Traditional microscopy instruction versus process-oriented virtual microscopy instruction: a naturalistic experiment with control group

Abstract

BackgroundVirtual microscopy is being introduced in medical education as an approach for learning how to interpret information in microscopic specimens. It is, however, far from evident how to incorporate its use into existing teaching practice. The aim of the study was to explore the consequences of introducing virtual microscopy tasks into an undergraduate pathology course in an attempt to render the instruction more process-oriented. The research questions were: 1) How is virtual microscopy perceived by students? 2) Does work on virtual microscopy tasks contribute to improvement in performance in microscopic pathology in comparison with attending assistant-led demonstrations only?MethodDuring a one-week period, an experimental group completed three sets of virtual microscopy homework assignments in addition to attending demonstrations. A control group attended the demonstrations only. Performance in microscopic pathology was measured by a pre-test and a post-test. Student perceptions of regular instruction and virtual microscopy were collected one month later by administering the Inventory of Intrinsic Motivation and open-ended questions.ResultsThe students voiced an appreciation for virtual microscopy for the purposes of the course and for self-study. As for learning gains, the results indicated that learning was speeded up in a subgroup of students consisting of conscientious high achievers.ConclusionsThe enriched instruction model may be suited as such for elective courses following the basic course. However, the instructional model needs further development to be suited for basic courses.

The effect of games and simulations on higher education: a systematic literature review

“…Other studies confirm the power of games and simulations in developing cognition abilities, especially in the instances of virtual simulations enhancing complex cognitive skills (Helle et al, 2011;Siewiorek, 2013), such as self-assessment (Arias Aranda, 2010), or higher-order thinking (Crocco et al, 2016). These are meta-cognitive skills, regarded as essential elements of in-depth learning.…”

“…The studies consistently indicate a good gender balance in participants. In some studies, there is both student and faculty participation (Kapralos et al, 2011;Felicia, 2011;Hess & Gunter, 2013;Hämäläinen & Oksanen, 2014;Beuk, 2015;Crocco, 2016), whereas in others, only instructors are chosen as participants (Tanner, 2012;Badea, 2015;Franciosi, 2016). On the whole, most studies use students as participants.…”

“…Learners can also actively participate in a web-based simulation to facilitate immersion and reflection, leading to deeper understanding of the content (Helle et al, 2011). A simulation framework can facilitate learning in terms of flow experience and learning strategies.…”

Neural Correlates of Visual Perceptual Expertise: Evidence From Cognitive Neuroscience Using Functional Neuroimaging

“…Perceptual expertise can be further categorized as visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, vestibular, or gustatory expertise. Visual expertise is evident, for example, when bird experts classify a passing little bird as an oriole or a cardinal (Tanaka & Curran, 2001) or when clinicians diagnose digitized slides of human tissue as pathologically normal or abnormal (Helle et al, 2011). Assuming that individual differences in visual perceptual expertise should be reflected in differences in the brain, the following question arises: Can we reliably measure/objectify neural correlates of visual expertise with currently available functionalneuroimaging methods and therewith explain inter-individual behavioral differences with respect to visual perceptual expertise?…”

Methodologies for Studying Visual Expertise

“…Visual expertise can be defined as maximal adaptations to the requirements of a vision-intensive task. Examples of vision-intensive tasks include the identification of different types of fish (Boucheix & Lowe, in press;Jarodzka, Scheiter, Gerjets, & Van Gog, 2010) or the detection of abnormalities in microscopic specimen (Helle, Nivala, Kronqvist, Gegenfurtner, Björk, & Säljö, 2011;Krupinski, Graham, & Weinstein, 2013). In many professions, visual material constitutes an important part of the epistemic resources used for conducting professional work (Gegenfurtner, Nivala, Säljö, & Lehtinen, 2009;Goodwin, 1994;Gruber & Degner, 2016;Palonen, Boshuizen, & Lehtinen, 2014;Säljö, 2012).…”