Experiential Learning Group Research Articles

The Effect of PhET Simulation vs. Phenomenon-based Experiential Learning on Students’ Integration of Motion Along Two Independent Axes in Projectile Motion

Research in the past decades has repeatedly revealed that first year university students struggle to understand two-dimensional projectile motion concepts. In contrast to high school, projectile motion frequently makes use of components and it requires at least a basic understanding of trigonometry concepts. To follow the lessons and generate conceptual understanding in two-dimensional projectile motion, students need to connect the concepts developed in the last three years of high school. The present study compared the effects of two instructional approaches, i.e. projectile motion Physics Education Technology (PhET) simulation vs. phenomenon-based experiential learning, on students’ conceptual understanding of the integration of motion along two independent axes among first-year physics students. A purposive sample consisted of 154 first-year physics students at a public university in South Africa. The study adopted an experimental, mixed-method research design. A self-developed and piloted Projectile Motion Conceptual Test and semi-structured interviews with 12 students from across the performance spectrum were used for data collection. A reliability coefficient of 0.72 was established using the Kuderson–Richardson correlation moment coefficient. The results denoted that PhET simulation outperformed phenomenon-based experiential learning in improving students’ conceptual understanding of the integration of motion along independent axes in projectile motion. The ANOVA-test showed that the PhET groups achieved significantly higher scores on the post-test than phenomenon-based experiential learning groups. The findings of this study are diagnostic and they assist module designers in determining conceptual difficulties students face in projectile motion.

BREAKING THE CYCLE: AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE REPEATED CRISIS, EMERGENCY ROOM, ADMISSION PROCESS: THE WORKINGS OF A DIALECTICAL BEHAVIOR THERAPY–BASED INTENSIVE OUTPATIENT PROGRAMS

Repeat hospitalizations and frequent trips to the emergency room are often a way of life for many families with teenagers who are struggling with depression, anxiety, trauma, and budding personality disorders. The result is a loss of educational continuity and disruption of parental livelihood. Because of the risk, there are very few individual therapists who are willing to work with this population. A DBT-based intensive outpatient treatment program enables multiple adolescents to access care simultaneously and teaches parents and adolescents the same skills while fostering their ability to communicate effectively. This Workshop will use a lecture format to teach the basic tenets of DBT, small group experiential learning to explore the workings of a DBT-based intensive outpatient program (IOP), and small-group discussions to explore the patient selection process as well as methods of maximizing a family’s chance of successfully breaking the cycle.

Start-Up Sprint: Providing a Small Group Learning Experience in a Large Group Setting

Entrepreneurial education should reflect the real-world entrepreneurial process by providing for experiential learning. The challenge is reconciling this with the resource constraints that lead to large class settings, even in specialized postgraduate programs. This article offers practical suggestions for creating a highly interactive event as part of a largely lecture-based module. Students participate in a full-day Start-Up Sprint that uses real-world entrepreneurship tools and mimics the intense experience of a start-up event. This experiential exercise is designed to provide students in a large class with the experience and benefits of small group teaching, through a hands-on problem-based learning exercise that is supported by mentoring and live feedback. It provides entrepreneurship teachers of large classes with a way to mitigate the constraints of large classes, faculty time, and physical infrastructure and offer students a meaningful learning experience.

Evaluation of food safety curriculum effectiveness: A longitudinal study of high-school-aged youths’ knowledge retention, risk-perception, and perceived behavioral control

