The Promise of the New Educational Strategy for Curriculum Development (SPICES) Model on the Development of Students’ Clinical Reasoning Ability. A Comparative Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction Clinical reasoning skills are a core competency that must be taught at all levels of health-care education. In the last decade, several health professional education curricula in Ethiopia have been redesigned with the goal of improving student competence in key health-care delivery skills. Despite the fact that some academic programs followed the conventional educational strategy, a significant number of academic programs adopted a new educational strategy for curriculum development: Student-centered, Problem-based, Integrated, Community-based, Elective, and Systematic (SPICES) model. More empirical evidence, however, is required to determine whether the new curricular approach is effective in improving students’ clinical reasoning. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the new educational strategy for curriculum development improves the clinical reasoning ability of midwifery students when compared to a peer institution that follows a traditional curriculum. Methods A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted to compare the clinical reasoning skills of midwifery students who completed the new curricular approach versus students who completed a traditional curriculum. A Script Concordance Test (SCT) was used to collect data. The mean SCT score and an independent two-sample t -test were calculated to see if the two groups differed significantly in terms of clinical reasoning skills in managing Post-Partum hemorrhage (PPH). Results A total of 77 final-year midwifery students participated (38 from the new and 39 from the traditional curriculum approach). Midwifery students who completed the new and conventional curriculum approaches had mean clinical reasoning SCT scores of 0.7 (SD = 0.35) and 0.53 (SD = 0.37), respectively. There was a statistically significant difference in the overall mean SCT score between the two study groups in terms of clinical reasoning skills (p = 0.008). Conclusion Our study found that the new SPICES model curricular approach is promising in fostering the development of clinical reasoning skills of Midwifery students in managing PPH.

Students’ learning approaches as a factor of academic achievement at selected public universities: A cross-sectional study

“…In contrast to the national harmonized curriculum being implemented in other institutions, DTU executes a competencybased hybrid innovative curriculum built on the strengths of the traditional curriculum, used in the rest of anesthesia schools of Ethiopian public universities, by incorporating innovative and transformative features highlighted in the SPICES model (student-centered, problem-based, integrated, communitybased, and systematic). This is a new educational strategy for curriculum development, which include (1) competency-based curriculum design; (2) vertical and horizontal integration of the courses and clinical experiences into a conceptually meaningful structure; (3) use of innovative educational strategies, such as problem-based learning (PBL); and (4) early and longitudinal clinical and community exposure (Misganaw et al, 2022).…”

“…The expansion and development of health science education in Ethiopia was gradual before the 1990s until it gets accelerated thereafter (Misganaw et al, 2022). As a result, several undergraduate and graduate programs have been opened in health science fields in the country and the number of institutions running health science programs has increased.…”

The spectrum of Self-directed learning perceptions among faculty members and students of Bolan University of Medical and Health Sciences

“…The current trend has been changed from teacher-centered learning to student-centered learning (SPICES model). 1 The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), an accrediting body for medical schools in the USA and Canada, directed medical schools to provide opportunities for students to participate in SDL. 2 SDL is a methodology that provides lifelong learning in medical education.…”