The efficacy of microlearning in improving self-care capability: a systematic review of the literature

Twitter users perceptions of AI-based e-learning technologies

Today, teaching and learning paths increasingly intersect with technologies powered by emerging artificial intelligence (AI).This work analyses public opinions and sentiments about AI applications that affect e-learning, such as ChatGPT, virtual and augmented reality, microlearning, mobile learning, adaptive learning, and gamification. The way people perceive technologies fuelled by artificial intelligence can be tracked in real time in microblog messages promptly shared by Twitter users, who currently constitute a large and ever-increasing number of individuals. The observation period was from November 30, 2022, the date on which ChatGPT was launched, to March 31, 2023. A two-step sentiment analysis was performed on the collected English-language tweets to determine the overall sentiments and emotions. A latent Dirichlet allocation model was built to identify commonly discussed topics in tweets. The results show that the majority of opinions are positive. Among the eight emotions of the Syuzhet package, 'trust' and 'joy' are the most common positive emotions observed in the tweets, while 'fear' is the most common negative emotion. Among the most discussed topics with a negative outlook, two particular aspects of fear are identified: an 'apocalyptic-fear' that artificial intelligence could lead the end of humankind, and a fear for the 'future of artistic and intellectual jobs' as AI could not only destroy human art and creativity but also make the individual contributions of students and researchers not assessable. On the other hand, among the topics with a positive outlook, trust and hope in AI tools for improving efficiency in jobs and the educational world are identified. Overall, the results suggest that AI will play a significant role in the future of the world and education, but it is important to consider the potential ethical and social implications of this technology. By leveraging the positive aspects of AI while addressing these concerns, the education system can unlock the full potential of this emerging technology and provide a better learning experience for students.

Evaluating satisfaction with teaching innovation, its relationship to academic performance and the application of a video-based microlearning

AIM

To develop and validate a questionnaire to assess satisfaction with teaching innovation, assess the student satisfaction with a video-based microlearning intervention in its video-based modality and to verify its impact on academic performance.

DESIGN

A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted. The study used the COSMIN checklist for studies on measurement instruments.

METHODS

One hundred and ten nursing students from Salus Infirmorum University Centre (Andalusia, Spain) participated in the study. The items of the instrument were designed based on a literature review and its validity and stability were analysed. After that, 6 weeks of video-based microlearning intervention were implemented. Then students were asked to fill the satisfaction questionnaire and then took the subject exam.

RESULTS

The resulting questionnaire consisted of 5 items with only one dimension. The questionnaire showed good validity and reliability. A direct correlation was observed between satisfaction with the video-based microlearning intervention and the marks of the subject exam.

How has COVID-19 changed healthcare professionals' attitudes to self-care? A mixed methods research study

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally changed the way services are delivered. Self-care, including good hygiene practices and avoidance of risk was emphasised as the key measure to tackle the pandemic in the early stages.

OBJECTIVE

To understand how self-reported professional attitudes, perceptions and practices of self-care have changed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional online survey and semi-structured qualitative interview.

SETTING

Health care.

PARTICIPANTS

304 healthcare professionals (HCPs).

METHODS

A wide range of HCPs, including pharmacists, nurses, doctors, social prescribers and other designations took part in a 27-item anonymous online survey. Semi-structured qualitative interviews with nine healthcare professionals explored attitudes to and practices of self-care before and during the pandemic. Views were sought on the permanence and implications of changes. Data were analysed using routine statistics and thematic analysis to identify major themes.

RESULTS

A total of 304 HCPs responded to the survey fully. Nine participated in a semi-structured interview. There was agreement that the importance of self-care has increased markedly during the pandemic. The percentage of respondents who felt that self-care was 'very' important to their clients increased from 54.3% to 86.6% since the pandemic. Personal empowerment and capacity of service users to self-care increased significantly during the pandemic. Willingness of patients to engage (74%) and poor understanding of self-care (71%) were cited as the two main barriers to self-care. A close third was digital exclusion (71%), though 86% of respondents recommended online resources and 77% the use of smartphone apps. Survey respondents believed the changes to be permanent and positive. Interviewees reported a major, and positive move to self-care with the pandemic seen as an opportunity to be grasped, but professional education would have to be aligned to make the most of it. They raised concerns as to whether the shift to self-care was perceived by users as 'abandonment' rather than 'empowerment' and whether problems had been stored rather than dealt with through self-care and therefore whether the positive changes would continue after the pandemic.

CONCLUSION

Reporting their views before the pandemic, barely more than half of the professionals surveyed saw self-care as fundamentally important to the individuals they served. This changed to 86% as a result of the pandemic. Patient/client engagement with and understanding of self-care were reported as major barriers, as was digital exclusion, though increased technological solutions were used by all respondents. Concerns were raised that the permanence of the changes depended upon continued encouragement and empowerment of individuals to self-care and on its inclusion in professional education as a substantive subject.

