The Validation of the Active Learning in Health Professions Scale

Abstract

There is a need for an assessment tool for evaluating the effectiveness of active learning strategies such as problem-based learning in promoting deep learning and clinical reasoning skills within the dual environments of didactic and clinical settings in health professions education. The Active Learning in Health Professions Scale (ALPHS) instrument captures three elements of active learning: activities that have elements of novel access to information, observing or participating in experiences focused on learning, and reflective practices about the learning process. In order to assess the criterion-related validity of the ALHPS, a Structural Regression Model was created in which the latent variable of Active Learning was placed as a predictor of graduating seniors' critical thinking. The strong psychometric properties of the ALHPS instrument indicate that it is possible to reliably assess students' perceptions of the frequency with which they experience active learning pedagogy within doctoral health professions education, and that such strategies are predictive directly of academic engagement and indirectly of increases in students' critical thinking skills.

Your teaching strategy matters: how engagement impacts application in health information literacy instruction

“…Active learning is a pedagogical approach in which educators facilitate learning and empower students to take ownership of their education by making them responsible for engaging with content [8]. To gain primary experience with this pedagogical approach, we compared the two teaching methods using a Jeopardy -style game that tested for rote memorization as well as a rubric that assessed bibliographic quality.…”

“…Faculty use of active learning methods, particularly collaborative student work followed by faculty explanation, has been shown to improve student learning more than either collaborative work or faculty explanation alone [7]. Numerous degree programs that prepare students for health professions mandate the inclusion of active learning pedagogy, due to its demonstrated effectiveness in developing higher-order thinking skills among students [8]. Linton and colleagues argue for the value of using multiple active learning pedagogies to enhance learning and to achieve other educational objectives, including increased collaboration and development of better verbal communication skills [1].…”

The Need and Curricula for Health Professions Education Graduate Programs

“…Active learning strategies include such approaches as problem‐based learning and collaborative learning. Within the health professions, Kammer, Schreiner, Kim, and Denial (2015) developed a tool to measure the use of active learning by faculty in health professions education programs. This tool was based on the work of Bonwell and Eison's (1991) conceptual definition of active learning.…”

Guest Editors’ Introduction: Special Issue on Problem-based Learning in Health Professions Education/Toward Advancement of Problem-Based Learning Research and Practice in Health Professions Education: Motivating Learners, Facilitating Processes, and Supporting with Technology

“…While also focusing on instructor facilitation of learning, Kammer, Schreiner, Kim, and Denial (2015) developed an instrument named "Active Learning in Health Professions Scale" (ALPHS) to measure students' perceptions of the frequency with which they experience active learning pedagogy. Kammer et al (2015) identified two factors in the instrument that predicted students' engagement in learning, which in turn predicted critical thinking.…”

“…Kammer et al (2015) identified two factors in the instrument that predicted students' engagement in learning, which in turn predicted critical thinking. Although not specifically geared toward PBL, we believe that the instrument can nonetheless provide a window to examine PBL tutors' facilitation strategies.…”