ERIC Number: EJ1154794
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 5
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1470-8175
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
The Usability of WeChat as a Mobile and Interactive Medium in Student-Centered Medical Teaching
Wang, Juan; Gao, Furong; Li, Jiao; Zhang, Jieping; Li, Siguang; Xu, Guo-tong; Xu, Lei; Chen, Jianjun; Lu, Lixia
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, v45 n5 p421-425 Sep-Oct 2017
Biochemistry and cellular biology courses for medical students at Tongji University include the assessment that provides students with feedback to enhance their learning, which is a type of formative assessment. However, frequent instant feedback and guidance for students is often absent or inconsistently included in the teaching process. WeChat, the most popular Chinese social media, was introduced in biochemistry and cellular biology course. A WeChat official account (OA) was set up as an instant interactive platform. Over a period of two semesters, OA sent 73 push notifications. The components included course notices, preclass thought questions, after-class study materials, answer questions and feedback, simulation exercises, teacher-student interaction, and research progress relevant to the course. WeChat OA served as an active-learning teaching tool, provided more frequent feedback and guidance to students, and facilitated better student-centered communication in the teaching process. Using the WeChat OA in medical teaching emphasized interactive, interoperable, effective, engaging, adaptable, and more participatory teaching styles. As a new platform, WeChat OA was free, Internet-reliant, and easily managed. Using this new medium as a communication tool accelerated further advancement of instant feedback and improvement in teaching activities. Notifications and interactive feedback via the mobile social medium WeChat OA anytime and anywhere facilitated a student-centered teaching mode. Use of WeChat OA significantly increased the proportion of students interactively participating and resulted in a high degree of student satisfaction.
Descriptors: Biochemistry, Medical Students, Cytology, Biology, Feedback (Response), Teaching Methods, Social Media, Technology Uses in Education, Educational Technology, Computer Simulation, Teacher Student Relationship, Active Learning, College Science, College Students, Foreign Countries, Telecommunications, Medical Education
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: China (Shanghai)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A