Funded Projects
| Project Title | Overview of the Project |
|---|---|
| Virtual software to personalize student learning in a required pharmacy course Sarah Vordenberg Pharmacy $4000.00 |
There is significant variation in the amount and type of practical pharmacy experience that students have prior to entering a professional pharmacy program. It can be anticipated that these different backgrounds impact the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of incoming students. For the one-half of the class with prior experience, some of the skills taught in the required first year Community Pharmacy course are at a basic level and students may have mastered these skills and concepts. However, for students without previous pharmacy experience, these skills are new and it takes time for them to learn and master. The overall goal of this project is to design a course in which previous experience dictates learning and makes the course relevant for each student. In order to engage all students in a meaningful way throughout the course we will employ virtual medication dispensing software which allows the entire medication dispensing process to be practiced, including obtaining information from a patient or prescriber, evaluating a prescription for missing or incorrect information, preparing a prescription label, locating and labeling the medication, choosing to dispense or not to dispense the medication to the patient, answering patient questions, and providing appropriate counseling. The primary questions that will be studied include whether a virtual approach can create an engaged learning environment for all students within a course construct where previous background experiences directly impacts engagement and learning and whether there are significant differences in utilization of the virtual medication dispensing software based on previous professional experience. |
| A Qualitative Study of Underrepresented Minority Students Pre-Med Education and Experiences Adrianne Haggins Medical School Helen Morgan Medical School Lynette Wynn LSA $3000.00 |
Minorities continue to be underrepresented in every healthcare field, despite national and institutional efforts to shift trends to reflect the evolution of the US population. Underrepresented minority (URM) undergraduate students are also more likely to lose interest in medical and science careers over time compared to their non-URM counterparts. Our study's objective is to examine the formal and informal learning environment at the University of Michigan to explore which factors increase and decrease persistence in pre-med career paths. We will conduct focus groups of URM undergraduate students and in-depth interviews of medical students. We anticipate this pilot work with be informative in designing tailored pre-med curricula and programs to improve URM student achievement, persistence in medical careers, and help reduce healthcare workforce disparities. |
| Extension of the Problem Roulette Library to include student contributed/generated solutions in Stats 250 $4000.00 |
Problem Roulette (PR) is a web based online learning tool at the University of Michigan that provides access to hundreds of problems from past exams for students enrolled in introductory physics, chemistry, biology and statistics courses. Students' feedback in the course evaluations indicates that integrating solutions into the problem roulette database may improve perception of the tool as a study aid. We propose to expand the current PR database by getting the students to create the problem documents while defining a process where the students develop and maintain a subset of the problem library themselves in their discipline. This tournament process is already in use to score homework assignments in physics 405. Students who participated in the online tournament process find it fairly straightforward and have reported as much: "This is convenient because it's online, and we don't need to use any other complicated websites to do this"-anonymous student. Students participate in two ways, first by submitting work to the tournament, and secondly by completing comparison tasks given to them by the application. It is evident that students learn significantly when they realize what mistake they made on an earlier exam problem and then try to redo the answer. By doing this, we hope to engage students actively in their coursework. |
| Using team-based interprofessional education to enhance student knowledge of healthcare professional roles Gundy Sweet Pharmacy $3000.00 |
Since the Institute of Medicine first announced the need for all health professionals to be educated in interdisciplinary teams, health professional schools across the country have worked to incorporate interprofessional education (IPE) into their curricula. This January at the University of Michigan we launched a new IPE course that brings together more than 250 students from five health professions to learn about interprofessional collaboration in healthcare. The course is designed to focus on two core competencies for IPE – professional roles and teamwork. This project is specific to assessing the impact of an innovative pedagogy where students teach students about their respective professions on knowledge gained about professional roles, and will use a survey instrument designed by the 11-member faculty team. Data from this project will inform the faculty team and the broader educational community about ways in which this unique pedagogy can be used to expand interprofessional education. In addition, the survey instrument developed by the faculty team is innovative. There are several assessment tools readily available to measure students' attitudes and beliefs about interprofessional education and practice, but no tools that measure learning about professional roles within the healthcare team. If the survey instrument proves to be a valid tool for measuring knowledge improvement in professional roles, it could be of broad interest to other colleges that are developing coursework in IPE in healthcare. |
| Assessing the Impact of Cross-Disciplinary, Project-Focused, Action-Based Immersive Learning Experiences in Healthcare and Engineering Amy Cohn Engineering Michelle Macy Medical School $4000.00 |