Societal changes have prompted the elimination of Family and Consumer Science courses from many schools and the reduction of food-handler role models at home. Declining opportunities for youth to acquire food-handling knowledge and skills increases their risk of contracting a foodborne illness. Many youths are employed in food service and could perpetuate the spread of foodborne illness. In this study, two food safety curricula were evaluated for effectiveness in changing the food safety knowledge, risk-perception, and perceived behavioral control (PBC) of high school students enrolled in microbiology and agriculture courses, immediately following and one year after an educational intervention. One curriculum utilized the Positive Deviance (PD) model, while the other utilized Experiential Learning (EL) methods. Survey questions related to risk-perception and PCB were measured on a five-point Likert scale. Twenty-four knowledge questions were assigned one point for each correct answer and zero points for incorrect answers. Risk-perception and PBC continued to increase from the post-survey to the follow-up survey among the PD and EL Groups. After the educational intervention, the EL Group perceived themselves to be at a greater risk for contracting a foodborne illness and became significantly more confident in their abilities to clean food-contact surfaces, store food safely, and prepare food that is safe to eat. Knowledge scores also significantly increased among the PD (16.88–18.78) and EL (16.66–18.81) Groups. After one year, only the EL Group scored significantly higher on the follow-up survey (18.87) than on the pre-survey (16.66). Microbiology students achieved the highest knowledge scores (20.47) after the educational intervention; however, their knowledge gain significantly attenuated (19.39) after one year. Students reported sharing food safety information with family to improve food-handling behaviors. This study demonstrates the need for continued food safety education to retain knowledge and highlights the study's curricula continued influence on students' risk-perception and PBC.

Experiential learning for children\u2019s dental anxiety: a cluster randomized trial

BackgroundDental anxiety (DA) has an impact on the quality of dental treatment and may have long-lasting implications for children. A recent study introducing experiential learning (EL) into children’s oral health promotion resulted in better oral hygiene. The purpose of the study is to evaluate whether EL can reduce children’s DA.MethodsIn September 2018, we recruited 988 children aged 7–8 years from 24 classes to participate in a cluster-randomized trial. Classes were randomly assigned to EL (in which children received a lively presentation on oral health and participated in a role play in a simulated dental clinic in the classroom) or the Tell-Show-Do (TSD) group (in which children received a conventional TSD behavior management). The primary outcome was the prevalence of high DA after the procedure of pit and fissure sealant (PFS), assessed by a modified Children’s Fear Survey Schedule-Dental Subscale. Secondary outcomes were changes in blood pressures (BP) and pulse rates (PR) before and after the PFS procedure. The intervention effects were estimated by means of mixed effect models, which included covariates of gender and school (and baseline value for BP and PR only), and a random cluster effect.ResultsIn 396 children of the EL group who received the PFS treatment, the prevalence of high DA (score ≥ 38) was 18.5%, compared with 24.3% in 391 children of the TSD group (OR = 0.65; 95% confidence interval, 0.46–0.93; P = 0.019). The increases in BP and PR after the PFS were also significantly less in the EL group.ConclusionSchool-based experiential learning intervention before a dental visit is feasible and effective in reducing children’s dental anxiety during PFS.Trial registrationThe trial was registered in Chinese Clinical Trial Registry on 5 January 2020 (No.: ChiCTR2000028878, retrospectively registered).

Effects of Active Outdoor Play on Preschool Children’s on-Task Classroom Behavior

Physical activity—including outdoor motor play—has been associated with learning and brain-related functions and abilities in elementary school children and adolescence. Few studies have been conducted on the relationships between active play and these cognitive processes in preschool aged children. Several investigations have revealed that adult-directed physical activity can enhance preschoolers’ performance on measures of executive functions, such as inhibitory control or attention. In the present investigation we sought to determine if naturalistic playground play would have a similar effect to adult-guided exercise on a classroom indicator of young children’s cognitive control—on-task behavior during a whole group learning experience. The on-task behavior of 21 three-, four-, and five-year-olds was compared under two conditions—one in which children played outdoors immediately prior to the experience and one in which they did not. Too, the relationship between the level of physical activity on the playground of children and their on-task behavior directly following it was examined. Findings indicate that outdoor play prior to learning resulted in greater on-task behavior for boys and children of low socioeconomic status. Level of activity in play prior to a learning time was positively related to on-task behavior. Implications for scheduling of outdoor play and the role of teachers’ in facilitating more active motor play are discussed. Future research on a larger, more diverse sample of children is recommended.

