Encouraging the Use of Collaborative Learning in Higher Education -- The verdict is in. Research studies overwhelmingly favor collaborative learning (CL) as the most effective form of learning (Johnson & Johnson 1984). Yet, despite all the studies and anecdotal experiences reported by teachers and researchers, the paradigm remains largely unused. This article will explore the nature of collaborative learning in higher education and what can be done to promote it. The paper consists of five sections, each dealing with a different aspect of CL.

PEIR is a resource developed under the supervision of Dr. Peter Anderson for use by the faculty and students of the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Active Learning on the Web – This site is a discussion of the concept of "active learning" and how to use computers to support the learning process.

On Bedside Teaching -- This is an article on possible barriers that contributed to the decline of bedside teaching and reasons this type instruction should return.

A Berkeley Compendium: Teaching with Excellence  -- This site lists dozens of very specific teaching ideas designed to promote excellence. They are derived from a book, Teaching With Excellence by Davis et al., a U.C. Berkeley project.

WAME -- The World Association of Medical Editors (WAME, pronounced "whammy!") is a voluntary association of editors from many countries who seek to foster international cooperation among editors of peer-reviewed medical journals.

Word-Medex -- A site on how to enhance the chance of publication of your manuscript (only for manuscripts written to describe the results of a research study). Essential requirements of each section of a manuscript and some guidelines for writing are provided.

Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals -- The editors of some major biomedical journals published in English decided on uniform technical requirements for manuscripts to be submitted to their journals (provided by Word-Medex).

American Medical Writers Association -- The American Medical Writers Association (AMWA) is a nonprofit organization of professionals engaged in medical communications. AMWA provides medical writers and editors with opportunities for professional development. Services and activities include meetings and conferences, a job placement exchange, seminars and workshops, publications, group insurance plans, and a core curriculum program in biomedical communications. Membership is by fee.

Tips on Giving Feedback -- A site with an extensive list of guidelines for providing meaningful feedback.

What is Instructional Design -- This site offers a simple definition combined with the components and several principles of instructional design.

Phases of Instructional Design -- General instructional design phases: refers to the process of instructional program development.

Clinical Cases and Image Databases

PEIR Digital Library (Pathology Image Database) PEIR is a resource developed under the supervision of Dr. Peter Anderson for use by the faculty and students of the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Auscultation Assistant -- This site has been designed primarily for second-year medical students to help them appreciate the different audio characteristics of heart murmurs and breath sounds.

Integrated Multimedia Curriculum (IMC) -- The IMC is the first integrated medical curriculum that links together the study of anatomy, physiology, histology, pharmacology, immunology and medical ethics via the Internet. The IMC features Gold Standard Multimedia's (GSM) highly regarded collection of medical education titles online, with the added benefit of internal integration offering links to related concepts between titles. A product of Gold Standard Multimedia.

Whole Brain Atlas -- An information resource for central nervous system imaging. The site combines clinical data with magnetic resonance (MR), X-ray computed tomography (CT), and nuclear medicine images to show what goes on in the brain.

Pathology Laboratory -- The Internet Pathology Laboratory for Medical Education. This electronic resource includes over 1900 images along with text, tutorials, and laboratory exercises that demonstrate gross and microscopic pathologic findings associated with human disease conditions. A web browser equivalent to Netscape 4 is recommended to access this resource. 

Research Summaries  -- This site summarizes 3 intriguing studies on lecturing. They focus on the effects of:

• pausing 2 to 6 minutes in a lecture to let students organize their notes
• presenting less information resulted in more learning
• a meta-analysis of specific lecture behaviors associated with greater learning

Creating an Effective PowerPoint Presentation – This site provides useful guidelines for designing slides and computer presentations.

How to Design Good Slides -- This site provides examples of good and bad slide designs.

HealthWeb -- This site provides links to specific, evaluated information resources on the
World-Wide Web selected by librarians and information professionals at leading
academic medical centers in the Midwest. Selection emphasizes quality information
aimed at assisting health care professionals as well as consumers in meeting their
health information needs.

MedWorld Best Sites -- A selective listing of some of the best medical sites on the web.

How To Read A Paper -- This is the first of 11 articles introducing non-experts to finding medical articles and assessing their value.

Medical Education -- This site offers a description of medical education including some of the learning theories and cognitive processes and skills involved in learning medicine.

TIP  -- Theory in Practice is a tool intended to make learning and instructional theory more accessible to educators. The database contains brief summaries of 50 major theories of learning and instruction.

Small Group Teaching

Frequently Asked Questions about Discussion - Eight frequently asked questions ranging in topics from how to get the discussion started to issues on evaluations. This site prepared by the Teaching Resources Center, Indiana University.

Small Group Assignments in Teaching Research Ethics -- This is a PDF file, it contains an article on how to get students to express their opinions in small group teaching and some exercises that can profitably be used with small groups.

Maximizing Learning in Small Groups -- This site contains a guide to maximizing small group learning including 27 fundamentals points and some foundations and other considerations.

Giving Exams Demonstrating Student Understanding -- This is a number of suggestions regarding the testing of students' understanding offered in Berkley's instructional compendium, Teaching with Excellence.

Constructing Written Test Questions for the Basic and Clinical Sciences -- This is a PDF file it is a useful guide for writing questions. It can be downloaded for free from the National Board of Medical Examiners. NBME Web Site is here.

Purpose of Item Analysis – This site explains why item analysis is important in determining whether you are doing a good job with instructing and assessing your students.

Eight Simple Steps to Item Analysis – Explicit, step-by-step process to conducting item analysis are discussed at this site.