AERA-B: Curriculum Studies Forum

Some subscribers to AERA-A and AERA-B might be interested in a 
discussion-list post "Anatomy Education" [Hake (2011)].

The abstract reads:

****************************************
ABSTRACT: Robin Hopkins in a POD post "Shift in the teaching of 
science" wrote: "I'm interested in the shift that is required of 
traditional anatomists as the medical school moves toward a 
curriculum that requires anatomy to be taught/learned in ways that 
are more aligned with the clinical application of anatomy than simply 
'knowing' anatomy (usually for tests)."

If the tests are of the usual classroom type then they require only 
the regurgitation of memorized material rather than higher-order 
learning such as the understanding of scientific concepts. I suspect 
that higher-order learning is required for the *effective* clinical 
application of anatomy.

In my opinion, the major shift is the teaching of science is the 
shift "From Teaching to Learning: A New Paradigm for Undergraduate 
Education" [Barr & Tagg (1995)]. Unknown to most of academia, 
education researchers have developed "Concept Inventories" 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concept_inventory> that can be used in 
*formative* pre/post testing to gauge the impact of courses on 
students' learning and understanding of scientific concepts.

At least in physics such testing demonstrates that "Traditional" (T) 
passive-student lecture courses result in course-averaged normalized 
learning gains <g> that are about two-standard deviations below those 
of "Interactive Engagement" (IE) courses.  I give 28 hot-linked 
references to some of the relevant literature.
*******************************************

To access the complete 22 kB post please click on <http://bit.ly/m8e4v2>.

Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands
President, PEdants for Definitive Academic References which Recognize the
        Invention of the Internet (PEDARRII)
<[log in to unmask]>
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake>
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi>
<http://HakesEdStuff.blogspot.com>
<http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake>

"['Educating Physicians'] is a very important book that comes at a 
critical time in our nation's history. We will not have enduring 
health care reform in this country unless we rethink our medical 
education paradigms. This book is a call to arms for doing just 
that."    
        George E. Thibault, president, Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation



REFERENCES [URL's shortened by <http://bit.ly/> and accessed on 19 June 2011.]

Cooke, M., D.M. Irby, & B.C. O'Brien. 2010.  Forward by Lee S. 
Shulman. "Educating Physicians: A Call for Reform of Medical School 
and Residency." Jossey-Bass, publisher's information at 
<http://bit.ly/d52HEP>. Amazon.com information at 
<http://amzn.to/jhZJ0l>. Note the searchable "Look Inside" feature.

Hake, R.R. 2011. "Anatomy Education," online on the OPEN! AERA-L 
archives at <http://bit.ly/m8e4v2>.  Post of 19 Jun 2011 
14:15:36-0700 to AERA-L and NetGold. The abstract and link to the 
complete 22 kB post are being transmitted to various discussion lists 
and are also on my blog "Hake'sEdStuff" at <http://bit.ly/jskdvE> 
with a provision for comments.

AERA Division B: Curriculum Studies Forum
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