Developing best practices teaching procedures for skinfold assessment: observational examination using the Think Aloud method

Abstract

Skinfold assessment is valid and economical; however, it has a steep learning curve, and many programs only include one exposure to the technique. Increasing the number of exposures to skinfold assessment within an undergraduate curriculum would likely increase skill proficiency. The present study combined observational and Think Aloud methodologies to quantify procedural and cognitive characteristics of skinfold assessment. It was hypothesized that 1) increased curricular exposure to skinfold assessment would improve proficiency and 2) the combination of an observational and Think Aloud analysis would provide quantifiable areas of emphasis for instructing skinfold assessment. Seventy-five undergraduates with varied curricular exposure performed a seven-site skinfold assessment on a test subject while expressing their thoughts aloud. A trained practitioner recorded procedural observations, with transcripts generated from audio recordings to capture cognitive information. Skinfold measurements were compared with a criterion value, and bias scores were generated. Participants whose total bias fell within ±3.5% of the criterion value were proficient, with the remainder nonproficient. An independent-samples t-test was used to compare procedural and cognitive observations across experience and proficiency groups. Additional curricular exposure improved performance of skinfold assessment in areas such as the measurement of specific sites (e.g., chest, abdomen, and thigh) and procedural (e.g., landmark identification) and cognitive skills (e.g., complete site explanation). Furthermore, the Think Aloud method is a valuable tool for determining curricular strengths and weaknesses with skinfold assessment and as a pedagogical tool for individual instruction and feedback in the classroom.

Using a novel assessment of procedural proficiency provides medical educators insight into blood pressure measurement

“…Briefly, as the process is described elsewhere, 7 each participant completed a mathematical problem and solved an anagram while verbally expressing all of the thoughts that were going through their conscious mind during the completion of the task. The researcher was not interested in a correct answer, rather, the amount of information and level of detail expressed by the participant in relating their thoughts.…”

“…Two investigators used a randomly-selected small sample of these transcripts (n=6) to inductively develop a coding rubric to classify the strategies used by participants during the BP exercise in line with previously published work 6 , 7 . Following the development of this rubric, the investigators independently coded an additional small set (randomly selected) of the TA transcripts (n=6) using this new rubric.…”

“…While greater attention has been placed on physical skills required for valid BP measures, to our knowledge, no investigations have attempted to understand the underlying thought processes that accompany BP measurement. Recently, the ‘Think Aloud’ (TA) method has been used to characterize an individual’s thought processes during the performance of a concurrent task 6 , 7 . These observations have led to recommendations for improvement in task performance and pedagogy 6 , 7 .…”

“…Recently, the ‘Think Aloud’ (TA) method has been used to characterize an individual’s thought processes during the performance of a concurrent task 6 , 7 . These observations have led to recommendations for improvement in task performance and pedagogy 6 , 7 . Thus, it is plausible that combining both physical and cognitive observations may reveal a more comprehensive view of common practitioner strengths and weaknesses in BP measurement and may lead to valuable recommendations for instructional practice.…”

Conocimiento pedagógico de contenido en docentes de fisiología

“…En complemento con lo anterior, otros estudios han sido desarrollados alrededor de los componentes del CPC, tales como el mapeo de estrategias de aprendizaje en estudiantes de fisiología (25,26), la identificación de prácticas de enseñanza en procedimientos de medición (27) o el uso de analogías para entender mecanismos de la fisiología respiratoria (28) y los principios de la difusión (29) o como recurso didáctico en la enseñanza de la fisiología (30).…”