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ERIC Number: ED640308
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2023
Pages: 270
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: 979-8-3807-1159-3
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
The Past, Present, and Future of Statistics in Medical Education: A Mixed-Methods Study of Biostatistics Curriculum and Faculty Instructional Practices, Perspectives and Beliefs in U.S. Medical Schools
Zachary Thomas Vaskalis
ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, North Carolina State University
Medical schools in the United States have been incorporating biostatistics education as part of its core curriculum for over 75 years. During that time, while the discipline has drastically changed, the curriculum has seemingly for the most part stayed the same. Numerous national organizations have published documents of objectives and competency-based standards, as well as provided calls for students studying statistics to have more active learning and hands on experiences with data in a real-world context. However, there is a lack of evidence of how biostatistics faculty, especially in the medical school setting, have utilized these resources and made strives to heed these calls. Therefore, this study seeks to fill this gap in the literature, to assess the current landscape of biostatistics education, and what if anything has changed, especially in relation to these broader calls for change and publications from national organizations. To examine this issue, this study utilizes an integrated convergent mixed-methods study design that is comprised of two-phases. The first phase is a questionnaire variant design component comprised of a faculty questionnaire, which solicited both quantitative and qualitative feedback from biostatistics faculty volunteers. Overall, while 132 participants began the questionnaire, only 29 were able to fully complete it. The initial results from the questionnaire were analyzed and directly incorporated into the development of the follow-up interview protocol for phase 2. Ten volunteer faculty members were subsequently interviewed. Both the quantitative and qualitative datasets were analyzed separately at first. Following the plan for a Convergent Integrated Variant Mixed-Methods Design, the datasets were merged together to make meaningful interpretations. The overall findings from this research study seem to suggest that some changes are beginning to occur in biostatistics curricula in the United States medical school context. Active learning strategies have seen a wider use and are beginning to compete with lecture/direct instruction methods. The participating biostatistics faculty in this study believe students need more critical appraisal of the medical literature and less of the theory, formulas, and calculations of biostatistical concepts and procedures as the medical students are being asked less to be producers of statistics and more consumers. Additionally, this is also coupled with a faculty perspective on the features of the medical student of the future being one that is focused on patient care and not on becoming a clinician scientist. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway, P.O. Box 1346, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. Tel: 800-521-0600; Web site: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml
Publication Type: Dissertations/Theses - Doctoral Dissertations
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A