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PubMed1994

Implicit learning.

Implicit learning is nonepisodic learning of complex information in an incidental manner, without awareness of what has been learned. Implicit learning experiments use 3 different stimulus structures (visual, sequence, and function) and 3 different dependent measures or response modalities (conceptual fluency, efficiency, and prediction and control). Implicit learning may require a certain minimal amount of attention and may depend on attentional and working memory mechanisms. The result of implicit learning is implicit knowledge in the form of abstract (but possibly instantiated) representations rather than verbatim or aggregate representations. Implicit learning shows biases and dissociations in learning different stimulus structures. The dependence of implicit learning on particular brain areas is discussed, some conclusions are drawn for modeling implicit learning, and the interaction of implicit and explicit learning is considered.

Concept Formation↗
PubMed2003

Approaches to learning: psychometric testing of a study process questionnaire.

BACKGROUND: One method of evaluating students' learning is to measure surface, deep and achieving approaches to learning using a questionnaire. In comparison with research on student nurses' learning styles, there has been little examination of their 'approaches to learning'. Much of the 'approaches to learning' research has been conducted with higher education students in Australia and Hong Kong and this kind of measurement is viewed as a valid and reliable way to assess learning. AIM: The aim of study reported here was to establish the validity of an 'approaches to learning' questionnaire, the study process questionnaire, for use with student nurses by undertaking psychometrical testing, including exploratory factor analysis. METHOD: The study process questionnaire is a 42-item questionnaire measuring surface, deep and achieving approaches to learning. It was distributed to 300 student nurses attending a common foundation programme in a higher education establishment in the United Kingdom (UK) in July 2000. Principal components analysis was conducted to determine the validity of the deep, surface and achievement scales in the questionnaire. RESULTS: A new factor structure was identified comprising three main scales which were similar in content but not identical to the original questionnaire. The deep factor correlated positively and significantly with grade performance average and sociology examination results. CONCLUSION: The study process questionnaire is a valid and useful tool for nurse teachers to gain knowledge about student nurses' approaches to learning. Deep learning appears to influence academic performance. More work is required to elucidate the complex nature of deep learning.

Achievement↗
PubMed2003

CELT: a computerised evaluative learning tool for continuing professional development.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate a computerised, evaluative learning tool (CELT) designed to encourage self-directed learning and help users make changes in practice following learning. The study aimed to evaluate how CELT was used and to ascertain user perceptions of the program. DESIGN: Qualitative analysis of interviews and quantitative analysis of entries made using the software. SETTING AND SUBJECTS: West of Scotland region, comprising six Health Board areas with a total of 2176 general practitioners (GPs), 39 of whom took part in the study. RESULTS: Of the 39 GPs who started on the project, 34 used CELT. Of these 34, 28 GPs sent in files and six did not. Of the 28 GPs who sent in files, 25 entered data and 76% (22/29) considered the program easy to use. The program was used 7 days a week during the day and night. It raised participants' awareness of the educational value of everyday experiences and led to increased thought about learning. In 41% (45/111) of entries there was evidence that some action had been initiated by users as a result of learning. CONCLUSIONS: CELT was designed to encourage self-directed learning and help users make changes in practice following learning. The study has shown that it can be used to deliver individual continuing professional development. It encourages a disciplined approach to learning, promotes thought about learning needs and increases the ability of GPs to learn from everyday experiences. In some instances, users were able to apply what had been learned.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Active learning of geriatric rehabilitation: deliberations of an undergraduate occupational therapy programme.

