The effect of a teacher-training workshop in a medical school was studied. The change in instructional behavior was judged by the amount and kind of students' verbal activities during regular lessons and by the cognitive level of the teacher student encounters. One hundred and sixty-one lessons of 60 teachers were observed in a period up to 500 days after the four-day workshop. The results indicate a considerable increase in both parameters following the training. The new level of performance was sustained for the activity parameter along the entire follow-up period. The cognitive level moderately declined after about 200 days. After 500 days the instructional behavior still was significantly different from that before the workshop. The implications for teacher-training and reinforcement interventions are discussed.
This paper describes the use of concept mapping for didactic purposes in higher education at the university level, namely, in medical schools. The f'rrst study involved the use of concept mapping to evaluate students' self learned knowledge of subject matter during their clerkship in a department of surgery. The individually constructed cognitive maps facilitated learning by being used in group discussions with the tutor, to identify correct ideas as well as misconceptions, and to convey the tutor's view, and thereby facilitated learning. The second, urtrelated study employed concept mapping to evaluate an inservice Orientation Workshop for medicine school faculty. The cognitive structure characteristics of the participants and their congruence with those of the workshop teachers were assessed. These provided evidence regarding the attainment of the workshop's objectives for different kinds of participant. For example, by using concept mapping in planning instruction or preparing materials for teaching, teachers become learners. Potential didactic uses in higher education are discussed in light of these studies.
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