Fostering Students’ Critical Thinking and Achievement in Basic Science Using Graphic Organizer and Experiential Learning Strategies with Feedback

The study investigated the effects of graphic organizer (GO) and experiential learning (EL) with feedback on the mean achievement and students’ critical thinking in Jos North Local Government Area of the Plateau State of Nigeria. A pre-test post-test quasi-experimental design was used. A sample of 75 students was drawn from the population of 1950 junior secondary (JS) two students. Two instruments, the Basic Science and Technology Achievement Test (BSTAT) and a critical thinking test (CTT), were used for data collection. The respective reliability coefficient values of 0.81 and 0.79 were obtained using an item response theory three parameter logistic model. The statistical tools used for data analysis were mean and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). Results revealed that students taught using GO had a mean gain of 12.99 while students taught using EL had mean gain of 12.02 in the BSTAT. ANCOVA analysis of post-test mean scores in the BSTAT, F (1, 58) = 1.282, ρ > 0.05, was not significant. Furthermore, ANCOVA analysis between mean post-test scores of the CTT for GO and EL groups F (3, 81) = 2.236, ρ > 0.05, was not significant. GO an EL with feedback strategies enhanced students’ achievement and critical thinking with GO being slightly superior. Both strategies are recommended for use in teaching Basic Science and Technology.

Regulating self-organized collaborative learning: the importance of homogeneous problem perception, immediacy and intensity of strategy use.

Very often, university students deliberately form self-organized study groups, e.g. to study collaboratively for an upcoming exam. Yet, very little is known about what regulation problems such self-organized study groups encounter during their learning process and how they try to cope with these problems. Therefore, this study investigates how completely self-organized groups (i.e., non-guided groups outside the classroom that form without external impulse) regulate their collaborative learning process when faced with different kinds of regulation problems. More specifically, we tested the hypotheses that members of self-organized study groups are more satisfied with their group learning experience (a) the more homogeneous their problem perceptions are within their group, (b) the more they apply immediate (rather than non-immediate) strategies to remedy their regulation problems, and (c) the more frequently they apply regulation strategies. In a longitudinal study, N = 122 students, voluntarily studying for their exams in N = 52 groups, were asked to indicate the types of problems they experienced, the types of strategies they used to tackle those problems, and their satisfaction with their group learning experience after each of their self-organized study meetings. Hierarchical linear modeling confirmed all hypotheses. Qualitative analysis of two selected groups’ self-reported situational data provided additional insights about the mechanisms that may have contributed to the results. Our study provides important directions for future research, including the recommendation to identify the processes by which groups (a) can reach homogeneity of problem perceptions and (b) coordinate the choice of appropriate strategies within the group.

Integrating Competency-Based Didactic and Experiential Global Health Learning for Dental Students: The Global Health Learning Helix Model.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and preliminary outcomes of immersive integrated experiential and didactic courses in strengthening competency-based global health learning in dental education. To address global inequities in oral health and student interest in global health, the Harvard School of Dental Medicine introduced two global health courses in 2017-18. The first was a didactic course in the core predoctoral curriculum, and the second, in collaboration with the Inter-American Center for Global Health, was a five-day elective experiential learning course in rural Costa Rica. The experiential course was an extension of the didactic course. All 33 second-year dental students completed the didactic course, and three of those students completed the experiential course. A pre-post survey and a six-month follow-up survey on self-reported knowledge based on course learning objectives were administered. The experiential course students also completed journals and interviews for qualitative analysis. Thirty-two students completed the pre-post didactic course surveys, for a response rate of 94%. There was a 100% response rate on the pre-post didactic surveys by those students who participated in the experiential learning course. While the experiential learning group scored similarly to the class average before the didactic course, they had higher scores than the class averages both immediately after and at the six-month follow-up. All three students reported that the experiential learning course was "extremely effective" in building on what they learned in the didactic course. Qualitative analysis of the journals and interviews suggested enhanced learning from the combination of didactic and experiential methods. These preliminary results support the Global Health Learning Helix Model, a theoretical competency-based teaching model for ethical student global health engagement to better prepare the future generation in tackling oral health disparities both locally and worldwide.