Occupational therapists working in geriatric rehabilitation must possess skills of self-directed learning and critical thinking, but conventional teaching-learning strategies are limited in acquiring the said skills. This action research aimed at developing in students an ability for active learning and problem solving. An inquiry-based learning (IBL) methodology was introduced to two geriatric-related subjects of an undergraduate occupational therapy (OT) programme. Students worked on four real-life problems in tutorials and participated in service learning. Lectures were carefully structured to consolidate theoretical knowledge generated from the problems. This study was evaluated qualitatively through interviews of both students and clinical educators, and reflective journals. Students found the problems and service learning stimulating enough to encourage active learning and develop basic study skills. Likewise, clinical educators noted students to be more competent when working with geriatric clients than former students who learned through a conventional curriculum. However, the IBL methodology was stressful in areas related to consistency of teaching-learning strategies across curriculum, workload and time constraints. Curriculum review, development of resource files and provision of systematic support are some of the recommendations to the challenges encountered. To conclude, the IBL approach provides appropriate learning environments that foster in students a self-directed learning attitude in the study of geriatric rehabilitation.

Focus Groups↗
PubMed1992

Learning to see random-dot stereograms.

In the present study some specific properties of the learning effects reported for random-dot stereograms are examined. In experiment 1 the retinal position-specific learning effect was reproduced and in a follow-up experiment it was shown that the position specificity of learning can be accounted for by selective visual attention. In experiments 2 and 3 evidence was obtained that suggests that observers can learn, to a certain degree, monocular random-dot patterns and that this learning facilitates the depth percept. This result indicates that the traditional belief that random-dot stereograms are devoid of monocularly recognizable or useful forms should be reconsidered. In the second set of experiments the learning of two binocular surface properties of random-dot stereograms, depth edges and internal depth regions, was investigated. It was shown in experiment 4 that the depth edges of random-dot stereograms are not learned, whereas the results of experiment 5 indicate that the internal depth regions are learned. Finally, in experiment 6 it was shown that depth edges are learned when the internal depth regions of the stereogram are ambiguous. The results are discussed in terms of the importance of the particular type of stimulus used in the learning process and in terms of perceptual learning and attention.

Attention↗
PubMed2002

Do general practitioners' risk-taking propensities and learning styles influence their continuing medical education preferences?

US studies have shown that a clinician's risk-taking propensity significantly predicts clinical behaviour. Other US studies examining relationships between family practice doctors' preferences for CME and their Kolb learning style have described conflicting findings. The aim of the present study was to investigate GPs' learning styles, risk-taking propensities and CME preferences, and to explore links between them. A descriptive confidential cross-sectional postal questionnaire survey of the 304 general practitioner principals within Portsmouth and South East Hampshire Health Authority was conducted. Two hundred and seventy-four GPs returned questionnaires, a response rate of 90.1%. The Kolb learning style types were assimilators 43.8% (predominant learning abilities watching and thinking), divergers 21.1% (feeling and watching), convergers 18.3% (doing and thinking), and accommodators 16.8% (doing and feeling). The Pearson risk-taking propensities were 65.8% risk neutral, 19.4% risk seeking and 14.8% risk averse. Risk-seeking GPs were significantly more likely to be accommodators or convergers than divergers or assimilators (p = 0.006). Majorities of 54.9% stated that the present PGEA system works well, 85% welcomed feedback from their peers, and 76.8% stated that learning should be an activity for all the practice team. Further majorities would welcome help to decide their learning needs (63.8%) and are looking to judge CME effectiveness by changes in GP performance or patient care (54.8%). Further significant correlations and cross-tabulations were found between learning style and risk-taking and CME attitudes, experiences and preferences. It is concluded that risk seekers and accommodators (doing and feeling) prefer feedback, interaction and practical hands-on learning, and assimilators (watching and thinking) and the risk averse tend towards lectures, theoretical learning formats and less interactive activities. Sharing feelings in groups may be difficult for the risk averse and assimilators. The success of a combined educational strategy will depend on an inclusive philosophy, both recognizing and engaging the wide range of differences in learning style and risk taking for all the individuals who make up learning teams.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Using information contained in the curriculum management information tool (CurrMIT) to capture opportunities for student learning and development.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how West Virginia University Medical School used the AAMC Curriculum Management Information Tool (CurrMIT) to map the undergraduate medical school curriculum. Information gleaned from this analysis identified what students are expected to learn, how they learn and how they are assessed. Information about the curriculum was entered into CurrMIT, creating a comprehensive picture of the curricular landscape. Learning outcomes were parceled out according to a competence-based framework. In addition, learning methods and assessment measures were identified. A total of 639 learning outcomes were identified across several competences. A total of 13 learning methods and 13 assessment measures were also identified in the undergraduate curriculum. The results suggest that students are expected to acquire varied knowledge, skills and attitudes. Further, students are presented with diverse learning methods and assessment measures. The curriculum map ascertains whether the program's components, such as learning outcomes, learning approaches and assessment methods, are designed and linked to further students' learning. This analysis will lead to curricular improvements. The implications of this work can help faculty, students and other academic stakeholders shift tacit expectations of learning and development to a curricular reality and, in turn, help prepare future physicians for the changing field of medicine.

