Hello Class of 2021!
We met with the statewide Neuroscience and Behavior (N&B) course director, Carl Marfurt, PhD, and the Indianapolis Site Leader, Jennelle Richardson, PhD, this morning to discuss student questions, comments and feedback about N&B. Below you will find the concerns discussed and comments from the directors. Indy students – you will find Indy-specific concerns at the bottom of this page.
Regional Campus Access to Dr. Pascuzzi’s Movement Disorder Lecture
The Course Management Team (CMT) is aware of the issues with audio and visual for the Movement Disorder Lecture this year on regional campuses. Last year the lecture was pre-recorded by Dr. Pascuzzi and was of better quality. That recording has been made available. The CMT completely understands the frustration and will work hard to make sure the issue is resolved next year!
Multiple Sclerosis SDL Assignment Concerns
The CMT recognized that it would be useful for the SDL assignment to be available at the beginning of the course. For next year, they will ensure the assignment is accessible sooner. They hope this will make the assignment less stressful. They would like to acknowledge the high-quality presentations that were seen on campuses. Great job! Further, this was the first time the MS SDL assignment was assigned for N&B. It is essential to provide feedback in student evaluations in order to improve it for next year’s students. So, please fill out your evaluations! They are open to hearing about how you liked this SDL assignment compared to other P1Y1 course SDLs.
As for the structure of SDL delivery, it will continue to remain a student-directed learning experience. Identifying a learning gap, conducting research, and presenting that to your classmates is the foundation for this SDL assignment. The CMT believes it would not be in the best interest to provide an instructor-led high yield points session at the end of sessions, as students already have access to a pre-recorded lecture and assigned readings over the MS material.
Timing of Small Group Sessions
The site leaders and facilitators are aware that some small group sessions are packed with questions/cases making it challenging to get through it all, while other sessions seem to have too little questions and plenty of time to get them done. As we go through the course, getting feedback on specific sessions from students about how they felt their time was spent is so important for future change. Keep track of these specific comments and if you haven’t already voiced those concerns to your site leader, please do so in the student evaluations. The CMT needs this feedback! Also, recognize that evaluations are the official recording of your feedback and the way to ensure that it is reviewed by the entire CMT and by oversight committees.
Further, please recognize that a lot of group variability exists between time spent answering small group questions. Some groups will finish a question quickly, while others spend more time on a question. In Indy, this can contribute to the lag between moving forward to another question. Also in Indy, students should be sure to put their answers into TopHat. TopHat lets facilitators know that enough groups have answered the current question and can progress forward through the session. The CMT meets weekly to discuss how small groups went, if there was enough time, and comments they heard from students about the cases. The CMT hears your concerns and are constantly working to address them.
Pharmacology Lectures
The CMT has attempted to place pharmacology lectures earlier in the blocks. However, because drug lectures are aligned with diseases they treat, these lectures may be near the end of the block (i.e. need seizure neurology material in order to learn pharmacology material). In the future, the CMT will continue attempting to place pharmacology lectures earlier in blocks but may not be able to guarantee this. The CMT uses student feedback to schedule lectures and encourages students to continue to provide feedback.
Reviewing Old Exams
If students would like to review past exams at other times than secure exam reviews, please reach out to specific site leaders. Students may have the opportunity to view past block exams and will need to be flexible with unscheduled exam reviews as logistics may vary with each campus.
Diseases to Know List
In the legacy curriculum some campuses had a “Disease to Know” (high yield disease) list. This idea will be discussed at the end-of-course CMT meeting and may potentially be implemented in the future.
Integrated Problem-Solving Questions – Indy Specific
The upcoming small group on Wednesday will not be a traditional small group session. Problems and cases will be presented to students and answers will be available to students at all times. Students will be able to work at their own pace or with others in their small groups. However, students are required to stay with their original groups. Facilitators will also be present to help with problems and cases.
Good luck on Exam 3 and on the NBME! Hope everyone has a great summer as well!
Rebekah and Chirag
Student Course Liaisons
Neuroscience & Behavior
