Project-Based Learning Guidelines for Health Sciences Students: An Analysis with Data Mining and Qualitative Techniques

Here, we present a protocol for the behavioral analysis of a project-based learning methodology for health sciences students (20-56 years old). The protocol facilitates the comparison of the participants' performance in e-Learning versus blended-Learning (b-Learning) through a monitoring tool. The results are analyzed using Educational Data Mining and qualitative techniques.

Transcript

Introduction.Here, we present a protocol for the behavioral analysis of project-based learning methodology for health science student 20 to 56 years old. The protocol facilitates comparison of the participants'performance in e-learning versus b-learning through a monitoring tool. The result are analyzed using educational data mining and qualitative techniques.

Research questions. Research question one, will there be significant differences in the learning outcomes and satisfaction of health sciences students studying occupational therapy depending on whether the PBL methodology is implemented via e-learning versus b-learning, considering the effects of students prior knowledge? Research question two, will the clusters of participants found match the learning outcomes, learning behaviors, and perceived satisfaction as a functional of teaching modality, e-learning versus b-learning?

Research question three, will the students'suggestion for improvement of the PBL methodology be different depending on the teaching modality, e-learning versus b-learning? Procedures for this protocol have been provided by the Ethical Committee of University of Burgos. This protocol was executed in compliance with the procedural regulations of the Bioethics Committee of the University of Burgos, Spain, number 10 03/2022.

Before participating, the respondent were fully aware of the research objectives, and provided their informed consent. They received no financial compensation for their participation. Participant recruitment.

Recruit adult participant aged between 20 and 56 years old from two groups, students and teachers in higher education, specifically, undergraduate student in occupational therapy. Experimental procedure, collecting consents, and briefing the participants. During the first week of teaching, inform the trainees about the objectives of the study, and about data collection, processing, and storage.

If the students agree to participate, ask them to sign an informed consent form. Assessing the students'prior knowledge. During the first week of teaching, ask the student to complete the questionnaire, table two, and their prior knowledge of core subject concepts.

Informing the students about the project-based teaching methodology, and the different resources to be used. Provide the student with a guide for how PBL will be delivered, as well as rubrics for the evaluation of the project, and the presentation of the project. Inform the student about the advanced learning technology resources available, intelligent voice assistant, process-oriented personalized feedback, virtual laboratories, questionnaires with feedback on the qualification, flipped classroom, and PBL experiences.

Choice of case study. Organize the student in group of two to five participant, and ask each group to choose from a series of practical cases related to different developmental disorder, physical, psychological, or sensory, in children aged from zero to six years old. Description of the scope of the project intervention.

Ask each group to prepare an introduction describing the type of service in which they will implement their project. They can choose between an intervention in the field of health education, patient groups, or private services within the framework of early care. Description of the professionals working in the intervention area.

Ask each group to describe the role of the professional who will intervene, as well as the relationship structure that will be applied encouraging interdisciplinary working. Description of the intervention case study. Ask each group to describe the characteristics of the pathology, or developmental disorder.

Creation of the intervention program. Ask each group to prepare the various phases within the intervention program that address the following elements, initial user assessment, proposed evaluation indicators based on the results from the initial assessment, proposed intervention procedures to achieve the development of skills, or behaviors in children, materials required for the intervention, proposal of generalization activities, and planning the follow-up for the intervention. Production of a project document.

Ask each group to provide a document explaining the project created for the practical case chosen. Presentation of the project. Ask each group to present the project about the practical case they chose.

Follow-up of students'work. Assess the interaction of student group with the UBUVirtual platform via the monitoring students'behavior software tool, which allows the interaction of students to be analyzed individually and in groups. Use the tool to determine what interactions each student has within a group.

Evaluation of student satisfaction with project-based learning. Ask each student to complete an opinion survey and their satisfaction with the PBL work at the end of the course. Outline of the protocol steps.

Data analysis. Import all data in spreadsheet format into the statistical program. For elaboration of PBL, presentation of PBL, learning outcomes total, MSL access, and satisfaction of students with teaching, the independent variables, type of e-learning modality, such as implementation we are teaching, and covariate, prior knowledge.