Curriculum↗
PubMed2003

Format of cases affects learning outcomes in first year medical students.

CONTEXT: Longitudinal problem-based learning (PBL) tutorials are practiced at the Tokyo Women's Medical University. First year medical school students - most of whom are high school graduates with no medical background - often encounter difficulty identifying problems while solving PBL cases in basic science. The format of PBL case presentation may affect learning. OBJECTIVES: This study compares the learning outcomes of two cohorts of first year students who learned basic human biology through PBL cases presented in clinical vs. non-clinical formats. METHODS: All first year students in 1995 and 2000 undertook PBL tutorials. The 1995 case was presented in a non-clinical format; the 2000 case was presented in a clinical format. Both cases had five identical pre-set learning objectives in basic science. By examining all written materials generated during the tutorial sessions, learning outcomes were categorized and the accomplishment of preset objectives was analysed. FINDINGS: In 2000, the number of learning outcomes for clinical medicine was more than double compared to 1995, whereas the numbers of total and basic science learning outcomes were not significantly different. The number of preset objectives accomplished by the students was significantly higher in 2000. Thus, PBL case format affected the learning outcomes, enabling these first year students to achieve basic science objectives, while enhancing their interest in the clinical aspects of human biology. CONCLUSION: Learning outcomes in first year medical students may be enhanced when PBL cases designed to learn basic science contain relevant clinical elements.

Biological Science Disciplines↗
PubMed1998

Dynamic cortical involvement in implicit and explicit motor sequence learning. A PET study.

We examined the dynamic involvement of different brain regions in implicit and explicit motor sequence learning using PET. In a serial reaction time task, subjects pressed each of four buttons with a different finger of the right hand in response to a visually presented number. Test sessions consisted of 10 cycles of the same 10-item sequence. The effects of explicit and implicit learning were assessed separately using a different behavioural parameter for each type of learning: correct recall of the test sequence for explicit learning and improvement of reaction time before the successful recall of any component of the test sequence for implicit learning. Regional cerebral blood flow was measured repeatedly during the task, and a parametric analysis was performed to identify brain regions in which activity was significantly correlated with subjects' performances: i.e. with correct recall of the test sequence or with reaction time. Explicit learning, shown as a positive correlation with the correct recall of the sequence, was associated with increased activity in the posterior parietal cortex, precuneus and premotor cortex bilaterally, also in the supplementary motor area (SMA) predominantly in the left anterior part, left thalamus, and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. In contrast, the reaction time showed a different pattern of correlation during different learning phases. During the implicit learning phase, when the subjects were not aware of the sequence, improvement of the reaction time was associated with increased activity in the contralateral primary sensorimotor cortex (SM1). During the explicit learning phase, the reaction time was significantly correlated with activity in a part of the frontoparietal network. During the post-learning phase, when the subjects achieved all components of the sequence explicitly, the reaction time was correlated with the activity in the ipsilateral SM1 and posterior part of the SMA. These results show that different sets of cortical regions are dynamically involved in implicit and explicit motor sequence learning.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

