Easing the transition from school to university:
actively involving Biomedical Science students in
identifying and implementing effective revision
techniques to help incoming undergraduates
Dr. Georgina Carr, Dr. Debra J Bevitt , Omar Haider (Stage 2 Biomedical Sciences),
Ryan Biddle (Stage 3 Physiology)
Overview
• UTLSEC innovation funded project
• StudyMate: student led revision tool
Background – identification of problem
• Phase 1 student summative assessment comprises
mostly of EMI questions
• Prior to university, students have little experience of EMIs
• The student voice through staff student committee,
discussion with tutees and phase 1 adviser system
identified a need for revision strategy guidance
particularly since there are no past papers
Aims
• Gain a more complete understanding of the difficulties students
encounter with regard to revision for EMI exams as they make
the transition from school to higher education.
• Identify and evaluate effective revision styles in well performing
students and relay these methods to incoming undergraduate
students in order to ease the transition between the two sectors
in terms of revision skills.
Methods
Questionnaire related to revision styles
15 minute meetings with 15 high-scoring and 15 low-scoring Stage 1 students after
semester 2 in course EMI for 3 different modules.
• ‘closer’ to the transition from A-level
•Interviewed in semester 2 to allow time to settle in and develop revision strategies
•Longitudinal impact on EMI performance can be monitored
•SBMS phase adviser support system currently meets with low scoring students
Analysis of Questionnaire data
•Reoccurring difficulties
•Differences between low-scoring and high-scoring students
•Common themes in better performing students
•Strategies more common in high performers defined as effective revision strategies
Evaluation of Impact of Questionnaires
•Quantitative: analysis of marks
•Qualitative: collect student feedback via verbal discussions and emails
Student’s EMI mark for ……………..exam:______
Student’s Semester 1 mean EMI (excl. practical) mark:_____
A level grades:_____________
Begin by asking the student to think back to the key revision techniques they used in sixth form. Did they employ any of the following methods and have
they used them over the last semester:
Strategy
Used in
Used in
Any comments on effectiveness?
A level
Semester
studies or
1?
equivalent?
Past papers - completed using
notes or without notes
Rewriting study notes –
completed using notes or
without notes
Revision cards/ Flash cards created using notes or without
notes
Write own questions and
subsequently attempt questions
using notes or without notes
Applying information to the ‘real
world’ – why it is important to
know this information e.g.
insulin signalling in diabetes
Rhymes and mnemonics (e.g.
Never Eat Shredded Wheat to
remember North East South
West)
Impact of Questionnaires on Students
 Questionnaires received positively
‘I will definitely use some of the techniques you talked about. Writing out
questions as you revise is definitely a good suggestion’
I mentioned i'd be interested in supplying you with data as i was in the process of
changing my learning techniques and work ethic this year as compared to last year. I
said I'd already seen favorable results so far as i got 71% in my cmb2002 ic-emi
( a great improvement in my opinion) using only a few of the techniques that
you had mentioned and was interested in seeing how much more i could achieve.
In the meetings I have had so far many of the students have commented on how they
appreciate going through the positives and negatives of each strategy and
whether they would take them forward as a new approach to their revision.
Impact of Questionnaires on Students
Poor performers’ mean scores in the ICEMI
and end of module exam
80
****
40
% increase in mark
(compared to IEMI)
60
60
**
40
20
20
Ja
n
EM
I
End of Module
Exam
Po
or
IE
M
I
ICEMI
Po
or
Mark (%)
80
or
o
P
O
ve
ll
a
r
Percentage increase in mark for the
ICEMI to the end of module exams
significantly greater in poor performers
compared to the overall student cohort
Results
Mean IC-EMI mark
100
****
Score
80
60
40
H
ig
h
Po
or
20
Student’s self- rating of confidence in their:
Memory
Mean daily study hours
8
8
7
7
5
H
H
ig
h
5
ig
h
6
Po
or
6
ig
h
6
Po
or
7
H
Grade
Grade
8
Grade
9
Po
or
Revision strategies
Key Finding 1: High achieving students try to
understand and link concepts (concept mapping)
High scoring students report
Application is key to understanding what it is
all about’;
‘I like to understand and not just memorise. I
do extra reading to help’
‘I relate modules to each other ‘
demonstrating a deeper approach to learning
Low scoring students report
‘ I re-write my notes about 3 times in total’
Key Finding 2: High performers test their
learning (retrieval practice)
At A level both poor and high performers interviewed used past papers as their
key revision strategy (91% and 88% respectively)
At university both groups rewrite their notes but proportion of students using
this technique without their notes i.e. from memory (retrieval practice) is greater
in high performers (80% versus 36%)
I rewrite the PowerPoint slides from the lecture in blocks of text and learn this. I
then test my knowledge by looking at the titles of the ppt slides and say out loud
what the slide is all about (without notes)’
I read about 20 sheets of notes then I put them away for about 20 minutes and
do something else. I then try to remember everything by going through it in my
head (without notes)and what I can’t remember I re-write again as condensed
notes, diagrams and use colours.’