Perform an ANCOVA with fixed effect, teaching modality e-learning versus b-learning, and covariate previous knowledge. Select multiple variable analysis, and include the dependent variables, elaboration and presentation of PBL, learning outcomes total, LMS access, and satisfaction of students with teaching, the independent variable type of teaching modality, and covariate prior knowledge. Estimate the marginal means, and perform the ANCOVA analysis.

Select the K-Means Cluster analysis, the variables elaboration and presentation of PBL, learning outcomes total, LMS access, and satisfaction of students with teaching, the cluster membership continuous, Statistic, Initial cluster center, ANOVA table, and Cluster information for each case, Continue. Select the Crosstable between the data found for cluster membership and the e-learning versus b-learning teaching modality group. In Row, select the variable here type of Modality, e-learning, such as implementation we are teaching.

In Column, select the cluster number of a case. Analyze the cluster analysis using visualizing software. Import the data into visualizing software.

Select Heat Map. Radviz implement the visualization of the cluster and the different variables studied with respect to the relationship with the teaching modality used. Perform a qualitative analysis of the open answers found in the PBL satisfaction scales for the two groups of e-learning versus b-learning using qualitative data analysis software.

Import the answers to the open-ended questions, obtaining the satisfaction student to teaching, SPBL. Select categorizing student responses in the two teaching modality, e-learning versus b-learning. Select the document group, teaching modality, e-learning versus b-learning analysis.

Select Sankey diagram. Export the results to spreadsheet format. Representative results.

There were significant differences in the elaboration of PBL scores, with e-learning scoring higher. The b-learning group scored higher in presentation of PBL and LMS access. No significant differences were found in the total learning outcomes, and no effect was found for prior knowledge as the covariate.

Two clusters were found in which differences were detected in the different variables, but it could not be established that one was superior to the other in all the variables. Subsequently, a crosstable was prepared between the values of the clusters of belonging assigned to each participant with respect to the teaching modality variables e-learning versus b-learning, and the percentage of belonging to each of the groups. The contingency coefficient of C equals 0.40.

p equals 0.00 was obtained. In addition, an ANOVA was performed between clusters for the variables for elaboration of PBL, presentation of PBL, total learning outcomes, LMS access, and student satisfaction with teaching. Significant differences were found in presentation, p equal 0.03, and LMS access, p equals 0.00.

A visual cluster analysis was performed by means of K-means technique using visualization software taking teaching modality e-learning versus b-learning as a variable with respect to the different variables studied, elaboration of PBL, presentation of PBL, total learning outcomes, access to LMS, and student satisfaction with teaching. Next, a heat map was constructed for the behavior of the variables in the clusters. Greater discrimination was found in clusters one and two in the behaviors of students on the virtual learning platform, UBUVirtual, and the type of teaching e-learning versus b-learning.

The answers were categorized into two groups, e-learning versus b-learning groups, using the qualitative data analysis software. The frequencies by categorization and analysis of the students'responses in the two groups by applying a Sankey diagram. Conclusions, the teaching modality used, e-learning versus b-learning, leads to differences in the results of applying PBL methodology.

The students in the e-learning group scored higher in the execution of the project, while the b-learning group scored higher in presenting the project. There was also increased access to the virtual platform in the b-learning group. The satisfaction was very high in both modalities with no significant differences between the groups.

In sum, the teaching modality, e-learning versus b-learning, may affect the result in different elements of PBL. In future studies, this subject will be explored in great depth to see if the same pattern is found with the student from other course of health science degree, since this is the subject of this protocol. In contrast, no difference would be found in total learning outcome, or in the student satisfaction with the teaching methodology.Limitations.

This study is about the PBL methodology, which was used only with students studying for a single degree in occupational therapy. It was not implemented with multi, or interdisciplinary teaching designs. However, applying this methodology on other studies would lead to greater effectiveness, and help students enter the job market in the future.

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Project-Based Learning Guidelines for Health Sciences Students: An Analysis with Data Mining and Qualitative Techniques

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