A comparison of productivity and learning outcome in individual and cooperative physical therapy clinical education models.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: This program evaluation was designed to evaluate productivity and the learning processes used during individual and cooperative clinical education experiences. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Clinical instructors (n=23) and senior students (n=20) at the bachelor's degree level who were engaged in an individual learning experience at an Australian school provided workload productivity data on their daily patient care, administration, and teaching activities. An evaluation of the teaching and learning processes was conducted via questionnaire at the end of the experience. This same information was provided by a group of clinical instructors (n=8) and senior students (n=16) who were engaged in a cooperative learning experience. RESULTS: Clinical instructors in both learning experiences had to reduce their normal levels of productivity to supervise the students. The amount of patient care provided by students, however, compensated for this reduction in clinical instructor productivity. The extent of productivity gains in areas other than patient care were greater for the cooperative learning experience. Clinical instructors and students rated the individual and cooperative learning experiences similarly, although the students rated 3 particular learning processes more highly in the cooperative learning experience. CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION: Advantages with respect to patient care, teaching, and administrative productivity were identified for each learning experience. From the perspective of the students, the cooperative learning experience appeared to provide additional educational benefits.

Australia↗
PubMed1993

Problem effectiveness in a course using problem-based learning.

BACKGROUND: Problem-based learning (PBL) emphasizes active generation of learning issues by students. Both students and teachers, however, tend to worry that not all important knowledge will be acquired. To explore this question, problem effectiveness (i.e., for each problem, the degree of correspondence between student-generated learning issues and present faculty objectives) was examined in three interdependent studies. METHOD: The three studies used the same participants: about 120 second-year students and 12 faculty tutors in a six-week course on normal pregnancy, delivery, and child development at the medical school of the University of Limburg in The Netherlands, 1990-91. The participants were randomly assigned to 12 tutorial groups that were each given the same 12 problems; the problems were based on 51 faculty objectives; the tutors were asked to record all learning issues generated by their groups. Study 1 addressed this question: To what degree are faculty objectives reflected by student-generated learning issues? Study 2: To what extent do students miss certain objectives, and are these objectives classifiable? Study 3: Do students generate learning issues not expected by the faculty, and are these issues relevant to course content, and finally, why do students generate these issues? To help answer these questions, the studies employed expert raters and a teacher familiar with the course content. RESULTS: Study 1: For the set of 12 problems, the average overlap between learning issues and faculty objectives was 64.2% with the percentages for individual problems ranging from 27.7% to 100%. Study 2: Of the 51 objectives, 30 were not identified by at least one tutorial group; these objectives were grouped into three categories; on average, each group failed to identify 7.4 objectives (15%). Study 3: Of 520 learning issues, 32 (6%) were unexpected; 15 of these were judged to be at least fairly relevant to course content; they were grouped into four categories. CONCLUSIONS: The students' learning activities covered an average of 64% of the intended course content; in addition, the students generated learning issues not expected by the faculty, and half of these issues were judged relevant to the course content. Thus, PBL seems to permit students to adapt learning activities to their own needs and interests.

Clinical Competence↗
PubMed2003

The relationship between changes in learning and memory after right unilateral electroconvulsive therapy.

OBJECTIVE: We investigated whether the ability to learn new information, as opposed to recall information, would change significantly in depressed individuals treated by low- or high-dose right unilateral electroconvulsive therapy and tested whether change in learning explained changes in recall. METHOD: Fifty-four depressed patients randomized to receive right unilateral electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) at approximately 2.25 times their seizure threshold (ST) or at doses greater than 2.25 times ST were evaluated for verbal and figural memory as well as verbal and figural learning both pre- and post-ECT. A subset of scores from the Rey Auditory Visual Learning Test and the Rey Figure Test were analyzed using analysis of variance and linear regression techniques. RESULTS: Scores reflecting verbal learning decreased by a mean of approximately 50% immediately after a completed course of ECT as compared with pre-ECT verbal learning scores. Stratification of effect by dose of electrical charge revealed trends that did not achieve statistical significance. Approximately 8% of the change in delayed verbal recall was predicted by changes in verbal learning. Figural learning was not significantly changed in the aggregate (pre-versus post-treatment) or when the effect was stratified by electrical charge. CONCLUSIONS: Verbal learning scores declined immediately after ECT, but the change in learning scores explained only a minor part of the observed changes in verbal recall. These findings support the notion that the deficits in delayed recall after ECT represent a relatively specific cognitive effect that is not completely explained by changes in other aspects of cognition such as learning.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Habit and skill learning in schizophrenia: evidence of normal striatal processing with abnormal cortical input.

