Differential effects of community involvement on eating disorder prevention outcomes in sexual minority men.

Prior research has been conflicted on whether gay community involvement serves as a risk or protective factor for body image and eating disorders (EDs) in sexual minority men (SMM), perhaps given that prior research has examined community involvement unidimensionally. The present study examined whether non-appearance-based ("social activism") and appearance-based ("going out/nightlife") community involvement differentially predicted ED prevention outcomes in SMM. SMM (N = 73) enrolled in a randomized controlled trial of an ED prevention program completed measures of community involvement, drive for muscularity, body dissatisfaction, and bulimic symptoms at pre-intervention, post-intervention, and 1-month follow-up. "Social activism" community involvement moderated intervention effects for drive for muscularity and body dissatisfaction scores, but not bulimic symptoms, such that those who placed higher importance on social activism demonstrated expected improvements, while those who placed lower importance on social activism did not exhibit expected improvements. "Going out/nightlife" community involvement did not moderate intervention outcomes; however, greater importance of going out/nightlife was associated with increased body dissatisfaction. Findings support that the impact of community involvement on body image and ED risk for SMM may be nuanced. Encouraging community involvement through activism could help enhance ED prevention efforts for SMM.

Knowledge Maps: an Online Tool for Knowledge Mapping with Automated Feedback.

Concept and knowledge maps have been shown to improve students' learning by emphasising meaningful relationships between phenomena. A user-friendly online tool that enables assessment of students' maps with automated feedback might therefore have significant benefits for learning. For that purpose, we developed an online software platform known as Knowledge Maps. Two pilot studies were performed to evaluate the usability and efficacy of Knowledge Maps. Study A demonstrated significantly improved perceptions of learning after using Knowledge Maps to learn pathology. Study B showed significant improvement between pre-test and post-test scores in an anatomy course. These preliminary studies indicate that this software is readily accepted and may have potential benefits for learning.

Knowledge maps: a tool for online assessment with automated feedback.

In higher education, most assessments or examinations comprise either multiple-choice items or open-ended questions such as modified essay questions (MEQs). Online concept and knowledge maps are potential tools for assessment, which might emphasize meaningful, integrated understanding of phenomena. We developed an online knowledge-mapping assessment tool, which provides automated feedback on student-submitted maps. We conducted a pilot study to investigate the potential utility of online knowledge mapping as a tool for automated assessment by comparing the scores generated by the software with manual grading of a MEQ on the same topic for a cohort of first-year medical students. In addition, an online questionnaire was used to gather students' perceptions of the tool. Map items were highly discriminating between students of differing knowledge of the topic overall. Regression analysis showed a significant correlation between map scores and MEQ scores, and responses to the questionnaire regarding use of knowledge maps for assessment were overwhelmingly positive. These results suggest that knowledge maps provide a similar indication of students' understanding of a topic as a MEQ, with the advantage of instant, consistent computer grading and time savings for educators. Online concept and knowledge maps could be a useful addition to the assessment repertoire in higher education.

Online testable concept maps: benefits for learning about the pathogenesis of disease.

CONTEXT: Concept maps have been used to promote meaningful learning and critical thinking. Although these are crucially important in all disciplines, evidence for the benefits of concept mapping for learning in medicine is limited. METHODS: We performed a randomised crossover study to assess the benefits of online testable concept maps for learning in pathology by volunteer junior medical students. Participants (n = 65) were randomly allocated to either of two groups with equivalent mean prior academic performance, in which they were given access to either online maps or existing online resources for a 2-week block on renal disease. Groups then crossed over for a 2-week block on hepatic disease. Outcomes were assessed using timed online quizzes, which included questions unrelated to topics in the pathogenesis maps as an internal control. Questionnaires were administered to evaluate students' acceptance of the maps. RESULTS: In both blocks, the group with access to pathogenesis maps achieved significantly higher average scores than the control group on quiz questions related to topics covered by the maps (Block 1: p < 0.001, Cohen's d = 0.9; Block 2: p = 0.008, Cohen's d = 0.7). However, mean scores on unrelated questions did not differ significantly between the groups. In a third block on pancreatic disease, both groups received pathogenesis maps and collectively performed significantly better on quiz topics related to the maps than on unrelated topics (p < 0.01, Cohen's d = 0.5). Regression analysis revealed that access to pathogenesis maps was the dominant contributor to variance in performance on map-related quiz questions. Responses to questionnaire items on pathogenesis maps were overwhelmingly positive in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that online testable pathogenesis maps are well accepted and can improve learning of concepts in pathology by medical students.