Project Details
Projekt
Fallbasiertes Lernen mit fehlerhaften Lösungsbeispielen in der Medizin: Effektivität von unterschiedlichen instruktionalen Fehlern und Selbsterklärungsprompts
Subject Area
Developmental and Educational Psychology
Term
from 2014 to 2017
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 256171604
Learning of diagnostic competence in medical students can effectively be fostered through case-based worked examples which include instructional errors (e.g., Stark, Kopp, & Fischer, 2011). The project outlined is supposed to deepen and broaden the knowledge on case-based learning with instructional errors. So far the effects of our instructional approach were partly inconsistent. In one domain (arterial hypertension) instructional errors were only beneficial if they were combined with elaborated feedback. The instructional errors even had negative effects on the acquisition of diagnostic competence when diagnostic decisions were only qualified as wrong. In a different medical domain (hyperthyroidism), acquisition of diagnostic competence was fostered by elaborated feedback; this effect was largely independent from the provision of instructional errors. In addition to domain-specific explanations, different types of instructional errors may account for these results because in both domains instructional errors were operationalized in a partly different way. To answer this question, domain and type of instructional error need to be varied experimentally. An important goal of this project is to analyze the effects of different types of instructional errors and of domain-specific factors on diagnostic competences. A second open question focuses on the working mechanisms of learning with instructional errors. In prior work there were hints that instructional errors foster the quality of information processing. This project seeks to identify processes that are supported by instructional errors. In addition, effects of different types of errors and domain specific factors on learning processes are investigated. A third question concerns the issue of instructional support for learning with instructional errors. In prior work instructional support was realized by providing elaborated feedback. However, this method can contribute to a passive attitude towards learning. Therefore, the effectiveness of self-explanation induced by prompts will be investigated. The extent to which prompts should be general, that is independent from content factors, or specific to the errors implemented has not been investigated systematically so far. Moreover, the question remains open how the specificity of the prompts influences the learning process. We suppose that the effectiveness of self-explanation prompts is moderated by characteristics of the learner. The influence of prior diagnostic competence, and also of motivational variables on the acquisition of diagnostic competence and on the effectiveness of self-explanation prompts needs to be studied in more detail. In addition, it has to be analyzed to what extent the effects generated by our instructional approach prove stable. Furthermore, a field study is planned to answer the question how far these effects can contribute to enhance medical education.
DFG Programme
Research Grants
