PhD project
Mapping for meaning. Using concept maps to integrate clinical and basic sciences in medical education
In which way and to which extent is integration articulated in concept maps and which factors affect the resulting concept maps? By which factors is the perceived usefulness of such concept maps affected?
- Duration
- 2006 - 2014
- Contact
- Sylvia Vink
Researchers
- dr. Sylvia Vink - PhD candidate
- prof.dr. J.H. Bolk, prof.dr. N. Verloop and prof.dr. J. van Tartwijk - supervisors
Project description
Innovations in medical curricula often revolve around improvement of integration of disciplines, in particular of clinical and basic science disciplines. In this project, we examined an instrument that might help medical teachers to articulate integration: concept mapping. Concept mapping is assumed to help the articulation of integration. We investigated whether this assumption could be empirically supported and the factors that influenced the articulation of integration of clinical and basic sciences in concept maps.
We designed instructions based on cognitive psychological research findings to help medical teachers to articulate integration and developed a framework to describe integration in concept maps. In this way we were able to examine the question to which extent integration could be articulated and whether significant differences could be measured when medical teachers of different expertise levels constructed concept maps. Moreover, we questioned which factors affect the learning process of articulation of integration in concept maps and endeavoured to answer this question by comparing draft and final versions of the concept maps, surveying constructors on the process of concept mapping and by qualitative analysis of the process of concept mapping. Finally, the views of teachers on the usefulness of these concept maps for medical education was investigated by means of a survey.
Foto: GUSTOIMAGES / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Universal Images Group