Comparing experiential versus conventional learning on knowledge retention for teaching surgery to medical graduates

BackgroundThe study aims to evaluate and see if experiential learning theory for teaching cataract surgery can improve the ability of students to retain more knowledge compared to the classical or traditional way of teaching. MethodsA pre and post control group design of 32 graduates at --------------------------------------, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia was conducted. The total of graduates including males and females were divided into control and experimental groups to which the educational materials about cataract surgery were presented as a lecture and as wet lab session respectively. All the data collected were entered in SPSS version 22 for analysis and a p ≤ 0.05 was considered significant. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board, ---------------------------------------, Riyadh, KSA. Also a written consent form was obtained from all participants. Data were secured and participants received a number to secure their identity.The study was done during the academic year 2016 to examine the effect of experiential learning as an applicable way for teaching cataract surgery. ResultsBoth control and experimental groups showed good retention rate of knowledge. However, the gain of knowledge was more in the Wet lab group. The scores mean increased more than 5 points in this group compared to 2.5 points only in the lecture groups. ConclusionBoth teaching modalities were effective in improving the knowledge rate of the students. However, in the experiential learning group (Wet lab group), the gain of knowledge was higher compared to that in the traditional group (lecture group).

Comparing experiential versus conventional learning on knowledge retention for teaching surgery to medical graduates.

PURPOSE:The study aims to evaluate and see if experiential learning theory for teaching cataract surgery can improve the ability of students to retain more knowledge compared to the classical or traditional way of teaching.METHODS:A pre and post control group design of 32 graduates was conducted in 2016 at King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to examine the effect of experiential learning as an applicable way for teaching cataract surgery. The total of graduates including males and females were divided into control and experimental groups to which the educational materials about cataract surgery were presented as a lecture and as wet lab session respectively. All the data collected were entered in SPSS version 22 for analysis and a P ≤ 0.05 was considered significant.RESULTS:Both control and experimental groups showed good retention rate of knowledge. However, the gain of knowledge was more in the Wet lab group. The scores mean increased more than 5 points in this group compared to 2.5 points only in the lecture groups.CONCLUSION:Both teaching modalities were effective in improving the knowledge rate of the students. However, in the experiential learning group (Wet lab group), the gain of knowledge was higher compared to that in the traditional group (lecture group).

A Randomized Controlled Trial of Two Methods to Improve Motivational Interviewing Training

Purpose: This randomized controlled study examines the efficacy of two innovative methods to teach beginning motivational interviewing (MI) skills: live supervision (LS), a small group experiential learning interaction with standardized client actors and in-the-moment guidance from a supervisor, and a coding learning (CL) method, where students in a classroom setting are introduced to MI skill development via learning to code MI practice behaviors. Methods: Seventeen social work students in a child welfare training program were randomized to receive either LS or CL training method. Changes in MI knowledge, attitudes, and MI skill were assessed through self-report and observational measures pretraining, posttraining, and at 5 months follow-up, after a semester of learning-as-usual. Results: Both training groups demonstrated an improvement in MI knowledge and attitudes from pretest to follow-up. MI skill gain within groups varied for specific MI skills. Discussion: Implications for maximally efficient MI training are advanced.

Developing professional identity through group experiential learning: A Group-Analytic experiential training approach for use with postgraduate clinical psychology students

This article describes a Group-Analytic, experiential and non-directive training approach taken with postgraduate clinical psychology students in training. Based on median/large group settings, it is aimed at promoting the development of psychology students’ professional identities. It uses a particular form of experiential learning beyond the rational and cognitive aspects of traditional didactic teaching in order to stimulate students’ own involvement in the integration of their thoughts, feelings and attitudes. From a Group-Analytic perspective, the group is conceived of as an organic entity. The convenor takes up a less intrusive and non-directive role in comparison to a traditional seminar leader. The learning outcomes that may be obtained with this group model are outlined in a description of group process below, and through the content analysis of verbalizations of students who participated in the twelve-session experiential group. The results confirm the usefulness of the Group-Analytic experiential training approach, highlighting the construction of professional self-awareness, achieved through students exploring their own relationship modalities in an intersubjective learning space.

