Preferred Learning Approaches Research Articles

Evaluating the Dynamics of Learning Approaches: A Systematic Review Investigating the Nexus Between Teaching Methods and Academic Performance in Medical and Dental Education

AbstractIn recent decades, a noticeable trend has emerged in medical and dental schools to adjust their curricula to promote learning strategies and habits geared towards long-term knowledge retention. This systematic review therefore sought to examine whether different teaching methods influence students’ preferred learning approaches (deep, strategic, and surface approach) and indirectly affect their academic performance. Furthermore, it provides a comprehensive overview of the inconsistencies evident in previous literature regarding the relationship between learning approaches and academic performance of medical and dental students. A thorough search across eight databases yielded 49 relevant studies published between the years 2000 and 2023. The majority of studies revealed that whilst deep and strategic learners tend to excel at medical or dental school, surface learners appear to struggle under intense workload and pressure. Hence, a common consensus emerged amongst the existing literature that there is a relative benefit in attempting to guide students towards deep and strategic learning habits and to minimise surface-related learning strategies. However, results also conveyed that merely modifying the teaching methods used in medical and dental schools has limited merit. As such, the results emphasised the lack of a ‘one-size-fits-all’ teaching method. Common factors influencing learning approaches were subsequently identified, and based on these findings, an outlook was put forth to integrate a cognitive neuroscience approach into higher education. These directions for future investigations aim to help students reach their full potential by understanding the processes underlying efficient learning and by being mindful of respective encouraging and discouraging factors.

A hybrid machine learning approach for forecasting residential electricity consumption: A case study in Singapore

Ensuring effective forecasting of buildings' energy consumption is crucial in establishing a greater understanding and improvement of buildings' energy efficiency. In Singapore, domestic electricity usage in public residential buildings takes up a significant portion of the country's annual energy consumption. Having effective forecasting approaches is thus important in supporting relevant strategies and policy making. In this research, we proposed a hybrid approach that was based on a combination of building characteristics and urban landscape variables to predict residential housing electricity usage in Singapore. XGboost was also incorporated inside the hybrid approach as the preferred machine learning approach for energy consumption predictions. To demonstrate our proposed approach's predictive strength, the performance of our proposed hybrid machine learning approach was compared with two other models, Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) model and the Random Forest (RF) model. Results showed that our proposed hybrid model had outperformed these abovementioned approaches with higher accuracy (r2 value of 0.9). The proposed approach had thus been effective in forecasting electricity consumption for public housing in Singapore, and it could also be utilised in other similar urban areas for future electricity consumption forecasting.

Large-Scale Predictions of Compound Potency with Original and Modified Activity Classes Reveal General Prediction Characteristics and Intrinsic Limitations of Conventional Benchmarking Calculations.

Predicting compound potency is a major task in computational medicinal chemistry, for which machine learning is often applied. This study systematically predicted compound potency values for 367 target-based compound activity classes from medicinal chemistry using a preferred machine learning approach and simple control methods. The predictions produced unexpectedly similar results for different classes and comparably high accuracy for machine learning and simple control models. Based on these findings, the influence of different data set modifications on relative prediction accuracies was explored, including potency range balancing, removal of nearest neighbors, and analog series-based compound partitioning. The predictions were surprisingly resistant to these modifications, leading to only small error margin increases. These findings also show that conventional benchmark settings are unsuitable for directly comparing potency prediction methods.

Evaluation of Learning Approaches among First-Year Medical and Dental Students of a Private University, in Malaysia

INTRODUCTION: Every learner has a way of interacting with the knowledge they have acquired, and this interaction is called a learning approach. Knowing the student's favorite learning methods will facilitate them with directions tailored to their unique needs. This study aims to measure the differences in learning approaches among first-year medical and dental students of a private university, in Malaysia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A three-month analytical cross-sectional study was undertaken among the interested students. The self-administered, validated ASSIST questionnaire was used to measure students’ preferred learning approaches. The Pearson correlation and independent sample t-test were used to analyze the data with SPSS software. The p-value was set at less than 0.05 to indsicate a significant level. RESULTS: A total of 225 students participated, out of which 150 (66.7%) respondents were medical students, and 75 (33.3%) were dental students. Medical students reported a favoured considerably deep learning approach over dental students (t=2.874, p=0.004), and preferred the strategic approach to learning (t=2.051, p=0.041). There was a weak and no significant correlation between the concept of learning (learning as reproducing knowledge [RK] p=0.377, learning involving personal understanding [PU] p=0.269), self-rating (p=0.824), and the surface learning approach. Both medical and dental students have no significant difference in surface learning approach with t =0.556 and p=0.579. CONCLUSION: Medical students favoured deep and strategic learning over dental students. While there was no significant difference in the surface learning approach, the deep and strategic learning approaches were substantially connected with the notion of learning, types of courses/teaching, and self-rating. The knowledge of learning approaches will assist educators in making efforts to address students through successful teaching strategies. Once teachers understand the need to accommodate individual strengths and needs, they will devise appropriate new teaching methods.

