The hidden medical school: A longitudinal study of how social networks form, and how they relate to academic performance

Woolf, Katherine; Potts, Henry W W; Patel, S. R.; McManus, I. C.

doi:10.3109/0142159x.2012.669082

Cited by 73 publications

(120 citation statements)

References 39 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

110

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…These findings were different from those of Woolf et al [27] who reported that friendship at baseline among medical students predicted subsequent score similarity. The difference between the 2 studies could be attributed to learners in our study overestimating the advantage of being in a group with top students, and thus exerting less effort to studying and thereby depriving themselves of the advantage of PAL.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 56%

Informal Peer-Assisted Learning Groups Did Not Lead to Better Performance of Saudi Dental Students

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

previous communication with teammates, and content discussion, and (2) group attributes: group teacher's previous grade, number of colleagues with whom a student connected, teaming with friends, similarity of teammates' previous grades, and teacher having higher previous grades than other teammates. Regression analysis was used to assess the association of examination scores with individual and group attributes. Results: The response rate was 80.4% (74 students: 36 males and 38 females). Students who previously scored grades A and B had higher examination scores than students with grades C/less (regression coefficient = 18.50 and 13.39) within the groups. Higher scores were not associated with working in groups including friends only (regression coefficient = 1.17) or when all students had similar previous grades (regression coefficient = 0.85). Conclusions: Students with previous high grades benefited to a greater extent from working in PAL groups. Similarity of teammates in PAL groups was not associated with better scores. © 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel KeywordsStudy groups · Undergraduate dental students · Peer-assisted learning · Social network analysis · Academic performance · Learning analytics Abstract Objectives: To describe peer-assisted learning (PAL) groups formed by dental undergraduate students in a biomedical course and to investigate the association of individual and group characteristics with academic performance. Subjects and Methods: In 2015, 92 fourth-year students (43 males and 49 females) in the College of Dentistry, University of Dammam, Saudi Arabia, were invited to form PAL groups to study a unit of a biomedical course. An examination was used to assess their knowledge after 2 weeks. In addition, a questionnaire and social network analysis were used to investigate (1) individual student attributes: gender, role, subject matter knowledge, grade in previous year, teaming with friends,

show abstract

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 56%

Informal Peer-Assisted Learning Groups Did Not Lead to Better Performance of Saudi Dental Students

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…It might be that the negative effects on learning of ethnic homophily (the tendency to interact with others in the same group) which has been reported in medical students (Vaughan et al 2015; Woolf et al 2012) are more profound for this type of examinations. Ethnic homophily may cut off minority students from resources that facilitate learning (Vaughan et al 2015), which might be particularly important for an examination that requires a high level of self-organised, informal learning.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Ethnic and social disparities in different types of examinations in undergraduate pre-clinical training

Stegers‐Jager

Brommet

Themmen

2016

Adv in Health Sci Educ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Medical schools are increasingly faced with a more diverse student population. Generally, ethnic minority students are reported to underperform compared with those from the ethnic majority. However, there are inconsistencies in findings in different types of examinations. Additionally, little is known about the performance of first-generation university students and about performance differences across ethnic minority groups. This study aimed to investigate underperformance across ethnic minority groups and by first-generation university students in different types of written tests and clinical skills examinations during pre-clinical training. A longitudinal prospective cohort study of progress on a 3-year Dutch Bachelor of Medicine course was conducted. Participants included 2432 students who entered the course over a consecutive 6-year period (2008–2013). Compared with Dutch students, the three non-Western ethnic minority groups (Turkish/Moroccan/African, Surinamese/Antillean and Asian) underperformed in the clinical problem solving tests, the language test and the OSCEs. Findings on the theoretical end-of-block tests and writing skills tests, and results for Western minority students were less consistent. Age, gender, pre-university grade point average and additional socio-demographic variables (including first-generation university student, first language, and medical doctor parent) could explain the ethnicity-related differences in theoretical examinations, but not in language, clinical and writing skills examinations. First-generation university students only underperformed in the language test. Apparently, underperformance differs both across ethnic subgroups and between different types of written and clinical examinations. Medical schools should ensure their assessment strategies create a level playing field for all students and explore reasons for underperformance in the clinical and writing skills examinations.

show abstract

“…In exploring links between learners in different domains in education research, researchers have conceptualised relationships in a learning environment as a social network. Researchers in the health professional field have explored student's social networks by focussing on individual networks (Hommes et al 2012;Woolf et al 2012). Rienties et al (2013) have explored inter-and intra-group dynamics within a social network in order to explore why some learners or groups are actively looking to extend their internal and external group network, while other learners are primarily focussed on their own group (Rienties and Kinchin 2014).…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus the placement could be conceived of as a series of learning spaces, through which students traversed as they built their own social learning networks (Hommes et al 2012;Rienties and Kinchin 2014;Woolf et al 2012). Through their formal and informal interactions with their peers and other network contacts, students may passively or actively engage in a dialogue with others about their learning in practice.…”

Section: Social Learning In a Longitudinal Integrated Clinical… 1013mentioning

confidence: 99%

Social learning in a longitudinal integrated clinical placement

Roberts

Daly

Held

et al. 2016

Adv in Health Sci Educ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Recent research has demonstrated that longitudinal integrated placements (LICs) are an alternative mode of clinical education to traditional placements. Extended student engagement in community settings provide the advantages of educational continuity as well as increased service provision in underserved areas. Developing and maintaining LICs require a differing approach to student learning than that for traditional placements. There has been little theoretically informed empirical research that has offered explanations of which are the important factors that promote student learning in LICs and the relationships between those factors. We explored the relationship between student learning, student perceptions of preparedness for practice and student engagement, in the context of a rural LIC. We used a sequential qualitative design employing thematic, comparative and relational analysis of data from student interviews (n = 18) to understand possible processes and mechanisms of student learning in the LIC. Through the theoretical lens of social learning systems, we identified two major themes; connectivity and preparedness for practice. Connectivity described engagement and relationship building by students, across formal and informal learning experiences, interprofessional interactions, social interactions with colleagues, interaction with patients outside of the clinical setting, and the extent of -016-9740-3 integration in the wider community. Preparedness for practice, reflected students' perceptions of having sufficient depth in clinical skills, personal and professional development, cultural awareness and understanding of the health system, to work in that system. A comparative analysis compared the nature and variation of learning across students. In a relational analysis, there was a positive association between connectivity and preparedness for practice. Connectivity is a powerful enabler of students' agentic engagement, collaboration, and learning within an LIC. It is related to student perceptions of preparedness for practice. These findings provide insight for institutions wishing to develop similar programmes, by encouraging health professional educators to consider all of the potential elements of the placements, which most promote connectivity.Adv in Health Sci Educ (2017) 22:1011-1029 DOI 10.1007/s10459

show abstract

The hidden medical school: A longitudinal study of how social networks form, and how they relate to academic performance

Cited by 73 publications

References 39 publications

Informal Peer-Assisted Learning Groups Did Not Lead to Better Performance of Saudi Dental Students

Informal Peer-Assisted Learning Groups Did Not Lead to Better Performance of Saudi Dental Students

Ethnic and social disparities in different types of examinations in undergraduate pre-clinical training

Social learning in a longitudinal integrated clinical placement

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About