Cognitive flexibility and undergraduate physiology students: increasing advanced knowledge acquisition within an ill-structured domain

In this study, we assessed the cognitive flexibility of undergraduate physiology students using a validated instrument entitled Student’s Approaches to Learning (SAL). The SAL evaluates how deeply and in what way information is processed, as well as the investment of time and mental energy that a student is willing to expend by measuring constructs such as elaboration and memorization. Our results indicate that students who rely primarily on memorization when learning new information have a smaller knowledge base about physiological concepts, as measured by a prior knowledge assessment and unit exams. However, students who rely primarily on elaboration when learning new information have a more well-developed knowledge base about physiological concepts, which is displayed by higher scores on a prior knowledge assessment and increased performance on unit exams. Thus students with increased elaboration skills possibly possess a higher level of cognitive flexibility and are more likely to succeed within ill-structured domains.

Source: AJP: Advances in Physiology Education - July 5, 2017 Category: Universities & Medical Training Authors: Rhodes, A. E., Rozell, T. G. Tags: HOW WE TEACH Source Type: research