Creating Effective Collaborative Learning Groups in an Online Health Promotion Course

In this paper, an undergraduate-level online health promotion course is used to illustrate how to incorporate group learning experiences into courses that create productive, engaging, and skill-building environments for learners.

Effective Learning Strategies in the Homes of Famous Artists and Writers Converted to Museums

<p class="Normal1"><em>Homes of writers and artists that have been converted into museums are powerful frameworks for a wide range of both individual and group learning experiences. The museums have a unique ability to engage the learners on a deeper level by piquing their curiosity, and also by encouraging participative creative activities. The foundation is that of experiential learning, with an emphasis on authentic and content-based learning. Each visit to an artist’s home museum is a springboard for more universal learning experiences, particularly if the learner follows up and builds on memories of the visit, or to the museum’s website. Meta-cognitive development of analytical skills and creative techniques can enrich the learner, particularly when accompanied by both individual and collaborative online activities. Each artist or writer’s home provides a unique experience, which provides an opportunity for the museum’s educational and creative staff to be very creative. </em><em>The homes in this article include those of Pablo Neruda, Alexander Pushkin, Ilya Repin, Carson McCullers, Isak Dinesen, and Juan José Arreola.</em><em></em></p>

Research accountability groups and mentoring minutes: The M³ approach to promote public health infectious diseases research for diverse graduate students.

Efforts to recruit and retain public health researchers should include scholars that reflect the demographics of the United States. Innovative research mentoring programs that integrate one-to-one and small group learning experiences may result in improved engagement and research productivity among graduate school scholars from underrepresented populations in public health research fields. This study analyzed leadership characteristics and research productivity of 54 graduate scholars who participated in the Dr. James A. Ferguson Emerging Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program (Ferguson Fellowship). Ferguson Fellows participated in 9-week research experience before and after implementation of a multimodal mentorship (M3) designed to support submission of research abstracts to national scientific conferences. M3 strategies included: (a) weekly research content mentoring, (b) myIDP, (c) professional development (process) mentoring, and (d) Research Accountability Groups. Overall, transformational leadership characteristics improved following completion of the Ferguson Fellowship (M = 3.71, SD = 6.37), t(33) = 3.39, p < .01. Transformational leadership characteristics of Ferguson Fellows who received M3 improved significantly (M = 3.88, SD = 6.63), t(24) = 2.93, p < .01 during the program. Fellows who received M3 had almost 4 times (OR = 3.88; 95% CI [1.21, 12.47], p < .05) higher odds of submitting research to scientific meetings compared to their peers who did not participate in M3. Providing process mentoring and research accountability groups were associated with increased research self-efficacy. Graduate scholars from underrepresented populations may benefit from multimodal mentoring strategies that provide scholars with individualized research and professional development support based on the scholar's needs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Impact of an Educational Intervention on Ankle–Brachial Index Performance Among Medical Students and Fidelity Assessment at Six Months

The resting ankle-brachial index (ABI) is a clinical test to diagnose peripheral artery disease. The Wyatt's score has been proposed to assess the students' performance on ABI measurement on a healthy volunteer (HV). No study has shown that this score is sensitive to different teaching methods. In this randomized controlled trial, we wanted to determine whether didactic learning alone or didactic learning combined with experiential learning improves proficiency in the ABI procedure assessed by the Wyatt's score. Medical students (n=30) received a didactic learning, including (1) a presentation of the ABI guidelines and (2) a video demonstration. Each student was then randomized into 2 groups ("the no experiential learning group" and "the experiential learning group"). An initial evaluation was performed after the didactic learning and then the final evaluation at the end of the intervention. A student was considered to be proficient when he performed a correct ABI procedure on an HV. The correct procedure corresponds to the following: (1) correctly answered Wyatt's score and (2) a difference in the ABI measurement between a professor in vascular medicine and a student was ≤0.15. No student was proficient at the initial evaluation. At the final evaluation, there was a significant difference between the number of proficient students for the Wyatt's score depending on their learning group [didactic alone (1/10) or didactic+experiential training (15/20)] and also for the ABI procedure [didactic alone (0/10) or didactic+experiential training (16/20)]. At 6 months, among the 12 students who passed the final evaluation, 4 students passed both the Wyatt's score and the ABI measurement. Our study demonstrates that the Wyatt's score was sensitive to an educational intervention and no improvement was found in the case of "no experiential learning." The Wyatt's score could be used to evaluate the student on ABI measurement after an educational intervention. A randomized controlled trial was conducted in the Vascular Medicine Department of Rennes University Hospital (France). This was approved by the ethics review board of our institution (no. 16.150).

