(1614) THE IMPACT OF CONCEPT-TEST ACTIVITIES WITH CLASSROOM RESPONSE SYSTEMS (CLICKERS) IN PHYSIOLOGY IN MEDICINE SCHOOL OF ALBACETE

摘要

Teaching method at the Medicine School of the University of Castilla-La Mancha at Albacete iscentered in the student. The course is divided into modules of objectives of three weeks each. In thisframe, different pedagogical methods (lectures, self-training, problem solving, etc.) are strategicallyorganized within modules into five different phases. Usually, the first phase is an introduction of thetopic and the last one, an evaluation test. In 2nd-year physiology, phase 3 is dedicated to gain adeeper insight by problem solving and by addressing practical cases. Questionnaires are presented bythe teacher and debated by the whole class. Interaction and feedback is very high during the activitiesas classes are small (25 students per class). In this context, the teacher can easily monitor theprogress of most students even though, some remain anonymous. Student absenteeism is very lowduring the first phases but increases during the 3rd phase, in part because some students choose toinvest that time in self-study. Although classroom attendance in EHEA (European Higher EducationArea) is voluntary, it is known that this factor is positively associated with the overall grade of thestudents.Attendance should be encouraged not by making it mandatory but by giving students the immediateand real sense that they are maximizing their learning time when they are in class. Also, it is desirablefor both, teacher and students, to be able to track the progress of every single learner, and to addressany doubts in the classroom as soon as they arise. Clickers are ideal for these challenges.In this preliminary study, we have included a non-evaluative concept-test assessed with clickers in aCardiovascular System Module of physiology classes. The activity was voluntary and performed inphase 3, one week before the exam (phase 5), when the students have already worked on thecontents. We have analyzed whether this activity had any effect in the score obtained in the exam.Correlative analysis between exam score and the numeric grading calculated with the responses inthe concept-test shows that these values are not related on a linear regression model. However, wefound that the students who attended the activity obtained significantly better results in the exam thanthose who did not (t-test;;p<0.0001), regardless of their score in the concept-test.Although further research should be done, we believe that this activity had a positive effect in learning(as well as in attention and enjoyment) which led to improve students' scores. Besides, the use ofclickers has great acceptance among students and promotes attendance and engagement.