Markus Nivala

Traditional microscopy instruction versus process-oriented virtual microscopy instruction: a naturalistic experiment with control group.

BackgroundVirtual microscopy is being introduced in medical education as an approach for learning how to interpret information in microscopic specimens. It is, however, far from evident how to incorporate its use into existing teaching practice. The aim of the study was to explore the consequences of introducing virtual microscopy tasks into an undergraduate pathology course in an attempt to render the instruction more process-oriented. The research questions were: 1) How is virtual microscopy perceived by students? 2) Does work on virtual microscopy tasks contribute to improvement in performance in microscopic pathology in comparison with attending assistant-led demonstrations only?MethodDuring a one-week period, an experimental group completed three sets of virtual microscopy homework assignments in addition to attending demonstrations. A control group attended the demonstrations only. Performance in microscopic pathology was measured by a pre-test and a post-test. Student perceptions of regular instruction and virtual microscopy were collected one month later by administering the Inventory of Intrinsic Motivation and open-ended questions.ResultsThe students voiced an appreciation for virtual microscopy for the purposes of the course and for self-study. As for learning gains, the results indicated that learning was speeded up in a subgroup of students consisting of conscientious high achievers.ConclusionsThe enriched instruction model may be suited as such for elective courses following the basic course. However, the instructional model needs further development to be suited for basic courses.

Do prior knowledge, personality and visual perceptual ability predict student performance in microscopic pathology?

Medical Education 2010: 44: 621–629

Interactive Visual Tools as Triggers of Collaborative Reasoning in Entry-Level Pathology

The growing importance of medical imaging in everyday diagnostic practices poses challenges for medical education. While the emergence of novel imaging technologies offers new opportunities, many pedagogical questions remain. In the present study, we explore the use of a new tool, a virtual microscope, for the instruction and the collaborative learning of pathology. Fifteen pairs of medical students were asked to solve diagnostic tasks in a virtual microscopy learning environment. The students’ collaborative efforts were analysed on the basis of approximately 20 hours of video recordings. Our analyses show how students use the technology as a mediating tool to organize, manipulate and construct a shared visual field, and later, shared understanding of the problem and solutions. Organization of the visual field is done through multimodal referential practices: gestures, three dimensional manipulation of the image and paced inspection of the specimen. Furthermore, we analyse and describe how the aforementioned practices coincide with students’ medical reasoning in this particular learning context. The analysis of medical students’ diagnostic work illustrates the collaborative potential of the virtual microscopy environment and how such interactive tools render the traditional distinction between collaborating around or through computers irrelevant, as even face to face collaboration becomes enacted through technology. Finally, we argue that as technologies develop, understanding the technical side of image production, or any representation, becomes an integral part of the interpretative process. How this knowledge is communicated to the students may play a substantive role in how students learn to interpret medical images.

Developing visual expertise in software engineering: An eye tracking study

Program comprehension and the ability to find program errors are key skills of software engineering. The aim of this pilot study was to examine the visual processes of novice and advanced programmers in authentic tasks. Fifteen novices and eight advanced programmers were given eight short pieces of code. Their task was to either identify an error or give the output of the code. Eye movements and keyboard activity were recorded. On average, the novices spent more time reading the code than composing the response, whereas the more advanced programmers started composing the response sooner and spent more time on it. In general, the advanced programmers had shorter fixations and saccades. The results suggest that the advanced programmers are quicker to grasp the essence of the code and able to see more details in it. The advanced programmers had shorter fixations and saccade lengths during the second phase which might indicate the process of chunking.

Capturing Individual and Institutional Change: Exploring Horizontal versus Vertical Transitions in Technology-Rich Environments

Popular approaches in the learning sciences understand the concept of learning as permanent or semi-permanent changes in how individuals think and act. These changes can be traced very differently, depending on whether the context is stable or dynamic. The purpose of this poster is to introduce a distinction between horizontal and vertical transitions that can be used to describe individual and institutional change in technology-rich environments. We argue that these two types of transitions trace different phenomena: Vertical transitions occur when individuals, technologies, or domains develop in stable and fixed conditions within set boundaries. In contrast, horizontal transitions occur when individuals, technologies, or domains mature in the synergy with other fields. We develop our argument by working through relevant studies in medicine, and close by outlining implications for future research on professional technology enhanced learning.

Peers, parents and teachers: A case study on how popular music guitarists perceive support for expertise development from “persons in the shadows”

“Persons in the shadows” may substantially affect how an individual acquires expertise, through, for example, guiding deliberate practice. In the domain of popular music, such persons in the shadows might be peers, parents and teachers. Little research exists on how individuals perceive the impact of persons in the shadows on expertise development, particularly in fields like popular music. This study investigates the perceived impact exerted by peers, parents and teachers on the expertise development of guitarists in the domain of popular music. Interviews were used to investigate nine case studies of guitarists with different expertise levels (experts, sub-experts, amateurs). The main focus was on the roles of “persons in the shadows” concerning practising, learning and motivation. The results show that experts differ from sub-experts and amateurs in the perception of support from persons in the shadows. In particular, peers and the formation of bands were thought of having a strong effect on practising, learning and motivation. The impact of parents and teachers on the expertise development in guitar playing was perceived as more ambiguous, and they were deemed as less important by the expert group.

How prior experience, cognitive skills and practice are related with eye-hand span and performance in video gaming

Research has shown that performance in visual domains depends on domain-specific cognitive and perceptual adaptations that result from extensive practice. However, less is known about processes and factors that underpin the acquisition of such adaptations. The present study investigated how prior experience, cognitive skills, task difficulty and practice effect eye-hand span (EHS) and performance in video gaming. Thirty-three participants played a platformer video game in a pre-test/practice/post-test experiment. Eye movements and keypresses were recorded. The results show that a short practice period improved performance but did not increase EHS. Instead, EHS was related to task difficulty. Furthermore, while EHS correlated with initial performance, this effect seemed to diminish after practice. Cognitive skills (concentration endurance, working memory, mental flexibility and executive functioning) predicted performance in some parts of the experiment. The study offers insights into the early development of visual adaptations and performance.