Some of the greatest challenges that we face today as a society are found in our healthcare system. Affordable healthcare is vital to the well-being of Americans but the current healthcare delivery system is not sustainable. As healthcare costs are spiraling out of control, the United States lags behind other industrialized nations in a variety of quality measures. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) envisions a healthcare system that is Safe, Effective, Patient-centered, Timely, Efficient, and Equitable. Reform of the current system is necessary in order to achieve these goals. As medical practice has become more specialized, few healthcare professionals have the perspective or training to take a systems-based approach to improving healthcare delivery. Conversely, engineers who do have a systems-based analytical skill set rarely have the exposure to and knowledge of medical settings that are necessary to design clinically-feasible health care reforms. Cross-disciplinary collaboration is clearly essential for leveraging the potential benefits of systems-engineering tools to improve healthcare delivery. We pose three specific research questions to explore in our CRLT-ISL project: 1) How do students from engineering and healthcare differ in their views of and reactions to open-ended problem solving? 2) What challenges do engineering and healthcare students face in multi-disciplinary team-based problem solving when immersed in a healthcare setting? 3) Can engineering and healthcare students develop "bilingualism" in language and culture through a year-long, cross-disciplinary collaboration? |
| Dental Students Apply Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) to Clinical Scenarios: Developing, Enhancing, and Assessing Skills Hsun-Liang Chan Dentistry Rachel Sheridan Dentistry Tae-Ju Oh Dentistry $4000.00 |
Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) is the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients. Although EBP is required within dental education by the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA), currently, the exposure of dental students to EBP is limited. This skill is incorporated in a didactic course in the 1st dental year, before students start treating patients. When they start providing cares they are rarely asked to apply EBP skills and their learning is rarely systematically assessed. Therefore, this proposal is to apply two interventions to students who are currently providing care in the clinics: (1) a classroom based learning and (2) an active group learning. Three methods will be used to assess learning: (1) a questionnaire (2) a written exam and (3) a score sheet for group practice. Their learning efficiency will be investigated by comparing the pre- and post-intervention results of the three methods. This teaching module may be potentially applied to other schools, e.g. Schools of Medicine, Pharmacy, Nursing, etc. for students to facilitate the use EBP and for educators to assess EBP-learning, and will solidify the students' use of these skills in their future clinical practices. |
| The Impact of Computer-Aided versus Manual Analyses on Critical Thinking in Materials Science and Engineering Joanna Millunchick Engineering $4000.00 |
Every undergraduate science or engineering curriculum includes at least one laboratory course, which provides hands-on demonstrations of disciplinary concepts. In addition to connecting theoretical with practical knowledge, laboratory courses develop skills in data gathering, analysis, and presentation. Computer-aided methods (CAM) allow for quick data evaluation and/or interpretation compared to traditional manual methods (MM). However, students often accept the output of computer analyses without much critical thought. Worse, they presume that computer calculations are inherently more precise than analytical calculations, despite evidence to the contrary. In this work, we will explore how student learning is impacted by the use of computational tools compared to manual tools. We are interested in understanding the benefits and drawbacks of using computer-based analysis, and determining whether its use clouds critical thinking. Furthermore, we wish to counteract any over-reliance on technology and enhance more reasonable judgment. Based on the observations pertaining to student misinterpretation of computer vs manual analysis, and grounded in the theoretical frameworks of Credibility Theory and the Elaboration Likelihood Model, we will determine how computer credibility clouds students' critical analyses in a materials science laboratory setting, and whether peer discussions of these analyses influence student understanding of the concepts over the short- and long-term. Educators from any discipline that require data analysis will be able to apply the findings of this research to their curriculum, designing course activities that take advantage of technology in a specific field while also encouraging students' critical thinking. |
| Learning from cases in a large, web-blended class-- Nursing 527 Anne Sales Medical School $4000.00 |
Abstract: The transformation of graduate nursing education at the University of Michigan requires adaptive, innovative, evidence based educational strategies to meet the changing demands of today's advanced practice registered nursing student. For this reason the University of Michigan School of Nursing has been collaborating with the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching. Web blended courses combined with monthly face to face meetings have been used for many years with class sizes of 20-25 students. Due to recent revision of the master's education curriculum, class sizes have recently increased to accommodate over 100 students, as is the case in the new N527 "Optimal Models and Systems for Health Care Delivery" course, creating challenges for a student centered approach. This new course uses adult/active learning educational methods combined with case based group activities and simulation exercises. The combination of a web-blended approach, large class size, and case-based learning is quite novel in graduate education in nursing and relatively unusual across the University of Michigan, providing a unique opportunity to capture important baseline information and reflection on the methods being used. This proposal seeks to identify what factors affect student engagement and the effect of student engagement on learning outcomes. Results of this study will guide programmatic development of future nursing courses and may be of interest in other disciplines in which students share characteristics with graduate nursing education: older students who work at least part time, and who have limited time to engage in learning activities. |