Can We Make the Collegiate Personal Health Course More Relevant and Applicable?

ABSTRACT Background Many institutions offer introductory personal health courses to fulfill a general requirement; however, gaps may exist regarding health education and information students receive and what they find relevant to their lives. Purpose Identification of topics of salience/relevance to college students in introductory personal health courses, including delivery improvement recommendations. Methods We interviewed students (ages 18–25) who completed an introductory personal health course. MAXQDA© was used for organizing codes and themes responsive to research questions. Results Emergent themes related to mental health, exercise, nutrition, stress, sexual health, and alcohol substance use were uncovered. Students preferred interactive learning and harm reduction approaches to passive learning. Discussion A disconnect exists between students’ interests and what is taught. Formats for presenting topics alienated students, making them feel judged if pursuing questions. The gap between the product desired and that delivered occurred across delivery platforms, syllabi, and textbooks. Translation to Health Education Practice: We heard praise for examples of active, skills-based learning. Students were eager to improve content and delivery and enumerated examples of how to make courses more relevant and applicable. Instructors may need to be better prepared in content, pedagogy, and health-based philosophy to accommodate the diverse student population at collegiate institutions. A AJHE Self-Study quiz is online for this article via the SHAPE America Online Institute (SAOI) http://portal.shapeamerica.org/trn-Webinars.

A Comparative Study of EFL Learners' Preferred Learning Styles for the English Language at the Secondary Level

The study examined secondary Urdu EFL students' favourite learning styles. This study compares public and private Urdu EFL learners' preferred English learning approaches. Descriptive quantitative research was used. All Pakpattan District public and private secondary school students were studied. The study used a learning styles questionnaire. EFL research employed a questionnaire, which was reliable. The study sample took the questionnaire. The most common statistical methods—mean score and standard deviation—were employed to assess the data. According to the survey, private secondary school students believe they can recall everything they hear. The study found that public and private school children learn languages similarly. Both prefer auditory and visual learning over tactile. Private secondary school kids learn English via lecturing and remember through listening. The study suggests that teachers recognize students' English learning styles and teach them accordingly.

Participatory peer research exploring the experience of learning during Covid-19 for allied health and healthcare science students.

The teaching and learning experience of allied health and healthcare science students has altered because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Limited research has explored the experience on the future healthcare workforce using participatory research design. The aim of this study was to explore the impact of a global pandemic on the clinical and academic experiences of healthcare student using a co-production approach with student peer researchers. A participatory research approach adopting online focus groups facilitated by students trained as peer researchers was adopted. First, second and final year students from occupational therapy, physiotherapy, podiatry, healthcare science, diagnostic radiography and imaging, radiotherapy and oncology, and speech and language therapy were recruited to six focus groups. Data generated through focus groups were analysed thematically using the DEPICT model to support a partnership approach. Twenty-three participants took part in six focus groups. The themes identified were: rapid changes to learning; living alongside Covid-19 and psychological impact. Students preferred blended learning approaches when available, as reduced peer interaction, studying and sleeping in the same space, and technology fatigue decreased motivation. Due to rapid changes in learning and the stress, anxiety and isolation created by the pandemic, managing study, personal life and placement resulted in a gap in confidence in clinical skills development for students. Students took their professional identity seriously, engaged in behaviours to reduce transmission of Covid-19 and employed a range of coping strategies to protect wellbeing. A challenge with the move to online delivery was the absence of informal peer learning and students indicated that moving forward they would value a hybrid approach to delivery. Higher Education should capitalise on innovative learning experiences developed during the pandemic however it is important to research the impact this has on student skill acquisition and learning experience.

