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Quantitative Analytics on Educational Value of the Unique Instructional Tools on a New Virtual Histology Laboratory
Author(s) -
Rosenthal Oana,
Lee Lisa
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.29.1_supplement.546.3
Subject(s) - virtual microscopy , computer science , curriculum , multimedia , virtual laboratory , virtual learning environment , medical education , medicine , psychology , pathology , pedagogy
Virtual histology programs, while widely accepted and increasingly used, have not yet been shown to enhance learning over light microscopy, likely due to lack of interactive educational tools. The objective of the study was to investigate the educational value of the interactive annotations and game‐based quiz tools on the new virtual histology program designed to simulate an in‐class interaction with an expert. Twenty three virtual slides, representing four organ systems were made available on the new virtual platform to the first year, graduate students enrolled in a histology course at University of Colorado School of Medicine. Practical scores were collected for quantitative performance analyses on topics that were available on the new virtual histology program vs. those unavailable. A survey was conducted at the end of the course to gauge students' perceived value of the interactive tools on the website. Four weeks after completion of the course, a comprehensive practical was administered to investigate whether content available on the new program yielded better retention of the material compared to the control content. The results reveal that students consistently performed significantly better on the content available on the new virtual histology lab featuring the unique instructional tools. The survey results reveal that the game‐based quiz function and its leader‐board were perceived as the most educationally valuable and motivating tools for studying histology on the new virtual lab. The innovative learning tools on the new virtual histology program show promise as an effective asynchronous educational tool suitable for the new health science curricula.