaching oral histopathology

Laboratory course acts as a key component of histopathology education. Recent trends of incorporating visual and interactive technology in active and inquiry-based learning pedagogical methods have led to significant improvement of histopathology laboratory courses. The present work aimed to describe interactive virtual microscope laboratory system (IVMLS) as a virtual platform for teaching histopathology in order to improve the quality and efficiency of teaching. The system is based on interactive technology and consists of interactive software, slide-reading software, teaching resources and integrated auxiliary equipment. It allows real-time interaction between teachers and students and provides students with a wealth of learning and review materials. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the system, we conducted a comparative study with the use of light microscope (LM) as a method. Specifically, we compared the results of six assignments and one laboratory final exam between IVMLS group and LM group to analyse the impact of IVMLS on students' academic performance. A questionnaire survey was also conducted to obtain students' attitudes and views on this system. There was no overall difference in assignment performance between IVMLS group and LM group. But laboratory final test grades increased from a mean of 62% (43.8–80.0, 95% CI) before to 83% (71.0–94.2, 95% CI) after implement IVMLS, suggesting highly significant (p < 0.001) improvement on students' histopathology laboratory performance. Feedback of the questionnaire was positive, indicating that students were satisfied with the system, which they believed improved student communication and teacher-student interaction, increased learning resources, increased their focus on learning, and facilitated their independent thinking process. This study proves that IVMLS is an efficient and feasible teaching technology and improves students' academic performance.

Effect of shift to virtual teaching on active learning: A snapshot

PURPOSE

Active learning engages students via interaction for deeper understanding and retention. A global pandemic resulted in an abrupt mid-semester transition from in-person to virtual learning. This study examined student reporting on active learning before and after this transition.

METHODS

First-year DDS candidates took an anonymous survey, reflecting on three Spring (January-April) 2020 courses (lecture-style, small-group case-based, and pre-clinical). Survey questions included: (1) basic demographics, (2) reporting frequency (1-Never, 2-Rarely, 3-Sometimes, 4-Often, 5-Always) of active learning elements from a pre-set list before/after the shift to online learning, and (3) Likert-style questions regarding effects on active learning and learning environment preference.

RESULTS

The traditional lecture course manifested two active learning activities in the category Sometimes prior to the transition to virtual; one of those activities (question and answer) experienced the most significant difference (p < 0.0001) in frequency change. The small group, case-based course incorporated nine activities in-person in the category Sometimes; although small significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) in frequency were noted for five of those activities between virtual and in-person, these differences may have not have made a difference in practice. The pre-clinical course incorporated four activities in the category Sometimes pre-transition, with no significant differences detected in frequency. Students slightly leaned toward preferring in-person for the small-group and pre-clinical courses, but had no preference for the traditional lecture course.

CONCLUSIONS

Course structure may correlate more with student experience of the frequency of active learning activities and preference for in-person versus virtual environment than the environment itself.