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.

The adoption of virtual microscopy at the University of Turku, Finland, created a unique real-world laboratory for exploring ways of reforming the learning environment. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the students' reactions and the impact of a set of measures designed to boost an experimental group's understanding of abnormal histology through an emphasis on knowledge of normal cells and tissues. The set of measures included (1) digital resources to review normal structures and an entrance examination for enforcement, (2) digital course slides highlighting normal and abnormal tissues, and (3) self-diagnostic quizzes. The performance of historical controls was used as a baseline, as previous students had never been exposed to the above-mentioned measures. The students' understanding of normal histology was assessed in the beginning of the module to determine the impact of the first set of measures, whereas that of abnormal histology was assessed at the end of the module to determine the impact of the whole set of measures. The students' reactions to the instructional measures were assessed by course evaluation data. Additionally, four students were interviewed. Results confirmed that the experimental group significantly outperformed the historical controls in understanding normal histology. The students held favorable opinions on the idea of emphasizing normal structures. However, with regards to abnormal histology, the historical controls outperformed the experimental group. In conclusion, allowing students access to high-quality digitized materials and boosting prerequisite skills are clearly not sufficient to boost final competence. Instead, the solution may lie in making students externally accountable for their learning throughout their training. Anat Sci Educ 6: 73–80. © 2012 American Association of Anatomists.

Following the information and communication technology (ICT) revolution, governments around the world have formulated strategies to meet the challenges proposed by the ubiquitous globalization and information society discourse. Education has been the focal point of information society strategies for two reasons. First, strategies have touted the use of ICT in enhancing education. Second, education is seen as a way to move nations into the information age.Finland, alongside other Nordic countries, has been soaring high in the international ranking lists measuring different aspects of information society development (see e.g. World Economic Forum, 2005Forum, , 2006Forum, , 2007. Finland can be seen as a candidate for being a genuine information society. Furthermore, Finland's recent success in the PISA survey (the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD]'s Programme for International Student Assessment) might suggest, if not causality, at least a correlation between information society development, education and the good PISA results.In this article Finnish strategy papers from 1999 to 2004 are analysed from three perspectives: first, what are the premisses the strategies are based on, and how are these premisses defined? Moving on from premisses, the role of education in the information society and its implications for educational policy are then analysed. Finally, there is a consideration of how well the implementation plans derived from the premisses are justified. It is then argued that the action programme based on deficiently defined premisses leads to ICT being seen as a simple answer to complex societal and educational problems. Further, political discourse is challenged by diverging interpretations of the information society. By providing a crosssection -from wide-ranging strategies to more specific information society strategies and their implementation -the internationally recurrent themes of the Finnish strategies are discussed as an example of a larger phenomenon in the field of educational policy that, although evolving, does not show any signs of fading away. Media, Culture & Society

OBJECTIVES There has been long-standing controversy regarding aptitude testing and selection for medical education. Visual perception is considered particularly important for detecting signs of disease as part of diagnostic procedures in, for example, microscopic pathology, radiology and dermatology and as a component of perceptual motor skills in medical procedures such as surgery. In 1968 the Perceptual Ability Test (PAT) was introduced in dental education. The aim of the present pilot study was to explore possible predictors of performance in diagnostic classification based on microscopic observation in the context of an undergraduate pathology course. METHODS A pre- and post-test of diagnostic classification performance, test of visual perceptual skill (Test of Visual Perceptual Skills, 3rd edition [TVPS-3]) and a self-report instrument of personality (Big Five Personality Inventory) were administered. In addition, data on academic performance (performance in histology and cell biology, a compulsory course taken the previous year, in addition to performance on the microscopy examination and final examination) were collected. RESULTS The results indicated that one personality factor (Conscientiousness) and one element of visual perceptual ability (spatial relationship awareness) predicted performance on the pre-test. The only factor to predict performance on the post-test was performance on the pre-test. Similarly, the microscopy examination score was predicted by the pre-test score, in addition to the histology and cell biology grade. The course examination score was predicted by two personality factors (Conscientiousness and lack of Openness) and the histology and cell biology grade. CONCLUSIONS Visual spatial ability may be related to performance in the initial phase of training in microscopic pathology. However, from a practical point of view, medical students are able to learn basic microscopic pathology using worked-out examples, independently of measures of personality or visual perceptual ability. This finding should reassure students about their abilities to improve with training independently of their scores on tests on basic abilities and personality.

"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.