The effects of microlearning-supported flipped classroom on pre-service teachers' learning performance, motivation and engagement

Flipped classroom (FC) has recently attracted researchers' interest in teacher education thanks to its potential for promoting pre-service teachers' (PTs) professional development. However, some of major issues are the lack of interactivity, disengagement, and amotivation of PTs for pre-class activities due to poor online instruction design. This explanatory sequential mixed study explores the effects of the microlearning-supported FC on PTs' learning performance for professional development, motivation, and engagement. A total of 128 PTs participated in this study from a university in Turkey. In the quantitative phase, a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design was conducted and the treatment lasted for 14 weeks. The PTs were divided into two experimental groups and one control groups using random sampling technique. In first experimental group (m-FC, n = 43), the participants learned with microlearning-supported (by using a-bit sized learning chunks outside the classroom) FC model. In the second experimental group (t-FC, n = 39), the participants learned with traditional FC model. A control group (non-FC, n = 46) was not taught using FC model and teacher-centered approach was adopted in this group. The findings indicated that FC model (in both experimental groups) increased learning performance, intrinsic motivation, emotional, and behavioral engagement compared to a group that was not used to FC. Moreover, m-FC group had better intrinsic motivation and engagement than both t-FC and non-FC groups. Semi-structured interviews showed that two major themes emerged regarding benefits and challenges of microlearning-supported FC. Most of PTs had positive perceptions that it enhances the willingness to participate in pre-class activities. The implications for teacher education, recommendations and directions for further studies were also discussed.

Making "Joy Pie" to Stay Joyful: Self-Care Interventions Alleviate College Students' Mental Health Challenges

As more college students are facing mental health challenges, it is imperative to explore innovative ways of improving their mental health, including developing self-care interventions that help mitigate their stressors. Based on the Response Styles Theory and self-care conceptions, this study creates the "Joy Pie" project that consists of five self-care strategies, aiming to regulate negative emotions and increase self-care efficacy. Using an experimental design and two-wave data collected from a representative sample of Beijing college students (n₁ = 316, n₂ = 127), this study assesses the effects of the five proposed interventions on the students' self-care efficacy and mental health management. The results show that self-care efficacy helped improve mental health through emotion regulation, which is mediated by age, gender, and family income. The promising results support the effectiveness of the "Joy Pie" interventions in strengthening self-care efficacy and improving mental health. This study offers insights into building back better mental health security among college students at this critical time when the world is recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Investigating self-reported efficacy of lifestyle medicine approaches to tackle erectile dysfunction: a cross-sectional eSurvey based study

BACKGROUND

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is the most common sexual dysfunction in men. Some types of ED are amenable to treatment using lifestyle medicine approaches with or without pharmacotherapy.

AIM

Investigate self-reported efficacy of lifestyle medicine approaches to tackle ED.

METHODS

A cross-sectional online survey of 1177 community dwelling adults explored the prevalence and methods used to tackle ED in the community setting. We examined differences between participants with and without ED. Variables associated with ED in univariable analyses were included in a multivariable logistic regression to identify variables independently associated with the condition.

OUTCOMES

Self-reported measure: perceived effectiveness of lifestyle medicine interventions to tackle ED.

RESULTS

Most respondents (76.5%) had experienced ED, and this was associated with having a long-term condition, taking anti-hypertensive medication, hypercholesterolaemia and obesity. Medication was the most common management strategy overall (65.9%), followed by stress management (43.5%) and weight loss (40.4%). Over half (53.9%) did not use any lifestyle modification strategies to tackle ED. Only 7.0% of ED sufferers received a mental health assessment and 29.2% received other tests (e.g., blood test, medical imaging) by GPs. Cardiovascular training was identified as the best rated strategy by its users (37.8%). Supplements (35.1%) and weight training/physical activity (32.6%) were also positively rated.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

Structured education to general practitioners and community dwelling adults about the impact of lifestyle behaviour modification and how this could influence the appearance or trajectory of ED could help improve personal choice when tackling ED.

STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS

To our knowledge, this is the first study to collect eSurvey responses from community dwelling adults to gauge their reliance and perceived effectiveness of lifestyle medicine approaches to tackle ED. The principal limitation was the lack of follow-up, and not recording other information including lifestyle factors such as nutrition, smoking, and the use of alcohol and recreational drugs, which may have enabled a fuller exploration of the factors that could influence the primary outcome measures examined.

CONCLUSION

Despite the high prevalence of ED, there is not enough awareness in the community setting about effective and low-cost lifestyle medicine strategies, including cardiovascular training and the use of supplements and weight training, to help tackle this common condition.