An Overview of Pavement Degradation Prediction Models

Pavement management systems (PMSs) have a primary role in determining pavement condition monitoring and maintenance strategies. Moreover, many researchers have focused on pavement condition evaluation tools, starting with data collection, followed by processing, analyzing, and ultimately reaching practical conclusions regarding pavement condition. The analysis step is considered an essential part of the pavement condition evaluation process, as it focuses on the tools used to find the most accurate results. On the other hand, prediction models are important tools used in pavement condition evaluation to determine the current and future performance of the road pavement. Therefore, pavement condition prediction has an effective and significant role in identifying the appropriate maintenance techniques and treatment processes. Moreover, pavement performance indices are commonly used as key indicators to describe the condition of pavement surfaces and the level of pavement degradation. This paper systematically summarizes the existing performance prediction models conducted to predict the condition of asphalt pavement degradation using pavement condition indexes (PCI) and the international roughness index (IRI). These performance indices are commonly used in pavement monitoring to accurately evaluate the health status of pavement. The paper also identifies and summarizes the most influencing parameters in road pavement condition prediction models and presents the strength and weaknesses of each prediction model. The findings show that most previous studies preferred machine learning approaches and artificial neural networks forecasting and estimating the road pavement conditions because of their ability to deal with massive data, their higher accuracy, and them being worthwhile in solving time-series problems.

Association Between Learning Approaches and Medical Student Academic Progression During Preclinical Training.

PurposeStudents have diverse learning preferences that can impact the achievement of learning outcomes. However, there is a lack of unequivocal evidence for an association between the learning preferences and academic success. The purpose of the study was to examine the association between learning approaches and academic success of medical students during the basic science curriculum.MethodsIn this cross-sectional comparative study, low-achieving (n=80) and high-achieving students (n=50) from semesters 1 through 3 of the Ross University School of Medicine’s basic science curriculum completed the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST) short-form to provide data on their learning approaches. Student’s-t test was applied to find statistical differences in learning approaches of low and high achievers, and point-biserial was used to analyze the correlation between academic performance and learning approaches. Mean sum scores with standard deviation on ASSIST short-form scales (deep, surface, and strategic approaches) as well as subscales are reported.ResultsHigh-achieving students reported a preference for using deep and strategic learning approaches compared to low-achieving students (p < 0.05). Low achievers indicated that they predominantly used the surface approach to learning (p<0.05). Yet, “fear of failure,” a subscale of the surface approach, was greater among high achievers. Additionally, significant gender differences were found on subscales of “lack of purpose,” “syllabus bound,” “unrelated memorization” (surface approach), and “time management” and “organized studying” (strategic approach).ConclusionOur results suggest that low-achieving medical students’ predominant reliance on the surface approach to learning may affect their academic success and that it may be worthwhile to help medical students become aware of the effectiveness of their individual preferred learning approaches early on in their training. Identification and adoption of optimal learning approaches should increase the achievement of successful learning outcomes.

Student perspectives of various learning approaches used in an undergraduate food science and technology subject

AbstractA broad range of approaches to learning such as traditional lectures, laboratory learning, online learning, and active learning are used in higher education settings. Specifically, in the field of science and technology, laboratory learning is crucial and a form of active learning. The objective of this study was to examine the use of these four different learning approaches in a third‐year, undergraduate Food Science and Technology subject to facilitate learning, where previously only traditional lectures and laboratory learning had been used. Two new learning approaches, online learning and active learning in class, were incorporated, replacing two‐thirds of the traditional lectures. Student perspectives and preference to these four learning approaches were recorded using an online survey. Hands‐on laboratory classes were selected by the majority of students as the most effective way they learned, and also their most preferred learning approach. Majority of the students also found that the use of an educational technology, a polling tool contributed to their active learning in class. Finally, the intended learning outcome of an activity should be carefully considered when applying a learning approach to facilitate learning.

Effect of learning approaches on the academic profile of fourth year undergraduate students of a Private Medical College.

Objective: To identify the learning approaches and assess the effect of learning approaches on the academic profile of fourth year MBBS students of a private medical college of Lahore. Study Design: Descriptive study. Setting: Fatima Memorial College of Medicine, Lahore, Pakistan. Period: July to September 2019. Material &amp; Methods: 97 fourth year medical students. R-SPQ-2F validated questionnaire was used to identify the learning approaches. Academic profile in the form of percentages of university third professional examination were taken in two categories (&lt;65% and &gt;65 %) while academic background of intermediate and A levels examination was inquired after fulfilling all ethical considerations. Results: A total of 97 fourth year MBBS students participated having a mean age 22±0.889 with female predominance. Majority 89 (91.8%) had done intermediate compared to 8 (8.2%) A levels. Preferred learning approach was surface 52 (53.6%) compared to 45 (46.4%) deep. Strategic approach was dominant, surface strategy 32 (33%), deep strategy 26 (26.8%), surface motive 20 (20.6%) and deep motive 19(19.6%) respectively. Significant relationship (p 0.037) between learning approaches and academic profile was observed. Learning approaches were significantly related (p 0.002) with academic profile especially in students securing more than 65% having a deep strategy approach. Conclusion: Majority students were surface and strategic learners. Students with better academic performance were deep learners.

