Background:

Medical school learning communities benefit students. The College of Medicine (COM) at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) provides medical students with academic, professional, and personal support through a learning community (LC) made of 7 academic houses.

Objectives:

To evaluate the effectiveness of the academic house model at UAMS utilizing a mixed-methods survey. The aims were to: (1) assess student experience and satisfaction with academic houses, (2) describe the realms of advising and guidance, and (3) identify areas for improvement.

Method:

An online survey was assigned to 723 COM students (all students enrolled, first through fourth years) at UAMS in March 2019. The survey was comprised of 25 items (10 multiple-choice, 8 on the Likert scale, and 7 open-ended questions). Data was depicted using frequency and percentages and/or thematic review of free-form responses.

Results:

The survey response rate was 31% (227 students). The majority of students responding (132, 58.1%) attended 2 or more face-to-face meetings with the faculty advisor within the preceding year. However, 27 (11.9%) students did not have any meetings. Approximately two-thirds of the respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with the guidance and direction provided by their advisors [very satisfied (n = 83; 36.6%); satisfied (n = 77; 33.9%)]. Themes that emerged from student generated areas for improvement include time constraints, advisor/advisee interest mismatch, and perceived inadequacy of advising content/connections.

Conclusions:

This study confirms the effectiveness of the LC model for advising and mentoring in the COM at UAMS. Uniquely, this study identifies not only learners’ satisfaction with their LC but also highlights areas for improvement which are widely generalizable and important to consider for institutions with or planning to start an LC.

中文翻译：

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更好的学习社区：混合方法揭示医学生的偏好，对学习社区的设计和实施具有启示意义

背景：

医学院学习社区使学生受益。阿肯色大学医学院 (UAMS) 的医学院 (COM) 通过由 7 个学术机构组成的学习社区 (LC) 为医学生提供学术、专业和个人支持。

目标：

利用混合方法调查评估 UAMS 学术房屋模型的有效性。目的是：(1) 评估学生对学术机构的体验和满意度，(2) 描述建议和指导的领域，以及 (3) 确定需要改进的领域。

方法：

2019 年 3 月，对 UAMS 的 723 名 COM 学生（所有学生，一年级到四年级）进行了在线调查。该调查由 25 个项目组成（10 个多项选择，8 个李克特量表和 7 个开放式问题). 使用频率和百分比和/或自由形式响应的主题审查来描述数据。

结果：

调查回复率为 31%（227 名学生）。大多数回应的学生 (132, 58.1%) 在前一年内与指导老师进行了 2 次或更多次面对面的会谈。然而，有 27 名 (11.9%) 学生没有参加任何会议。大约三分之二的受访者对其顾问提供的指导和方向感到满意或非常满意[非常满意（n = 83；36.6%）；满意（n = 77；33.9%）]。从学生产生的需要改进的领域中出现的主题包括时间限制、顾问/建议者兴趣不匹配以及建议内容/连接的感知不足。

结论：

这项研究证实了 LC 模型在 UAMS 的 COM 中提供建议和指导的有效性。独特的是，这项研究不仅确定了学习者对他们的 LC 的满意度，而且还强调了需要改进的领域，这些领域具有广泛的普遍性，并且对于已经或计划启动 LC 的机构来说很重要。