Facebook Groups as a Powerful and Dynamic Tool in Medical Education: Mixed-Method Study

Leo Nicolai, Moritz Schmidbauer, Maximilian Gradel, Sabine Ferch, Sofía Antón, Boj Hoppe, Tanja Pander, Philip von der Borch, Severin Pinilla, Martin Fischer, Konstantinos Dimitriadis, Leo Nicolai, Moritz Schmidbauer, Maximilian Gradel, Sabine Ferch, Sofía Antón, Boj Hoppe, Tanja Pander, Philip von der Borch, Severin Pinilla, Martin Fischer, Konstantinos Dimitriadis

Abstract

Background: Social networking sites, in particular Facebook, are not only predominant in students' social life but are to varying degrees interwoven with the medical curriculum. Particularly, Facebook groups have been identified for their potential in higher education. However, there is a paucity of data on user types, content, and dynamics of study-related Facebook groups.

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify the role of study-related Facebook group use, characterize medical students that use or avoid using Facebook groups (demographics, participation pattern, and motivation), and analyze student posting behavior, covered topics, dynamics, and limitations in Facebook groups with regards to educational usage.

Methods: Using a multi-method approach (interviews, focus groups, and qualitative and quantitative analysis of Facebook posts), we analyzed two representative Facebook groups of medical preclinical semesters at Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Munich. Facebook primary posts and replies over one semester were extracted and evaluated by using thematic content analysis. We developed and applied a coding scheme for studying the frequency and distribution of these posts. Additionally, we interviewed students with various degrees of involvement in the groups, as well as "new minorities," students not registered on Facebook.

Results: Facebook groups seem to have evolved as the main tool for medical students at LMU to complement the curriculum and to discuss study-related content. These Facebook groups are self-organizing and quickly adapt to organizational or subject-related challenges posed by the curriculum. A wide range of topics is covered, with a dominance of organization-related posts (58.35% [6916/11,853] of overall posts). By measuring reply rates and comments per category, we were able to identify learning tips and strategies, material sharing, and course content discussions as the most relevant categories. Rates of adequate replies in these categories ranged between 78% (11/14) and 100% (13/13), and the number of comments per post ranged from 8.4 to 13.7 compared with the average overall reply rate of 68.69% (1167/1699) and 3.9 comments per post. User typology revealed social media drivers (>30 posts per semester) as engines of group function, frequent users (11-30 posts), and a majority of average users acting rather as consumers or lurkers (1-10 posts).

Conclusions: For the moment, the medical faculty has no active involvement in these groups and therefore no influence on accuracy of information, professionalism, and ethical issues. Nevertheless, faculty could in the future benefit by extracting relevant information, identifying common problems, and understanding semester-related dynamics.

Keywords: Facebook; e-learning; faculty; medical education; networking; social media.

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: None declared.

©Leo Nicolai, Moritz Schmidbauer, Maximilian Gradel, Sabine Ferch, Sofía Antón, Boj Hoppe, Tanja Pander, Philip von der Borch, Severin Pinilla, Martin Fischer, Konstantinos Dimitriadis. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 22.12.2017.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(a) Qualitative coding scheme for preclinical year 1 (PCY1) and preclinical year 2 (PCY2) groups. Categories and subordinate categories were identified. The shaded boxes indicate categories used for quantitative coding. (b) Number of total posts (primary posts and comments) in PCY1 and PCY2, grouped into the four dominant categories.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) Percentage of total posts in preclinical year 1 (PCY1) and preclinical year 2 (PCY2) contributed by subgroups that posted 1 to 10 (lurkers), 11 to 30 (frequent posters), and >30 posts (social media drivers) through the course of one semester. (b) Contribution of social media drivers (>30 posts) to primary posts, comments, and overall posts (primary and comments). (c) Contribution of social media drivers to identified categories.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Number preclinical year 1 (PCY1) posts per semester week, divided into identified categories. Time axis (weeks) shows relevant semester events (arrows).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Number preclinical year 2 (PCY2) posts per semester week, divided into identified categories. Time axis (weeks) shows relevant semester events (arrows).
Figure 5
Figure 5
(a) In-detail analysis of comments per primary post, in all identified, coded categories. (b) Replies coded for percentage of constructive answers to questions in different categories.