Summary of main findings
 High achieving students try to understand and link concepts
(concept mapping)
 At A level students revise through past papers
-they test their learning
 At university majority of students re-write their notes
-high performers re-write their notes from memory
-many poor performing students do NOT test their learning
Where at are we doing about this?
Give past papers?
•Creating EMIs is labour intensive
•Want to avoid students relying on academics.
•Want students to be autonomous learners
 Promote testing of learning through use of StudyMate (self and
peer assessment)
 Revision strategies seminar
 Bb community – direction to various revision aids including MCQs
 ePortfolio – reflection on revision techniques
What is StudyMate?
 StudyMate = student-led revision tool. Students can use StudyMate to test
their learning in a fun, engaging way
 Students can create a range of self testing applications
-12 in total including quizzes, crosswords etc. suited to different learning styles
-Can create, edit and review items – aids learning process
-Students can work together or individually to create items
-Students can compete against each other on tests
-Students can select language - suited to international students
 Teacher has a facilitatory role
-Can provide content for students to review
-Initially can control editing and provide questions
-Can view edits, reviews, grades of students
Why StudyMate?
 StudyMate helps students build their knowledge base – ideal for stage 1
Biomedical Sciences
 Active learning - fun, engaging method of revision
 Appeals to many learning styles
 Integrates with Blackboard AND iPhones, iPods,
Blackberrys and more!
StudyMate: http://www.respondus.com/products/studymate.shtml
Plan for Implementation of StudyMate
 3 month free trial: SBMS, ISS and QuILT will carry out test run
 Cost: £3207 for campus wide site license
 Trial run with student focus groups
If successful give access to all stage 1
Biomedical Science students
If unsuccessful try peerwise or other
online resources
 Long term – assess impact through usage, ePortfolio comments
and analysis of summative assessment results
Summary
Study of stage 1 semester 2 Biomedical Sciences students revealed:
•High performers try to understand and link concepts
•High performers self-test using methods other than past papers
 Establish a student-led revision aid called StudyMate ®, a Windows
authoring tool that allows students to create a range of self-testing
applications
 Students are actively involved in identifying, analysing and creating
revision led tools:
•Partners in project
•Student questionnaire data and feedback help mould the
students’ learning of the future
•StudyMate allows students to create own self testing resources
Acknowledgements
Karl Cain, Richard Young
Marc Bennett, Mike Cameron
SBMS – Rachel Hewson and Debbie Bevitt
Omar Haider and Ryan Biddle
UTLSEC
Extra slides
Impact of Questionnaires on Staff
Thanks, I shall use this with my tutees
Dr C.I. Baldwin
Head of School of Biomedical Sciences
I think the revision strategy guide for our phase 1 appointments is an
excellent idea. I have in past appointments gone through many of these
strategies with students but having a grid to work through has just given
the meetings a lot more structure which has actually helped me to keep to
time with my appointments.
Going through the grid has actually put the students at ease regarding
what to expect from the meeting. I think many students perceive the
meeting as a 'bit of a telling off' and therefore come in quite defensive and
negative in some cases. Having a relatively simple and honestly answered
grid to fill in puts the students at ease and actually makes them leave with
a positive and proactive approach for any future revision.
Dr. Lindsey Ferrie
Senior Teaching Fellow in Pharmacology
Student’s EMI mark for ……………..exam:______
Student’s Semester 1 mean EMI (excl. practical) mark:_____
A level grades:_____________
Begin by asking the student to think back to the key revision techniques they used in sixth form. Did they employ any of the following methods and have
they used them over the last semester:
Strategy
Used in
Used in
Any comments on effectiveness?
A level
Semester
studies or
1?
equivalent?
Past papers - completed using
notes or without notes
Rewriting study notes –
completed using notes or
without notes
Revision cards/ Flash cards created using notes or without
notes
Write own questions and
subsequently attempt questions
using notes or without notes
Applying information to the ‘real
world’ – why it is important to
know this information e.g.
insulin signalling in diabetes
Rhymes and mnemonics (e.g.
Never Eat Shredded Wheat to
remember North East South
West)
Strategy
Used in
Used in
A level studies Semester 1?
or equivalent?
Any comments on effectiveness?
Analogies (e.g. binding of many
proteins to the insulin receptor
substrate is like pigs suckling on their
mother)
Discussion of exam topics with peers
Change of one form of information
into another e.g. diagrams to words
Scrutiny of marking criteria to
understand what is required
Mind maps/spider diagrams
Use of colour to enable better recall of
themes
Revision timetable
Other strategies?
Other Questions
On a scale of 1-10, where 10 is most confident, how confident are you that your revision techniques will help you to perform well in an EMI exam? _____
On a scale of 1-10, where 10 is excellent and 1 is poor, how would you rate your recall of material and details? _____
On average, how much time do you allocate to your studies per day (including lectures, seminars, practicals)? _____
General comments/other factors affecting performance e.g. personal
issues__________________________________________________________________