Supplemental educational program to heighten the impact of research - an opportunity for OA imaging.

Objective: To develop and evaluate a supplementary educational program ("IMPACT") centered on enabling participants to consider specifically and articulate explicitly the best path for and potential impact of their research. Design: Participants (trainees) and faculty mentors were from all areas of biomedical research. The group worked longitudinally in small, rotating groups, through a process of developing a written statement ("Impact Statement"), an overview ("Impact Storyline") and an oral presentation ("Impact Case") of their work. Results: One hundred and eighty-seven Fellows enrolled in the program. Of the 179 (96%) Fellows who completed the program, 159 (89%) responded to a post-program survey; 94% indicated that IMPACT was a significant learning experience, 89% indicated that they were more able to identify the long-term potential of their research, 95% felt more able to talk about their work to diverse audiences. Conclusion: This voluntary educational program was appreciated by the participants and led to increased confidence in their ability to drive their science towards a clear impact and communicating that potential to others. This type of program may aid in redirecting some of the efforts and resources of imaging in OA from the large focus on technical developments to more direct biological and clinical questions which might be resolved with current technology.

A new measure of the cognitive, metacognitive, and experiential aspects of residents' learning.

PURPOSE: Psychometric data are presented for the Cognitive Behavior Survey: Residency Level (rCBS), a survey that profiles cognitive, metacognitive, and experiential aspects of residents' learning. METHOD: The authors asked 963 residents from seven medicine residencies of large academic medical centers to participate in their study and gathered data from the respondents during a three-year period, 2000-2002. A factor analysis cross-validation design guided the development of rCBS's seven scales: memorization, conceptualization, reflection, independent learning, critical thinking, meaningful learning experience, and attitude toward educational experience. Interscale correlations and MANOVA provided preliminary evidence of scale construct validity. RESULTS: A total of 424 residents (44%) responded. With several minor exceptions, items for each scale loaded .40 or higher. Memorization did not correlate with any other scale, except correlating negatively with critical thinking. Higher-order thinking scales (conceptualization, reflection, independent learning, critical thinking) correlated with one another and with meaningful learning experience and attitude toward educational experience. The one exception: conceptualization did not correlate with critical thinking. MANOVA results reveal that residents who scored in the top 20% on the reflection scale conceptualized, learned independently, and thought critically more than did the bottom 20%. CONCLUSIONS: Results provide preliminary support for scale reliability and construct validity. As residencies seek to meet expectations of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education's Outcome Project, rCBS could prove useful in program evaluation, residents' self-assessment, and assessment by serving as a means to explore how residents learn, how residency programs affect learning behavior, and how clinically strong and weak residents differ in learning behaviors.

A small-scale concept-based laboratory component: the best of both worlds.

In this article, we describe an exploratory study of a small-scale, concept-driven, voluntary laboratory component of Introductory Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. We wished to investigate whether students' attitudes toward biology and their understanding of basic biological principles would improve through concept-based learning in a laboratory environment. With these goals in mind, and using our Biology Concept Framework as a guide, we designed laboratory exercises to connect topics from the lecture portion of the course and highlight key concepts. We also strove to make abstract concepts tangible, encourage learning in nonlecture format, expose the students to scientific method in action, and convey the excitement of performing experiments. Our initial small-scale assessments indicate participation in the laboratory component, which featured both hands-on and minds-on components, improved student learning and retention of basic biological concepts. Further investigation will focus on improving the balance between the minds-on concept-based learning and the hands-on experimental component of the laboratory.