Different forms of nondeclarative learning involve regionally specific striatal circuits. The motor circuit (involving the putamen) has been associated with motor-skill learning and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) circuit (involving the caudate) has been associated with cognitive-habit learning. Efforts to differentiate functional striatal circuits within patient samples have been limited. Previous studies have provided mixed results regarding striatal-dependent nondeclarative learning deficits in patients with schizophrenia. In this study, a cognitive-habit learning task (probabilistic weather prediction) was used to assess the DLPFC circuit and a motor-skill learning task (pursuit rotor) was used to assess the motor circuit in 35 patients with schizophrenia and 35 normal controls. Patients with schizophrenia displayed significant performance differences from controls on both nondeclarative tasks; however, cognitive-habit learning rate in patients did not differ from controls. There were performance and learning-rate differences on the motor-skill learning task between the whole sample of patients and controls, however, analysis of a subset of patients and controls matched on general intellectual level eliminated learning rate differences between groups. The abnormal performance offset between patients with schizophrenia and controls in the absence of learning rate differences suggests that abnormal cortical processing provides altered input to normal striatal circuitry.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Another look at career choice and learning preferences.

The learning styles and preferences of health professionals have been studied increasingly over the past decade, yet few relationships have been found between doctors' career choices and learning styles. One of the problems of relating learning styles to specialty choice is that learning style instruments measure how an individual perceives and processes information in learning situations. This study re-examines doctors' career choices utilizing a learning preference inventory which assesses how one chooses to approach a learning situation. The study results indicate that there are significant differences in doctors' approaches to learning and interacting with others among the different career specialties using a learning preference inventory. This is in contrast to previous research with Kolb's Learning Style Inventory in which learning style was not found to be related to career choice.

Career Choice↗
PubMed2006

Multi-dimensional profiling of medical students' cognitive models about learning.

INTRODUCTION: In current constructivist paradigms, learners' previous subject-matter knowledge, or cognitive models, provide the foundations for the construction of new knowledge. Learners' cognitive models about learning also mediate students' capacities to learn in their chosen topics of study. The diverse backgrounds of students entering medicine suggest that they might come to medical studies equipped with a wide variety of cognitive models about learning. Some current theories tend to reduce students' cognitions about learning to parsimonious representations, such as surface-deep approaches or mastery-performance goals. It is possible that such reduced representations underrepresent, or misrepresent, the complexity of students' cognitive models about learning. Good quality teaching needs to take account of learners' cognitive models, not just about subject matter, but also about learning. This study investigated the diversity and complexity of medical students' cognitive models about learning. METHODS: A total of 7 graduate entry, clinical-year medical students volunteered for in-depth interviews about learning. NUD*IST text analysis software and correspondence analysis were employed to identify dimensions and to profile students' responses. RESULTS: The correspondence analysis identified a significant 4-dimensional solution that illustrates the contributions of multiple variables to students' cognitive models about learning. Individual profiles highlight diversity between participants. DISCUSSION: This study provides evidence that students' cognitive models about learning are complex and highly differentiated. Representations of what students know about learning need to take account of such complexity in order to inform instructional practice more adequately.

Cognition↗
PubMed2006

Learning approaches to physiology of undergraduates in an Indian medical school.