Redesigning Mathematical Curriculum for Blended Learning

The Coronavirus pandemic has thrown public schooling into crisis, trying to juggle shifting instructional modes: classrooms, online, home-schooling, student pods, hybrid and blends of these. This poses an urgent need to redesign curriculum using available technology to implement approaches that incorporate the findings of the learning sciences, including the emphasis on collaborative learning, computer mediation, student discourse and embodied feedback. This paper proposes a model of such learning, illustrated using existing dynamic-geometry technology to translate Euclidean geometry study into collaborative learning by student pods. The technology allows teachers and students to interact with the same material in multiple modes, so that blended approaches can be flexibly adapted to students with diverse preferred learning approaches or needs and structured into parallel or successive phases of blended learning. The technology can be used by online students, co-located small groups and school classrooms, with teachers and students having shared access to materials and to student work across interaction modes.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION PROGRAMME - STUDENTS’ OPINIONS

"the purpose of this research was to identify students’ opinions regarding the relevance and preferred learning approaches in an Entrepreneurship Education programme. A transversal design, using a questionnaire on 139 students from seven universities from Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine was employed. The study concluded that Entrepreneurship and Business Planning were perceived as essential modules. Leadership and Project Management and Innovation Management were perceived as very relevant. Intellectual Property Law was perceived as of little relevance. Overall, the preferred delivery modes were: “Practical module within a start-up”, “Optional module within a Master’s programme” and “Learning by running a business”. However, different approaches were suggested for different modules. "

ACCOUNTING STUDENTS’ PREFERENCES TOWARDS LEARNING STRATEGIES IN UNIVERSITI MALAYSIA TERENGGANU

Learning preferences among undergraduate accounting students might vary considerably and are still largely unexplored although their findings might be useful for lecturers to improve learning and teaching strategies. Students’ preferences in selecting the appropriate learning strategies can help improve their understanding and lead to improved competency for better academic achievement. This study examined students’ preferences towards learning strategies and the differences in learning strategies among accounting students in Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, between genders. The data were collected using online survey completed by accounting undergraduate students from Year 1 until Year 3 for the academic session 2018/2019. 150 students responded to the online survey, with 32% response rate. Using a revised two-factor version of the Study Process Questionnaire, the survey assessed deep and surface approaches in learning preferred by the students. The results showed that deep learning approach scored a higher mean of 3.36 compared to surface learning and gender was found insignificantly related to the preferred learning approach. This finding suggests that the use of deep approach (for example, active learning or student-centered learning) is to encourage better learning process that would contribute to better academic performance and teaching strategy practices among accounting students.

Active Learning Approaches in Teaching Physical Science: Direction toward Enhanced Thinking Skills of Grade 12 Senior High School Students

The study attuned the learners’ preferred modality of learning and teaching methods through inventory of students’ preferences in terms of active learning approaches, find out the effects of the employment of respondents’ preferred approaches in enhancing low order and high order thinking skills in Physical Science subject and ascertain the most effective to enhance such skills. To align the preferred learning and teaching approaches of both the students and the teachers, the study purposively involved 92 students from three different sections of Grade 12 in Recto Memorial National High School, Tiaong Quezon and employed experimental method of research. Using inventory, t-test, and ANOVA as statistical tools, findings revealed that the preferred active learning approaches of the Senior High School Students are collaborative, inquiry-based, and reflective. Moreover, both the mean pre and post-tests in low and high order thinking skills of the three (3) preferred active approaches were found to have a significant difference. However, there are no significant differences among analyzing and evaluating sub-skills, and applying sub-skill of the three groups and higher order thinking skills of the groups particularly in creating sub-skill. Finally, there are significant differences among the low order thinking skills of the groups specifically in remembering and understanding sub-skills.

