MedEdPORTAL (May 2014)
Managing Micronutrient Nutrition: The Vitamin B12 Exemplar
Abstract
Abstract Introduction This learning resource was designed to integrate the basic and clinical sciences of the micronutrient nutrition in a team-centered active learning session where teams to summarize content via the formation of an advanced organizer and then use this organizer to answer complex questions. This resource was developed after the authors, unable to locate an integrated, contextual learning resource on the subject, took it upon themselves to develop a module that integrates the basic and clinical sciences of the micronutrient nutrition. Methods Prior to the session, individual students prepare by reading a short online article. In class, the students work in groups of four to six to summarize the preparatory material by creating a large format visual organizer of B12 digestion, absorption, and transfer. The students make additions, deletions, and corrections to this organizer after viewing other teams' organizers and then use their advanced organizers to make leading and alternate diagnostic hypothesis about case presentations. Between cases, instructors use prepared information to explain the information in the case presentations. Results The resource has been used for three years in the integrated curriculum at the Georgia Reagents University and University of Georgia Medical Partnership. The session has been included in the first-year second-semester Essentials of Clinical Medicine course (a first-year doctoring course). During the 2010-2011 and 2012-2013 years the students were given a ten question assessment pre- and postsession. In the 2010-2011 year, mean pretest assessment = 26%, postassessment mean = 80%. Mean pretest scores for 2012-2013 = 36%, and posttest scores = 82%. Discussion This learning resource was designed to in a team-centered active learning session which utilizes teams to summarize content via the formation of an advanced organizer and then use this organizer to answer complex questions. Our future direction for this session is to continue its use, and we plan to design several other integrated active learning sessions using this format. It should also be noted that this format can be used where the product produced by the teams is not an advanced organizer, but instead some other synthetic product including an analysis or concept map.
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