Inventories monitoring students' learning approaches are widely used in medical education research. It is important that teaching interventions adopted in medical schools aim to develop a deep approach to learning in medical students. To study the changes in medical students' approaches to learning before and after the incorporation of clinically orientated physiology teaching (COPT) in the undergraduate physiology curriculum, using the Short Inventory of Approaches to Learning (SIAL). Medical students (n = 223) at Melaka Manipal Medical College (Manipal Campus) undertake a 9-week learning block of endocrine, reproductive and renal physiology in Year 1. During this period, COPT was incorporated along with regular didactic lectures with the intention of enhancing the use of the deep approach and decreasing the use of the surface and strategic approaches to learning taken by the students. The SIAL, which focuses on the learning approaches of students to physiology, was distributed both before and after COPT. The implementation of COPT seemed to affect the learning approaches of students as measured by the SIAL. After the introduction of COPT, there was a significant increase in the use of the deep learning approach, while the majority of subscales for the surface approach showed decreased use. Nevertheless, use of the strategic approach was found to have increased after COPT. The SIAL was found to be a fairly reliable tool with which to determine the learning approaches of medical students. Clinically orientated physiology teaching was successful in enhancing use of the deep approach to learning and reducing use of the surface approach among undergraduate medical students.

Clinical Medicine↗
PubMed2006

Roles of octopaminergic and dopaminergic neurons in mediating reward and punishment signals in insect visual learning.

Insects, like vertebrates, have considerable ability to associate visual, olfactory or other sensory signals with reward or punishment. Previous studies in crickets, honey bees and fruit-flies have suggested that octopamine (OA, invertebrate counterpart of noradrenaline) and dopamine (DA) mediate various kinds of reward and punishment signals in olfactory learning. However, whether the roles of OA and DA in mediating positive and negative reinforcing signals can be generalized to learning of sensory signals other than odors remained unknown. Here we first established a visual learning paradigm in which to associate a visual pattern with water reward or saline punishment for crickets and found that memory after aversive conditioning decayed much faster than that after appetitive conditioning. Then, we pharmacologically studied the roles of OA and DA in appetitive and aversive forms of visual learning. Crickets injected with epinastine or mianserin, OA receptor antagonists, into the hemolymph exhibited a complete impairment of appetitive learning to associate a visual pattern with water reward, but aversive learning with saline punishment was unaffected. By contrast, fluphenazine, chlorpromazine or spiperone, DA receptor antagonists, completely impaired aversive learning without affecting appetitive learning. The results demonstrate that OA and DA participate in reward and punishment conditioning in visual learning. This finding, together with results of previous studies on the roles of OA and DA in olfactory learning, suggests ubiquitous roles of the octopaminergic reward system and dopaminergic punishment system in insect learning.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

The predictive relationship between beliefs, attitudes, intentions and secondary school mathematics learning: a theory of reasoned action approach.

This study investigated how attitudes and intentions about learning mathematics might be related to subsequent mathematics learning and achievement using the Ajzen and Fishbein theory of reasoned action. The sample consisted of 142 boys and girls between 12 and 14 years old in a large inner city comprehensive school who were assessed in a follow-up design over a nine-month period. Beliefs about the outcomes of learning, attitudes to learning, perceptions of significant others' prescriptions about learning, intentions to engage in learning behaviours, self and teacher reported learning behaviour and mathematics achievement were assessed at both stages. Regression analysis suggested that while the expectancy-value components of attitude did relate to learning behaviour intentions, perceived prescriptions did not relate to intentions. There was a weak relationship between the two measures of learning behaviour, but with neither measure did intention independently predict future behaviour once prior behaviour was taken into account. The best predictor of subsequent mathematics achievement was prior achievement, though teacher-reported learning behaviour did have an independent relationship with subsequent achievement. The findings are discussed in terms of the assessment of learning behaviours, the relevance of the behaviour intention construct for repeated multiple behaviours and future work on how affective variables might be related to cognitive achievements.

Achievement↗