Abstract
BackgroundStudent engagement is an important domain for medical education, however, it is difficult to quantify. The goal of this study was to investigate the utility of virtual patient simulations (VPS) for increasing medical student engagement. Our aims were specifically to investigate how and to what extent the VPS foster student engagement. This study took place at A.T. Still University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona (ATSU-SOMA), in the USA.MethodsFirst year medical students (n = 108) worked in teams to complete a series of four in-class virtual patient case studies. Student engagement was measured, defined as flow, interest, and relevance. These dimensions were measured using four data collection instruments: researcher observations, classroom photographs, tutor feedback, and an electronic exit survey. Qualitative data were analyzed using a grounded theory approach.ResultsTriangulation of findings between the four data sources indicate that VPS foster engagement in three facets:Flow. In general, students enjoyed the activities, and were absorbed in the task at hand.Interest. Students demonstrated interest in the activities, as evidenced by enjoyment, active discussion, and humor. Students remarked upon elements that caused cognitive dissonance: excessive text and classroom noise generated by multi-media and peer conversations.Relevance. VPS were relevant, in terms of situational clinical practice, exam preparation, and obtaining concrete feedback on clinical decisions.ConclusionsResearchers successfully introduced a new learning platform into the medical school curriculum. The data collected during this study were also used to improve new learning modules and techniques associated with implementing them in the classroom. Results of this study assert that virtual patient simulations foster engagement in terms of flow, relevance, and interest.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12909-016-0530-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Student engagement is an important domain for medical education, it is difficult to quantify
Results of this study assert that virtual patient simulations foster engagement in terms of flow, relevance, and interest
Results from this study indicated that the virtual patient simulations (VPS) allowed students to actualize theoretical knowledge, and were characterized by student’s active engagement in reasoning
Summary
Student engagement is an important domain for medical education, it is difficult to quantify. New media literacy research [8, 9] indicates that the current Internet generation student population is more fully engaged by electronic media and audio-visual stimulation In response to these trends, we sought to increase student focus, participation, and collaboration through interactive, technology-enhanced instruction during first year small group clinical case practice [6, 7]. VPS are interactive computer simulations of real-life clinical scenarios for the purpose of medical training, education, or assessment [11]. This medium was selected because VPS deliver instruction in an interactive modality suitable for first year medical students, who are typically comfortable with multi-media and web-based games [8, 12,13,14]. Situational learning theory [17] supported our efforts to foster peer co-construction of knowledge by solving real life problems in a situational context [17] (a patient encounter) through the medium of a VPS
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