Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

Stefani Dawn

Publication Date

1-31-2013

Abstract

The goal of this study was to test a scaffolded instructional model in a complex Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) lesson where students evaluated three different medical studies (RCT, case-control, and cohort) on the same topic and used those studies to reach an evidence-based conclusion. The hypothesis was that the students literature evaluation skills and subsequent application of the literature to address a clinical question would more closely approximate the experts following implementation of the model. The results do not fully support the hypothesis. The conclusions were: (1) third-year doctor of pharmacy students at the college have a limited ability to evaluate medical literature of varying qualities and types and conflicting conclusions; (2) prior to reading the RCT, students' initial clinical conclusions more closely resembled the experts', potentially indicating an unbalanced influence of the RCT, either from RCT bias/preconceptions or a lack of skills transfer in evaluating the RCT; and (3) the instructional model needs further development by adding explicit instructional scaffolding around the Medical Literature Evaluation (MLE) Rubric, vocabulary, and directly addressing student preconceptions/biases.'

Keywords

pharmacy education, medical education, teaching evidence based medicine, instruction, instructional scaffolding, Medical Literature Evaluation Rubric, Clinical Literature Evaluation Rubric, RCT bias, preconceptions, teaching, curriculum

Document Type

Dissertation

Language

English

Degree Name

Multicultural Teacher and Childhood Education

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Department Name

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies

First Committee Member (Chair)

Troutman, William

Second Committee Member

Bryant, Richard

Third Committee Member

Velasquez Torres, Diane

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