| Long-Term Impact of Patient Narrative-based Learning on Physician Attitudes Regarding Patient-Centered Care Eleanor Sun Medical School Jennifer Stojan Medical School Arno Kumagai Medical School $3000.00 |
This project is a qualitative, interview-based study of the long-term impact of the Family Centered Experience (FCE) on practicing physicians. The FCE is a medical school program at UMMS that incorporates patient narratives and reflective discussions to explore the experience of illness, doctor-patient relationships, and the humanistic side of medicine. Many of the hundreds of students who have gone through the FCE since its beginnings in 2003 are now practicing medicine either in residency programs or beyond. The proposed study is designed to investigate the reflections and insights of graduates regarding their experiences in the FCE and how these experiences have shaped their identities as physicians and their attitudes towards patient care and the practice of medicine. |
| Assessing the Impact of Engineering Service-Learning Projects in Developing Countries Ann Jeffers Engineering $4000.00 |
This CRLT Investigating Student Learning project aims to assess the learning outcomes of an international service-learning project that involves the design and construction of a suspended pedestrian bridge in a remote village in Bolivia. The PIs have collectively recruited a multidisciplinary team of students who are working together to conduct the surveying, develop a complete design of the bridge, and will eventually work with the local community to achieve the bridge's construction in 2013. Aside from fostering various technical skills, it is expected that this immersive learning experience will result in unprecedented professional and personal growth and will have a lasting impact on the students directly and indirectly involved in the experience. Funding is requested from the CRLT ISL grant to conduct a rigorous assessment of the learning outcomes, which include subject mastery, critical thinking and leadership skills, and the ability to operate within a complex social and global environment. |
| Validating the REGRESS (REsearch on Global Regression Expectations in StatisticS) Quiz Among UMich Public Health Graduate Students Kelley Kidwell Public Health $3000.00 |
Understanding statistics is becoming increasingly important in a data saturated world. Demand could surpass supply by more than 140,000 in deep analytical positions by 2018. This growing demand prompted employers to request that colleges "place more emphasis" on critical thinking and analytic reasoning, complex problem solving, and quantitative reasoning. Statistics courses, even at the introductory level, teach and instill these traits in students to help them become successful professionals. At the University of Michigan, we attempt to arm public health students with statistical tools by requiring a few introductory statistical courses in graduate school. There is not, however, much statistical education research of how effective these courses are, verifying that students with broad backgrounds leave their programs understanding the fundamentals of statistical analysis. This project aims to validate the REGRESS (REsearch on Global Regression Expectations in StatisticS) quiz for public health graduate students completing a course on regression. Validation will help to verify that students understand the fundamental concepts of regression and interpretation, skills which are indispensable and in high demand in many fields. Validation includes establishing normative levels in a graduate student population and investigating how success on the REGRESS quiz corresponds to course grades. Furthermore, students' perspectives on the value of the quiz will be qualitatively assessed. Finally, I am hopeful that I will teach this course again next year, consequently adapting the course based on the students' performance and evaluation of the REGRESS quiz, and thus, have the opportunity to implement the quiz after course modification. |
| Evaluating the Use of Social Media to Enhance the Educational Experience of a Medical School Surgery Clerkship Michael Englesbe Medical School $4000.00 |
Evaluating the Use of Social Media to Enhance the Educational Experience of a Medical School Surgery Clerkship Over the last decade, online social media has become a popular and widely used means of interpersonal interaction and communication. Twitter is one such free social networking service that allows people to communicate and interact through "microblogging:" the act of exchanging small pieces of information in 140 characters or less. Since it was created in 2006, it has grown exponentially to include more than 200 million users worldwide, with more than half "tweeting" once per month to an audience of "followers". Numerous scholarly articles have investigated the use of Twitter in medicine, including a recent JAMA article identifying more than 300 physicians on Twitter with more than 500 followers. Multiple articles highlighting the potential benefits of using Twitter for educational purposes have also been published recently. continued in project objectives... |
| Learning cariology in a new dental curriculum: Long lasting student learning of critical thinking and problem solving skills in the context of patient care Margherita Fontana Dentistry Carlos Gonzalez Dentistry $4000.00 |
