Schoenfeld-Tacher Regina M, McConnell Sherry L, Schultheiss Ted
College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1601, USA.
J Vet Med Educ. 2003 Winter;30(4):364-71. doi: 10.3138/jvme.30.4.364.
A mixed-method educational research study was conducted to evaluate the use of a series of online histopathology modules by students at two levels in a professional veterinary medical program. The materials were hypothesized to support student learning of histopathology concepts by facilitating "dual coding" of the content, since they provide both visual and verbal information. Second- and fourth-year professional veterinary students were surveyed about their perceptions of the effectiveness, efficiency, and appeal of the online modules. A historical comparison of final grades in the second-year Pathology course was conducted to evaluate the impact of the materials on academic outcomes. Think-aloud interviews were conducted with the fourth-year students in which the researcher observed the students interacting with the materials and asked them to "tell me what you're thinking as you use the modules." Survey results show that the only area in which the two student groups quantitatively rated the materials differently was their perception of how the materials complemented their learning. In contrast, the qualitative data indicate that advanced students used and perceived the materials differently, perhaps because of their greater metacognitive skills and pre-existing knowledge. We concluded that these findings can be attributed to the manner in which students approached the materials: the fourth-year students felt the materials were less relevant because they did not directly correspond to cases they were seeing, while the second-year students appreciated their relevance to topics in the Pathology course. There was no significant difference in final exam performance for the group of students that used the supplemental online modules and the prior four years' classes, who did not have access to the materials. Overall, this study demonstrated that it is possible to create a set of materials to be used by multiple audiences, provided the needs of each group are taken into consideration during the design process.
开展了一项混合方法的教育研究，以评估一个专业兽医医学项目中两个年级的学生对一系列在线组织病理学模块的使用情况。这些材料被假定通过促进内容的“双重编码”来支持学生对组织病理学概念的学习，因为它们既提供视觉信息也提供语言信息。对兽医专业二年级和四年级学生进行了调查，询问他们对在线模块的有效性、效率和吸引力的看法。对二年级病理学课程的期末成绩进行了历史比较，以评估这些材料对学业成绩的影响。对四年级学生进行了出声思维访谈，研究人员观察学生与材料的互动情况，并要求他们“在使用模块时告诉我你在想什么”。调查结果显示，两个学生群体在对材料进行定量评分时，唯一存在差异的领域是他们对材料如何补充其学习的看法。相比之下，定性数据表明，高年级学生使用和理解材料的方式有所不同，这可能是因为他们具有更强的元认知技能和已有的知识。我们得出结论，这些发现可归因于学生接触材料的方式：四年级学生觉得材料不太相关，因为它们与他们正在处理的病例没有直接对应关系，而二年级学生则赞赏材料与病理学课程主题的相关性。使用补充在线模块的学生组与之前四年没有使用这些材料的班级的学生在期末考试成绩上没有显著差异。总体而言，这项研究表明，只要在设计过程中考虑到每个群体的需求，就有可能创建一套供多个受众使用的材料。
