A Multi-Institutional Study Demonstrating Undergraduate Medical Student Engagement with Question-Type Facebook Posts
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SHORT COMMUNICATION
A Multi-Institutional Study Demonstrating Undergraduate Medical Student Engagement with Question-Type Facebook Posts Kelly M. Quesnelle 1
&
Jennifer R. Montemayor 2
# International Association of Medical Science Educators 2020
Abstract Facebook is the social media platform used most by both medical educators and students, but there is scant literature investigating effective ways to use the platform across multiple institutions. This multi-institutional study compared student engagement between an official curricular Facebook page and a supplemental Facebook page. While a greater proportion of students were reached by the official course page, greater post engagement was achieved with the supplemental page. We attribute this to the abundance of question-type posts on the supplemental page and show that question-type posts achieve higher engagement with students than statement-type posts, regardless of page type. Keywords Facebook . Social media . Medical education
Background Medical educators strive to engage younger generations of students who are more reliant on technology for learning than any of their predecessors [1, 2]. Despite the generational differences between teacher and student, Facebook is the most popular and universally adopted social networking platform among both medical students and medical educators [2], making it an ideal platform for asynchronous electronic engagement between the two groups. In addition, Facebook studies are increasingly prevalent in medical education literature. Primarily, studies on the role of Facebook in medical education have focused on professionalism and, to a lesser extent, the use of Facebook for teaching and learning [3]. Some studies have described student-organized Facebook groups as important tools to supplement the medical curriculum for various purposes including the sharing of study materials and resources, as well as emotional peer support [4–6]. Other studies Kelly M. Quesnelle and Jennifer R. Montemayor contributed equally to this work.
describe a more formal curricular role using Facebook for medical science teaching and learning [7]. While most studies have demonstrated a positive student perception on the utility of Facebook, less work has focused on examining the relationship of Facebook use in medical education with student performance [8, 9]. Currently, there appears to be no consensus regarding the most effective way to utilize Facebook in medical science curricula, whether as a supplemental or a more formal component of the curriculum. The aim of this project was to expand upon the existing literature regarding the utility of Facebook for medical education. In this multi-institutional study, we sought to examine data on student engagement levels with Facebook depending on whether the Facebook page was an official part of the coursework, or whether the Facebook page was supplemental to curricular materials.
Activity Development of Facebook Pages
* Kelly M. Quesnelle [email protected] 1
Western Michigan Universi
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