Model Answer (model + answer)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


The effectiveness and reliability of peer-marking in first-year medical students

MEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 10 2006
Rachel English
Background, Peer-marking has been suggested as a method to enhance self-directed learning and reflection, although whether this improves performance is unclear. This study evaluated the impact of peer-marking on examination performance and investigated its reliability and acceptability to students. Methods, First-year medical students were randomised to peer-marking using a model answer or no intervention (control arm). Student scores were compared with tutor-marked scores. Two months later, students completed a summative assessment and performance was compared between students randomised to peer-marking and the control arm. A focus group was held with students in the intervention arm to capture their experiences and attitudes. Results, A total of 289 of 568 students consented to participate and 147 were randomised to peer-marking (142 controls). Students randomised to peer-marking achieved marginally higher examination marks (1.5% difference, 95% CI ,0.8% to 3.9%, P = 0.19) than controls (adjusting for year and in-course assessment), although this may have been due to chance. Students were harsher markers than the tutors. Focus group analysis suggested that students valued peer-marking, although concerns about passing judgement on a colleague's work were expressed. Conclusions, Peer-marking did not have a substantial effect on examination performance, although a modest effect cannot be excluded. Students gained insight into examination technique but may not have gained deeper knowledge. Given its potential positive educational value, further work is required to understand how peer-marking can be used more effectively to enhance the learning experience. [source]


Fire play: ICCARUS,Intelligent command and control, acquisition and review using simulation,

BRITISH JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY, Issue 2 2008
James Powell
Is it possible to educate a fire officer to deal intelligently with the command and control of a major fire event he will never have experienced? The authors of this paper believe there is, and present here just one solution to this training challenge. It involves the development of an intelligent simulation based upon computer managed interactive media. The expertise and content underpinning this educational development was provided by the West Midlands Fire Service. Their brief for this training programme was unambiguous and to the point: 1Do not present the trainee with a model answer, because there are no generic fires. Each incident is novel, complex, and often ,wicked' in that it changes obstructively as it progresses. Thus firefighting demands that Commanders impose their individual intelligence on each problem to solve it. 2A suitable Educational Simulator should stand alone; operate in real time; emulate as nearly as possible the ,feel' of the fireground; present realistic fire progress; incorporate the vast majority of those resources normally present at a real incident; bombard the trainee with information from those sources; provide as few system-prompts as possible. 3There should also be an interrogable visual debrief which can be used after the exercise to give the trainees a firm understanding of the effects of their actions. This allows them to draw their own conclusions of their command effectiveness. Additionally, such a record of command and control will be an ideal initiator of tutorial discussion. 4The simulation should be realisable on a hardware/software platform of £10 000. 5The overriding importance is that the simulation should ,emulate as nearly as possible the feelings and stresses of the command role'. [source]


Liver fibrosis: searching for cell model answers

LIVER INTERNATIONAL, Issue 4 2007
Ma. Concepción Gutiérrez-Ruiz
Abstract Hepatic stellate cells (HSC) are the principal fibrogenic cell type in the liver. Progress in understanding the cellular and molecular basis for the development and progression of liver fibrosis could be possible by the development of methods to isolate HSC from rodents and human liver. Growth of stellate cells on plastic led to a phenotypic response known as activation, which paralleled closely the response of these cells to injury in vivo. Actually, much of the current knowledge of stellate cell behaviour has been gained through primary culture studies, particularly from rats. Also, different laboratories that have established hepatic stellate cell lines from rats and humans have provided a stable and unlimited source of cells that express specific functions, making them suitable for culture-based studies of hepatic fibrosis. From these in vitro models grew a large body of information characterizing stellate cell activation, cytokine signalling, intracellular pathways regulating liver fibrogenesis, production of extracellular matrix proteins and development of antifibrotic drugs. [source]


You be the examiner!

BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY EDUCATION, Issue 6 2007
"Model answers" that require critical thinking
Abstract "You be the examiner!" is an online approach to providing students with immediate, readily accessible, and nonthreatening feedback on their understanding of key biochemical concepts. The feedback aims to affirm correct understanding and, where further study appears necessary, direct the student to the relevant sections of their textbook and/or lecturer-provided study notes. Rather than providing model answers to previous examination questions, "You be the examiner" asks the students to evaluate typical "student" answers to such questions. Instead of a single "correct" answer, students encounter a range of answers that they must assess for accuracy and appropriateness. [source]