SAMPLEABSTRACT1:EDUCATIONALRESEARCH

AbstractNo. ACasecontrolStudyEvaluatingtheEffectivenessofanExtendedInductionProgrammeina FullyintegratedPBLCurriculum BRIDGES,S.M.*,McGRATHC.,DYSON,J.E.,LEUNG,W.K.,WEBSTER,B.(TheUniversityofHong Kong)

OBJECTIVE: Programmelevel evaluations of student perceptions of the learning experiences in PBL curricula have foundthat theearly yearsof thecurriculum experience lower levels ofsatisfaction thanthe finalyears. This could be seen as a natural process of adjustment to university life in general and the demands of PBL curricula in particular. Additionally, generic student evaluations of university learning experiences can be problematicforafullyintegratedPBLcurriculum.How,forexample,canstudentscommentoncourseswhen learningisfullyintegrated?Cleargoalsandstandardsscalesmayalsoprovideproblematicdataforbeginning students when problem scenarios are deliberately illdefined. METHODS: Universitywide data on firstyear studentevaluationsoflearningwasusedtoinformcurriculumdesignforonefullyintegratedPBLprogramme. In particular, firstyearstudentevaluationdatafrom the 200607academicyearwasusedto review howthe transitionintouniversitylifeandaPBLprogrammecouldbeenhancedforfirstyearstudents.Asaresult,the established1weekinductionwasfurtherdevelopedandextendedacrossthefirstyear.Thesystemgenerated student evaluation was repeated at the end of the 200708 academic year and results on items related to attainmentofuniversitygoalsitemswerecompared.RESULTS:Comparisonofthetwogroupsfoundsignificant improvementsinfirstyearstudentsperceptionsthatthePBLprogrammewashelpingthemachieveuniversity level educational outcomes. The greatest improvements, measured using Cohens d, were seen for items relatedtointerculturalunderstanding(d=.77);criticalselfreflection(d=.60);globalcitizenship(d=.52);and criticalintellectualinquiry(d=.51).Additionally,itemsrelatedtogreaterunderstandingofothers(d=.36),and collaboration (d=.33) also showed improvements. CONCLUSION: An extended induction in a fullyintegrated problembased learning curriculum can assist firstyear students transition into a PBL curriculum thereby improvingprogrammelevelevaluationsofthefirstyearexperience.

 SAMPLEABSTRACT2:INNOVATIVEEDUCATIONALPRACTICE
AbstractNo. WebbasedSupportofLearninginanUndergraduateOralRehabilitationCourse DYSON,J.E.*,McGRATH,C.(TheUniversityofHongKong) AwebbasedstudyguideusingWebCTcomputersoftwarewasdevelopedandimplementedtosupportlearning of3rdyeardentalstudentsinanintroductorysimulationlaboratory,clinicalandlaboratorytechnologycourse onremovablepartialdentures.ThewebsitewasreleasedinSeptember2003andprovidedthisgroupof studentswiththeirfirstexposuretoWebCTbasedlearninginthedentalcurriculum.Thewebsiteincludesthe followingmodules: Courseinformation(includingacalendarandschedulewithdirectlinkstostudytopicsetc.). Learningresources(includingaglossary,directlinkstoselectedejournalarticlesandrelevantwebsites, Powerpointpresentations,studytopicsandgeneralreadingrecommendations). Communicationtools(discussiongroups,textmessagingandchatrooms[virtualseminarrooms]the latterisanticipatedtobeusefulifnormalclassesneedtobesuspendedatanytimeinthefuture. Selftestquizzes(SelfadministeredMCQsprovidingimmediatefeedbackonstudentresponses). Utilities(facilitiestodownloadcopiesofprintedcoursematerialsetc.). Facilities are also provided for searching the site and taking/compiling individual notes. Proposals for development of the site include the addition of further learning resources and development of a reference library of short video clips demonstrating essential clinical procedures. All of the current 49 3rd year dental students accessed the site in the first 6 weeks of its release. However, there was considerable variation in numberofsiteaccessesperstudent(range224,mean13.1,sd11.3)andnumberofcontentpageaccessesper student(range2208,mean54.7,sd47.2).Theaveragetimespentperstudentpercontentpagewas11min.34 sec.Initialstudentfeedbackandreasonableaccessrateindicatesthatthesitehasbeengenerallywellreceived bystudents.Furtherworkiscurrentlyunderwaytoevaluatethesiteinmoredetailwithrespecttosuchissues as acceptability, appropriateness, accessibility, efficiency, and educational outcomes. This project was supportedbyaUniversityofHongKongTeachingDevelopmentGrant.