ConfChem Conference on Mathematics in Undergraduate Chemistry Instruction: The Chem-Math Project

From 2005 to 2010, I conducted 80 min recitations for ∼20% of the general chemistry population who were identified and placed as underprepared or at-risk in the first semester, or who elected it as their assigned “group-learning experience” in the second semester. Action-research was used to determine the extent of mathematics remediation needed, the effectiveness of pedagogical techniques used, and the increase in students’ skills and confidence in course success as a result of our work together. Data for analysis included recorded student dialogue and individual interviews, survey data, students’ work on paper, and photos of group work on white-boards. This report summarizes paper 6 of the 8 invited papers to the ConfChem online conference on Mathematics in Undergraduate Chemistry Instruction, held from October 23 to November 27, 2017, and hosted by the ACS DivCHED Committee on Computers in Chemical Education (CCCE).

An instructional strategy for gymnastics based on versatile kinesthesis experience and its effects on enjoyment and performance

Two learning methods for developing high performance and enjoyment in gymnastics were investigated. The participants were healthy undergraduates (n = 38) who were randomly divided into a “model mastery learning group”, for which ideal movements were emphasized, and a “kinesthetic experiential learning group”, for which practice of various movements was emphasized, when performing balance exercises on a gymnastic ball. The psychological effects of the two learning methods were compared using the Intrinsic Motivation Scale, Sport Flow Scale, and Two-Dimensional Mood Scale. Improvements in gymnastic performance were evaluated by timing the durations of balancing on the ball and observations by expert gymnasts. The results indicated that the participants in the kinesthetic experiential learning group had better balancing times and higher intrinsic motivation, flow state, and pleasure mood scores, whereas the stability of posture on the ball was considered to be higher in the model mastery learning group. These findings suggest that learning methods using proactive, trial and error learning, and assorted experiences with versatile kinesthesis are more effective for promoting the enjoyment of gymnastics and improving exercise performance.

Interprofessional educator development : Build it and they will come.

BackgroundWe describe an interprofessional educator development program, designed intentionally, that was implemented at an academic healthcare centre. In 2014, we purposefully adapted our pre-existing educator development program to be able to include all interprofessional educators at our institution. The program’s goals were to enhance educator skills, a common need due to requirements of accreditation, and to create a local interprofessional community of teachers. The framework of the program was based upon adult learning principles, reflective practice, experiential learning and peer groups, all key characteristics of faculty development programs. It was also longitudinal and immersive. Kirkpatrick’s program evaluation model was used for identifying results; participants’ self-reported evaluation forms were collected and their narrative comments were analyzed.ResultsAfter we opened our educator program to all interprofessional staff, our number of program participants increased. The interprofessional participants included, but was not limited to, physicians, physician trainees, nurses, physician assistants, audiologists, perfusionists, and basic science researchers. Our number of program sessions and program faculty were expanded. Our interprofessional participants reported that they were able to learn essential knowledge, skills and attitudes for their growth and development as educators, in the context of an interprofessional community, while also appreciating the diversity of their peers.DiscussionWe share our insights with the redesign and implementation of an interprofessional educator program so that others can learn from our experiences. Key takeaways include using a conceptual framework for teaching effectiveness, involving interprofessional stakeholders and obtaining their perspectives, reviewing interprofessional literature and competencies, and highlighting best practices across the disciplines.