Student engagement in biomedical courses: studies in technology-enhanced seminar learning

Abstract

Academic medical and biomedical curricula are designed to educate future academics contributing to new developments in science, clinical practice and society. During undergraduate programs student training is typically focused on acquisition of knowledge and understanding of these interdisciplinary fields. The undergraduate curricula are therefore mostly occupied by a sequence of theoretical courses. This thesis aims to determine if technology-enhanced education can stimulate student engagement and meaningful learning in these theoretical courses. Different parts of a course are studied in different interventions. The use of online material is discussed in order to prepare for in-class activities and summative exams, student-centered interventions are implemented to enhance engagement in classrooms and a pilot experiment intended to improve retention of knowledge. The results show that formative assessments with specific feedback improve student performance on summative exams. In addition, students’ motives to use and not use formative assessments were determined. Repetitive examination without feedback did not improve the retention of knowledge. The introduction of student-centered interventions, such as buzz-groups, resulted in improved preparation of students and active participation during classroom sessions. Student preparation with online learning tools was studied more specifically in so-called flipped classrooms. In flipped classrooms the content of the course is delivered outside the classroom, often online, and activities that are traditionally considered homework are moved into class. The studies in this thesis show that students preferentially use learning tools that support the acquisition and application of knowledge. In-class observations demonstrate that flipped classrooms are more interactive and discussions more in-depth. These outcomes are in line with teachers’ expectations and perceptions of flipped classroom teaching.