Valcke Martin, De Wever Bram
Department of Education, Ghent University, Belgium.
Med Teach. 2006 Feb;28(1):40-8. doi: 10.1080/01421590500441927.
In contrast to traditional meta-analyses of research, an alternative overview and analysis of the research literature on the impact of information and communication technologies (ICT) in medical education is presented in this article. A distinction is made between studies that have been set up at the micro-level of the teaching and learning situation and studies on meso-level issues. At the micro-level, ICT is hypothesized to foster three basic information processing activities: presentation, organization, and integration of information. Next to this, ICT is expected to foster collaborative learning in the medical knowledge domain. Empirical evidence supports the potential of ICT to introduce students to advanced graphical representations but the studies also stress the importance of prior knowledge and the need for real-life tactile and practical experiences. The number of empirical studies focusing on the impact of ICT on information organization is restricted but the results suggest a positive impact on student attitudes and relevant learning gains. However, again, students need a relevant level of prior knowledge. Empirical studies focusing on the impact of ICT on information integration highlight the positive impact of ICT-based assessment and computer simulations; for the latter this is especially the case when novices are involved, and when they master the prerequisite ICT skills. Little empirical evidence is available regarding the impact of computer games. Research results support the positive impact of ICT-based collaboration but care has to be taken when skills development is pursued. At the meso-level, the available empirical evidence highlights the positive impact of ICT to promote the efficiency of learning arrangements. Research grounds the key position of ICT in a state-of-the-art medical curriculum. Recent developments focusing on repositories of learning materials for medical education have yet not been evaluated. The article concludes by stressing the need for evaluative studies, especially in the promising field of ICT-based collaborative learning. Furthermore, the importance to be attached to the position and qualifications of the teaching staff is emphasized.
与传统的研究元分析不同，本文对信息通信技术（ICT）在医学教育中的影响的研究文献进行了另一种概述和分析。在教学情境微观层面开展的研究与中观层面问题的研究之间存在区别。在微观层面，假设ICT能促进三种基本的信息处理活动：信息呈现、组织和整合。除此之外，ICT有望促进医学知识领域的协作学习。实证证据支持ICT将学生引入高级图形表示的潜力，但研究也强调了先验知识的重要性以及对现实触觉和实践经验的需求。关注ICT对信息组织影响的实证研究数量有限，但结果表明对学生态度和相关学习成果有积极影响。然而，学生同样需要一定水平的先验知识。关注ICT对信息整合影响的实证研究突出了基于ICT的评估和计算机模拟的积极影响；对于后者，尤其是当涉及新手且他们掌握了必备的ICT技能时更是如此。关于电脑游戏的影响，几乎没有实证证据。研究结果支持基于ICT的协作的积极影响，但在追求技能发展时必须谨慎。在中观层面，现有的实证证据突出了ICT对提高学习安排效率的积极影响。研究奠定了ICT在最新医学课程中的关键地位。近期聚焦于医学教育学习材料库的发展尚未得到评估。文章最后强调了评估研究的必要性，尤其是在基于ICT的协作学习这一前景广阔的领域。此外，强调了重视教师的地位和资质的重要性。
