Center for Integrative Genomics, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
The Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine, School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK.
FEBS Open Bio. 2021 May;11(5):1282-1298. doi: 10.1002/2211-5463.13135. Epub 2021 Mar 29.
Current trends in Higher Education Pedagogies include an ongoing discussion about active learning strategies. Technology-based interventions such as personal response systems (PRS) have gained momentum, especially since the advent of cloud-/web-based solutions. One model that supports the transition from traditional lecturing towards active learning by maintaining a balance between instruction and self-learning is the 'Sandwich Model'. In the present study, we investigated the impact of the Sandwich Model combined with PRS in student learning, engagement and satisfaction by a randomised trial in a large undergraduate biomedical/medical sciences class. A teaching session on epigenetics was delivered either as a traditional lecture (C-group) or as a PRS-including Sandwich-based session (S-group). The major finding of our experiment was the significantly enhanced performance of the S-group over the control, suggesting that the Sandwich Model improves learning gain. We also provide strong evidence that the Sandwich Model enhances student engagement and satisfaction. However, the effect of the Sandwich Model in learning gain and student attitudes was not dependent on PRS incorporation per se and students seemed to favour non-PRS activities over PRS, as evidenced by their feedback. Although further experimental research is needed in order to conclusively compare and contrast PRS and non-PRS activities regarding learning gain, we propose the usage of the Sandwich Model with a variety of in-class learning activities, both PRS and non-PRS-based. Altogether, our work shows that the Sandwich Model is a powerful pedagogical approach that exerts a positive impact on student perceptions for learning and satisfaction and that can support the teaching of challenging biomedical concepts, such as epigenetics.
当前高等教育教学法的趋势包括对主动学习策略的持续讨论。基于技术的干预措施，如个人响应系统 (PRS)，已经得到了发展，尤其是自从基于云/网络的解决方案出现以来。一种支持从传统讲授向主动学习过渡的模式是“三明治模型”，它在教学和自学之间保持平衡。在本研究中，我们通过在一个大型本科生物医学/医学科学班中进行随机试验，研究了 PRS 与三明治模型结合对学生学习、参与度和满意度的影响。一堂关于表观遗传学的教学课要么以传统讲座的形式（C 组），要么以包括 PRS 的三明治模型形式（S 组）进行。我们实验的主要发现是 S 组的表现明显优于对照组，这表明三明治模型提高了学习效果。我们还提供了强有力的证据表明，三明治模型增强了学生的参与度和满意度。然而，三明治模型在学习效果和学生态度方面的影响并不取决于 PRS 的融入本身，而且学生似乎更喜欢非 PRS 活动而不是 PRS，这从他们的反馈中可以看出。尽管为了明确比较 PRS 和非 PRS 活动在学习效果方面的差异，还需要进一步的实验研究，但我们建议在课堂上使用各种学习活动，包括 PRS 和非 PRS 活动来使用三明治模型。总之，我们的工作表明，三明治模型是一种强大的教学方法，它对学生的学习和满意度有积极的影响，可以支持具有挑战性的生物医学概念的教学，如表观遗传学。