Microlearning in Diverse Contexts: A Bibliometric Analysis

In recent years, publications on microlearning have substantially increased, as this topic has received extensive attention from scholars in the instructional design and technology discipline. To better characterize and understand microlearning, there is a need for comprehensive bibliometrics assessments of the literature on microlearning. To this end, this bibliometric study collected 208 relevant publications on microlearning from the Scopus database, published in diverse contexts. Using quantitative topic modeling and qualitative content analysis methods, we identified four major themes in these publications, namely: (1) design of microlearning; (2) implementation of microlearning as an instructional method strategy and an intervention; (3) evaluation of microlearning; and (4) the utilization of mobile devices for microlearning. Based on the study findings, we discuss the significance of the study and provide implications for research and practice, particularly in fostering rigorous inquiry on the topic of microlearning, expanding the context of research to include K-12 settings, and focusing on mobile-based microlearning.

What is the suitability of clinical vignettes in benchmarking the performance of online symptom checkers? An audit study

OBJECTIVE

Assess the suitability of clinical vignettes in benchmarking the performance of online symptom checkers (OSCs).

DESIGN

Observational study using a publicly available free OSC.

PARTICIPANTS

Healthily OSC, which provided consultations in English, was used to record consultation outcomes from two lay and four expert inputters using 139 standardised patient vignettes. Each vignette included three diagnostic solutions and a triage recommendation in one of three categories of triage urgency. A panel of three independent general practitioners interpreted the vignettes to arrive at an alternative set of diagnostic and triage solutions. Both sets of diagnostic and triage solutions were consolidated to arrive at a final consolidated version for benchmarking.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Six inputters simulated 834 standardised patient evaluations using Healthily OSC and recorded outputs (triage solution, signposting, and whether the correct diagnostic solution appeared first or within the first three differentials). We estimated Cohen's kappa to assess how interpretations by different inputters could lead to divergent OSC output even when using the same vignette or when compared with a separate panel of physicians.

RESULTS

There was moderate agreement on triage recommendation (kappa=0.48), and substantial agreement on consultation outcomes between all inputters (kappa=0.73). OSC performance improved significantly from baseline when compared against the final consolidated diagnostic and triage solution (p<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Clinical vignettes are inherently limited in their utility to benchmark the diagnostic accuracy or triage safety of OSC. Real-world evidence studies involving real patients are recommended to benchmark the performance of OSC against a panel of physicians.

Perspective on pros and cons of microlearning in health education

Recently, digital technology and digital materials have started to be widely used in education from primary school to college worldwide. Microlearning is one of the innovative teaching techniques that use digital technologies. In this review, benefits and disadvantages of microlearning is discussed. Many studies show that microlearning facilitated learning by dividing into smaller pieces encourages students to study. A wide range of activities might be used in this technique and it can be easily integrated into daily routine, it allows on-demand learning for the students. On the other hand, the success of microlearning techniques is closely related to the personal characteristics of learners, teachers' prone to use digital technology and the external factors such as access to learning materials. Its effectiveness on behavior and outcome which were defined in the third and fourth levels of Kirkpatrick's learning model is still obscure. In the light of the literature, it should be decided which microlearning method will be used for which educational subjects.

A Text Message Intervention for Adolescents With Depression and Their Parents or Caregivers to Overcome Cognitive Barriers to Mental Health Treatment Initiation: Focus Groups and Pilot Trial

BACKGROUND

Many adolescents with depression do not pursue mental health treatment following a health care provider referral. We developed a theory-based automated SMS text message intervention (Text to Connect [T2C]) that attempts to reduce cognitive barriers to the initiation of mental health care.

OBJECTIVE

In this two-phase study, we seek to first understand the potential of T2C and then test its engagement, usability, and potential efficacy among adolescents with depression and their parents or caregivers.

METHODS

In phase 1, we conducted focus groups with adolescents with depression (n=9) and their parents or caregivers (n=9) separately, and transcripts were examined to determine themes. In phase 2, we conducted an open trial of T2C comprising adolescents with depression referred to mental health care (n=43) and their parents or caregivers (n=28). We assessed usability by examining program engagement, usability ratings, and qualitative feedback at the 4-week follow-up. We also assessed potential effectiveness by examining changes in perceived barriers to treatment and mental health care initiation from baseline to 4 weeks.

RESULTS

In phase 1, we found that the themes supported the T2C approach. In phase 2, we observed high engagement with daily negative affect check-ins, high usability ratings, and decreased self-reported barriers to mental health treatment over time among adolescents. Overall, 52% (22/42) of the adolescents who completed follow-up reported that they had attended an appointment with a mental health care specialist. Of the 20 adolescents who had not attended a mental health care appointment, 5% (1/20) reported that it was scheduled for a future date, 10% (2/20) reported that the primary care site did not have the ability to help them schedule a mental health care appointment, and 15% (3/20) reported that they were no longer interested in receiving mental health care.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings from this study suggest that T2C is acceptable to adolescents with depression and most parents or caregivers; it is used at high rates; and it may be helpful to reduce cognitive barriers to mental health care initiation.