Comparing the Effect of Video-cases and Text-cases on Medical Students' Learning in Tutorial

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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This study is designed to examine how the type of learning case affects the thinking of medical students in tutorial

Detailed Description
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Tutorials at Harvard Medical School use problem-based learning with written cases. Students work in groups under the supervision of a tutor who guides their exploration of the material. As students progress through the curriculum there is an opportunity to advance the complexity of the material they are presented with. Video-based patient case studies have been shown to improve critical thinking ratios in paediatric medical student problem-based learning exercises, and time spent on data exploration, theory building and theory evaluation in postgraduate residency programs. We hypothesize that video provides a stimulus that improves cognitive processing and critical thinking among medical students, as compared to working from the text-based transcript of the same case.

Official Title
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A Randomized Crossover Study to Compare the Critical Thinking of Medical Students When Using Video-based or Written Cases

Conditions
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Education, Medical, Education, Medical, Undergraduate, Problem-based Learning, Problem Solving, Interactive Tutorial

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: video case modality
* Behavioral: Text case modality


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: medical student participating in the endocrine and reproductive pathophysiology course at Harvard Medical School Exclusion Criteria: None

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 65 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Crossover Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Active Comparator: Video modality<br> | Behavioral: video case modality<br>* Patients whose case histories are pathophysiologically illustrative will be recruited, and interviewed on video. Their stories will be edited and divided into sections, and combined with the patient's laboratory, imaging, and pathological reports when appropriate<br>|
| Active Comparator: Text modality<br> | Behavioral: Text case modality<br>* Patients whose case histories are pathophysiologically illustrative will be recruited, and interviewed on video. Their stories will be edited and divided into sections, and combined with the patient's laboratory, imaging, and pathological reports when appropriate. The transcript of these video-recordings will form the basis of the text-based case presentation modality.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Overall ratio of deep to superficial thinking | Depth of thinking will be evaluated using the method of Kamin et al. Transcription of each tutorial will be divided into utterances. Each utterance will be coded for depth of thinking (deep vs. superficial). The ratio of deep to superficial thinking by case modality will be reported. | Four 90-minute tutorial sessions | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Distribution of learning activities | Transcription of each tutorial will be divided into utterances. Each utterance will be coded by learning domain (identification, description, exploration, integration, and application. The distribution of domains by case modality will be reported. | Four 90-min tutorial sessions | 
| Preferences of students for each case modality | Students will be surveyed regarding their preferences for video- vs. text-based case presentation modality using a Likert-scale | 5 weeks | 
| Preferences of tutors for each case modality | Tutors will be surveyed regarding their preferences for video- vs. text-based case presentation modality using a Likert-scale | 5 weeks | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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medical education, problem-based learning, interactive tutorial