Educating the always-on generation in an Instant(gram) #blendedlearning

The anticipated Fourth Industrial Revolution and the non-linear sharing of information have afforded tertiary education institutions with opportunities to apply new technology to their pedagogy model. The prominence of social networking sites (SNSs), specifically Instagram, calls for educational institutions to innovate and acknowledge, as well as apply, these SNSs within an innovative blended learning approach. This study aimed to analyse students’ perspectives on the use of Instagram as a blended learning educational and administrative tool in tertiary education. While the use of Facebook as an educational tool is widely researched, limited studies exist on the use of Instagram in tertiary education. The expectation is therefore set on tertiary education to apply Instagram for effective communication and an enhanced teaching experience. The Instagram account created by the research team as a blended learning tool had more than 270 student followers. Their perceptions of the use of Instagram in tertiary education were evaluated using a questionnaire approach and analysed as continuous data on a five-point Likert scale. By using a one-way t-test, the preferred blended learning approach to be implemented on Instagram was determined. Open-ended questions were asked in order to obtain a better understanding of what students expect and prefer from the use of SNSs, specifically Instagram, in tertiary education. While previous research only focused on the possibility of the implementation of Instagram and the use of videos on Instagram, this study indicates how tertiary education can apply the various functions of Instagram within an innovative blended learning approach. The study found that Instagram creates an always-on learner, who thinks about the module outside of lectures. Students perceive it as an effective educational tool in aiding them to understand difficult topics better, as well as an administrative tool that complements the current administrative systems. The overall perception was concluded to be that Instagram is welcome in tertiary education, with both the lecturer and the student as the driving force.

Educational needs and preferred learning approaches of the paediatric palliative care workforce: A qualitative exploratory study

Educational needs and preferred learning approaches of the paediatric palliative care workforce: A qualitative exploratory study

Analysis of Histopathological Images for Prediction of Breast Cancer Using Traditional Classifiers with Pre-Trained CNN

Breast cancer is one of the most commonly found and dangerous cancer among women which leads to a major research topic in medical science. Most of the times, it is identified by using a biopsy method where tissue is removed and studied under a microscope. If a histopathologist is not well trained then this may lead to the wrong diagnosis. In order to facilitate better diagnosis, automatic analysis of histopathology images can help pathologists to identify malignant tumors and cancer subtypes. Recently, Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) have become preferred deep learning approaches for breast cancer classification and detection. In this research, two machine learning approaches i.e. Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Logistic Regression (LR) are used for comparative analysis. This paper mainly focuses on leveraging pre-trained (CNN) activation features on traditional classifiers to perform automatic classification of breast cancer images. For this purpose, a two-phase model has been proposed for automatic classification on the basis of magnification subsequently classify the samples for benign and malignant. This model is trained separately with respect to various image magnifications (40x, 100x, 200x and 400x). In this study, the dataset is partitioned into the following fashion: 80% for the training phase and 20% for testing phase The performance is analyzed by using Accuracy, Precision, Recall and F1-score in order to find out the best-suited model that can be used for automation system. The experimental results demonstrate that ResNet50 network has achieved maximum accuracy for LR in comparison to SVM in magnification factor. In addition, results show that the performance of CNN +LR is slightly better than CNN +SVM for classification of benign and malignant classes. The proposed model helps in extracting more accurate image features and significantly improves the overall accuracy of classification.

Choice-based learning: lecture-based or team learning?

ABSTRACTThis study investigates choice-based learning as a choice between lecture-based or team learning in a large class at a large university in a European country. The study was designed as a between-subjects quasi-experiment where students were allocated their preferred learning approach. Data were collected for eight consecutive years (2008–2016). Based on quantitative and qualitative data, this study investigates the effect of choice-based learning on choice satisfaction, student selection and on student learning outcomes. The results show that team learning has a positive effect on learning outcomes. If students are faced with the choice, the majority select lecture-based learning. Additionally, both student groups are satisfied with their selected learning paths but selected them for specific reasons. Finally, choice-based learning provides job satisfaction for the instructors of both learning paths. These results can re-energize the ongoing discussion on why and how to engage students in learning activities.

How preferred learning approaches change with time: a survey of GPs and GP Specialist Trainees

ABSTRACTBackground The Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST) questionnaire assesses whether learners prefer a deep, strategic or surface approach to learning. This study aimed to establish the effect of time since qualification, gender and work role on ASSIST scores of General Practitioners (GPs) and GP Specialist Trainees (GPSTs).Methods An anonymous online questionnaire with demographic questions and the ASSIST survey was completed by 1005 GPs and GPSTs from across the United Kingdom.Results Of the 544 GPs and 461 GPSTs completing the survey, 96.5% preferred a deep and/or strategic approach to learning. There was a significant increase in the preference for a deep approach with time from graduation and significantly less preference for a surface approach. There was no significant change in any of the scores over the GPST years. Men had significantly higher scores for a deep approach than women.Conclusions GPs and GPSTs prefer deep and strategic approaches to a surface approach. While higher levels of GP experience are associated with a higher deep approach score and a lower surface approach score, this change is not seen during progression through GP training. Men have higher scores for a deep approach than women.