Preferred teaching and learning approaches of students considered ‘Generation Y’ in health professions pre registration education: A comprehensive systematic review protocol

Abstract

Review question/objective The aim of this systematic review is to present the best available evidence on teaching and learning strategies or methods preferred by 'Generation Y' health care professional students. The specific review question to be addressed is: What are the teaching and learning strategies or methods preferred by ‘Generation Y’ health care professional students? Objectives The quantitative objective is to identify teaching and learning approaches and activities preferred by ‘Generation Y’ students in health professional tertiary education, reported by students. The qualitative objective is to describe the meaningfulness of teaching and learning approaches and activities preferred by 'Generation Y' health professional students in tertiary education as reported by students. Inclusion criteria Types of participants This review will focus on health professional students in tertiary education from 2000 onwards. Health professions to be included are as follows: medicine, nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology, medical radiation science, nutrition and dietetics, oral health and podiatry. Students must be identified as 'Generation Y' or an associated generational label including the 'Millennials', the 'Next Generation', the 'Net Generation', the 'Digital Generation' or the abbreviated title 'Gen Y'. Types of intervention(s)/phenomena of interest For the purposes of this review teaching and learning strategies are defined as any curricula design, formative or summative assessment, feedback mechanisms or innovative technological approaches or course structure used in the educational curricula of health care professional students. For the purpose of this review teaching and learning methods are defined as any educational task, activity or process which aims to engage students to construct meaning, or develop the knowledge, skills or attributes to meet the learning objectives of a course or program and contribute to graduating competence. The quantitative component of the review will consider studies that investigate teaching and learning strategies utilized in the development of ‘Generation Y’ health professional students. The qualitative component of this review will consider studies that report on the experiences or views of health professional ‘Generation Y’ students, regarding teaching and learning strategies or methods. Types of outcomes This review will consider studies that include the main outcome measures of teaching and learning which is the construction of meaning and the attainment of skills, knowledge and attitudes that meet the learning objectives set contributing to the achievement of practice competence. Other educational outcome measures such as student satisfaction and student engagement in the teaching and learning process will also be included. The qualitative outcomes of interest will incorporate the students self reported experiences of learning approaches.