Critical-thinking and problem-solving are two of the most frequently espoused goals for student learning across disciplines. As part of a current major revision of the dental school's curriculum, faculty recognized that many students struggled to translate information from the classroom and use it later during their clinical experiences in the context of patient care. Two new first year courses were developed (Cariology I and II) to enhance and facilitate critical-thinking, problem-solving, and use of evidence-based information for dental caries (dental decay) detection, diagnosis, risk assessment, prevention and management. We are interested in investigating what are the long lasting student learning outcomes from the critical-thinking and problem-solving components assessed in these courses. Specifically, does early assessment correlate with these skills being demonstrated in later years during decision-making in clinical patient care? The key purpose of our participation in the ISL (Investigating Student Learning grant) community is to systematically develop and pilot assessment rubrics derived from data from our existing course and clinical activities and/or consider piloting additional assessment strategies of critical thinking during our didactic and clinical courses throughout the curriculum, and assess the relationships between initial and long-term follow up assessments. Pedagogical activities focused on teaching critical thinking and assessment of long-term transfer of learning developed and tested as part of this proposal will have implications for teaching and learning not only for dentistry, but broadly within higher education, as these are key educational goals now-a-days of most disciplines. |
| Experiential Learning in Dementia Care for Social Workers Berit Ingersoll-Dayton Social Work Beth Spencer Social Work $4000.00 |
This project will evaluate the experiential learning of social work students as they engage in an aging- related research intervention, the Couples Life Story Project (CLSP). The CLSP focuses on older couples in which one partner has memory loss, to help them review their shared life together, learn and practice communication techniques, and focus on their strengths as partners. Student interventionists are involved in this project both as practitioners and as researchers. We will examine the extent to which student interventionists' participation in the CLSP influences their understanding of dementia, clinical skills, research, and critical reflection. To address this research question, the co-investigators will conduct in-depth interviews with student interventionists at the end of their participation in the project and analyze their responses using qualitative analysis. Findings from this project will contribute to developing creative ways of incorporating experiential learning into social work education. |
| Impact of Hands-On Activity in System Dynamics and Control Engineering Education Gillespie Brent Engineering $4000.00 |
It has long been accepted that hands-on activities can provide advantages in learning certain types of tasks. Here, we explore whether hands-on activity (as facilitated by our novel haptic device) provides a benefit in system dynamics and controls engineering education. The benefit of haptics in education has been studied in the haptics community but often relies on qualitative measures as indicators of learning. The proposed study will assess learning using both quantitative and qualitative measures, and is designed to examine the "hands-on" effect by introducing students to tasks on a novel haptic device which reinforces specific system dynamics and controls engineering concepts as they learn them. This proposal builds on the results of an IRB-approved pilot study conducted last semester in the ME 461: Automatic Controls course. |
| Development of the student motivation, interest, and comprehension of the new material outside of their major field of studies Alex Ganago Engineering $4000.00 |
We continue our research of student learning in EECS 314 Electric circuits, Systems, and Applications – a large introductory course in Electrical Engineering (EE) for non-EE majors at the College of Engineering, and propose to investigate: 1. What teaching strategies and events affect the students' motivation, interest, and comprehension? 2. How exactly do the motivation and course performance evolve during the semester for individual students and specific student groups? 3. Are there any singular events or experiences ("turning points") that spur the students' interest, motivation, and learning? Our methodology includes quantitative and qualitative analysis of online surveys and focus groups, with a special focus on the development of motivation of individual students, while maintaining their anonymity. Two graduate students (from School of Education and College of Engineering) will be involved in all aspects of this research. The results will be promptly used in teaching and disseminated at the University and nationwide. |
| Using Blogger to Improve Student Engagement and Learning Michelle Aebersold Nursing Dana Tschannen Nursing $3000.00 |
In this study, we propose to use Google Blogger as way to increase student engagement and student learning through a more collaborative learning pedagogy that encompasses the constructs of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework. Specifically were are interested in determining if Blogger increases a student's sense of community, student engagement and ability to achieve course objectives among graduate nursing students. A multi-method approach will be used to answer our research questions. The CoI survey will be used to determine student's perception of a sense of community, social network analysis will be used to student cohesion and a comparative analysis between posts submitted to Blogger and c-tools forum will be made using the CoI framework. |
| The Effects of Promoting Student Autonomy in a Gateway Course $4000.00 |
This project investigates what effects significantly increased student autonomy in a large introductory course has for student learning, learning styles, and future success as well as how this autonomy shapes students' course and academic career choices. The project focuses on Political Science 101, Introduction to Political Theory, in which I try to foster student autonomy by offering multiple, optional paths to satisfy course requirements, by using nonstandard evaluation instruments to leverage students' prior skills and inclinations, and by giving students some choice in how they are graded. The project uses multiple methods, including quantitative comparisons of student college careers, surveys, and interviews. The project contributes to discussions of student motivation, learning and its assessment, self-regulated learning and metacognition, and to questions of how to plan, run, and assess large courses. |
