Student Assessment of Learning Gains with E-resourcesJulia Parkman, Nancy Hu, Carla Craveiro, Kim Ellison, PhD and Judy Gnarpe, DrMedSci, Department of Medical Microbiology &

Immunology, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta

email: judy.gnarpe@ualberta.ca

Health profession students should not only master major concepts and develop critical thinking, but also be able to master content important for making clinical decisions. Nursing and dental hygiene students in a medical microbiology course were surveyed to determine how e-learning resources supported their learning. The SALG (student assessment of learning gains)1, a validated survey developed by researchers at the University of Wisconsin, is a tool earlier found to be useful when faculty wish to assess their pedagogical approach and teaching techniques within a course.

Economic constraints often dictate the size of classes and the faculty/student ratio at large post-secondary institutions. During the past 7 years, a blended course has been developed (MMI 133), that incorporates many e-learning resources. The purpose of these resources is to provide more support for students in large classes.

Introduction

The SALG2, an online survey instrument, was modified with appropriate questions pertaining to the e-resources that students in three sections of MMI 133 had available to them during their course. All students (a total of 334) with access to the same e-learning resources invited to participate at the end of the term. Students received personal emails inviting them to help with the anonymous survey and describing the purpose of the study. The participation rate was 28%.

Results are collected automatically through the SALG site and basic statistics, are provided. The survey questions were designed to evaluate all facets of the course and the instructional technique, including the e-learning resources supplied or linked through WebCT/Vista. Brainspan3 was the only game that offered instructor feedback.

Methods

Results

%

Which interactive e-learning resources helped you most?

Did use of chat rooms help your learning?

N = 84

Were the online resources useful for your learning in this course?

Students participating in this survey found the e-learning tools available to be useful and helpful for learning. Most students study by reading notes, although many are using the self-quiz and gaming resources for self-assessment of their knowledge. The most popular e-resources were the Brainspan quizzes; instructor feedback was often provided as part of the question, although other simpler “games” were also popular with students. Although e-resources cannot replace face-to-face contact with students, they can increase student engagement and participation in large classes.

Summary

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

no help little help moderate help

much help great help

%

How much did attending lectures help your learning?

N = 117

N = 86

1. Seymour E, Weise DJ, Hunter A-B, Daffinrud S.: Creating a Better Mousetrap: On-line Student Assessment of their Learning Gains. “Using Real-World Questions to Promote Active Learning”, National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, San Francisco, 2000.

2. SALG Site: http://www.salgsite.org/

3. Gnarpe, J. A Multiplayer Learning Game for Medical Education. Medical Teacher, 31(7):673, 2009.

References