References

    1. Statista. Number of monthly active Facebook users worldwide as of 1st quarter 2017 (in millions)
    1. Anderson B, Fagan P, Woodnutt T, Chamorro-Premuzic T. Facebook psychology: popular questions answered by research. Psychol Pop Media Cult. 2012;1(1):23–37. doi: 10.1037/a0026452.
    1. Abdul SS, Lin CW, Scholl J, Fernandez-Luque L, Jian WS, Hsu MH, Liou DM, Li YC. Facebook use leads to health-care reform in Taiwan. Lancet. 2011 Jun 18;377(9783):2083–4. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60919-7.
    1. Jain SH. Practicing medicine in the age of Facebook. N Engl J Med. 2009 Aug 13;361(7):649–51. doi: 10.1056/NEJMp0901277.
    1. McCarthy J. . 2009. Utilising Facebook: immersing Generation-Y students into first year university .
    1. Pempek TA, Yermolayeva YA, Calvert SL. College students' social networking experiences on Facebook. J Appl Dev Psychol. 2009 May;30(3):227–238. doi: 10.1016/j.appdev.2008.12.010.
    1. Kumar R, Novak J, Tomkins A. Structure and evolution of online social networks, in Link mining: models, algorithms, and applications. Springer. 2010 Aug 13;:337–357. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4419-6515-8_13.
    1. Stutzman F. Our lives, our facebooks. INSNA conference; 2006; Vancouver, Canada. 2006.
    1. Mazman SG, Usluel YK. Modeling educational usage of Facebook. Comput Educ. 2010 Sep;55(2):444–453. doi: 10.1016/j.compedu.2010.02.008.
    1. Lee MJ, McLoughlin C. Harnessing the affordances of Web 2.0 and social software tools: Can we finally make “student-centered” learning a reality?. Proceedings of World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications; 2008; Vienna, Austria. 2008. Jun 30,
    1. Bosch TE. Using online social networking for teaching and learning: Facebook use at the University of Cape Town. Communicatio. 2009 Nov;35(2):185–200. doi: 10.1080/02500160903250648.
    1. Mason R. Learning technologies for adult continuing education. Studies in Continuing Education. 2006 Jul;28(2):121–133. doi: 10.1080/01580370600751039.
    1. Liu Q, Peng W, Zhang F, Hu R, Li Y, Yan W. The effectiveness of blended learning in health professions: systematic review and meta-analysis. J Med Internet Res. 2016 Jan 04;18(1):e2. doi: 10.2196/jmir.4807.
    1. Bahner DP, Adkins E, Patel N, Donley C, Nagel R, Kman NE. How we use social media to supplement a novel curriculum in medical education. Med Teach. 2012;34(6):439–44. doi: 10.3109/0142159X.2012.668245.
    1. Pander T, Pinilla S, Dimitriadis K, Fischer MR. The use of Facebook in medical education--a literature review. GMS Z Med Ausbild. 2014;31(3):Doc33. doi: 10.3205/zma000925. doi: 10.3205/zma000925.
    1. Gray K, Annabell L, Kennedy G. Medical students' use of Facebook to support learning: insights from four case studies. Med Teach. 2010;32(12):971–6. doi: 10.3109/0142159X.2010.497826.
    1. Coughlan T, Perryman LA. Are student-led Facebook groups open educational practices?. OER15; 2015; Cardiff. 2015. Apr 15,
    1. linkinghub.elsevier. [2017-11-22]. Scripts, individual preparation and group awareness support in the service of learning in Facebook: How does CSCL compare to social networking sites? Computers in Human Behavior, 2015, 53, 577-592 .
    1. Fischer F, Kollar I, Stegmann K, Wecker C. Toward a script theory of guidance in computer-supported collaborative learning. Educ Psychol. 2013 Jan;48(1):56–66. doi: 10.1080/00461520.2012.748005.
    1. Chen Y. Linking learning styles and learning on mobile Facebook. IRRODL. 2015 Apr 15;16(2):-. doi: 10.19173/irrodl.v16i2.2038.
    1. Mbati L. Online social media applications for constructivism and observational learning. IRRODL. 2013 Dec 10;14(5):-. doi: 10.19173/irrodl.v14i5.1579.
    1. Çakıroğlu Ü. Analyzing the effect of learning styles and study habits of distance learners on learning performances: a case of an introductory programming course. IRRODL. 2014 Aug 15;15(4):-. doi: 10.19173/irrodl.v15i4.1840.
    1. Park N, Kee KF, Valenzuela S. Being immersed in social networking environment: Facebook groups, uses and gratifications, and social outcomes. Cyberpsychol Behav. 2009 Dec;12(6):729–33. doi: 10.1089/cpb.2009.0003.
    1. Cartledge P, Miller M, Phillips B. The use of social-networking sites in medical education. Med Teach. 2013 Oct;35(10):847–57. doi: 10.3109/0142159X.2013.804909.
    1. Pinilla S, Nicolai L, Gradel M, Pander T, Fischer MR, von der Borch P, Dimitriadis K. Undergraduate medical students using Facebook as a peer-mentoring platform: a mixed-methods study. JMIR Med Educ. 2015 Oct 27;1(2):e12. doi: 10.2196/mededu.5063.
    1. Wang Q, Woo L, Quek L, Yang Y, Liu M. Using the Facebook group as a learning management system: an exploratory study. Br J Educ Technol. 2012;43(3):428–438. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8535.2011.01195.x.
    1. Wang R, Scown P, Urquhart C, Hardman J. Tapping the educational potential of Facebook: guidelines for use in higher education. Educ Inf Technol. 2012 Jul 18;19(1):21–39. doi: 10.1007/s10639-012-9206-z.
    1. MacDonald J, Sohn S, Ellis P. Privacy, professionalism and Facebook: a dilemma for young doctors. Med Educ. 2010 Aug;44(8):805–13. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2923.2010.03720.x.
    1. Chretien KC, Goldman EF, Beckman L, Kind T. It's your own risk: medical students' perspectives on online professionalism. Acad Med. 2010 Oct;85(10 Suppl):S68–71. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0b013e3181ed4778.
    1. El BS, Jalali A. Go where the students are: a comparison of the use of social networking sites between medical students and medical educators. JMIR Med Educ. 2015 Sep 08;1(2):e7. doi: 10.2196/mededu.4908.
    1. Selwyn N. Faceworking: exploring students' education‐related use of Facebook. Learn Media Technol. 2009 Jun 23;34(2):157–174. doi: 10.1080/17439880902923622.
    1. Cheston CC, Flickinger TE, Chisolm MS. Social media use in medical education: a systematic review. Acad Med. 2013 Jun;88(6):893–901. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0b013e31828ffc23.
    1. Hendrix D, Chiarella D, Hasman L, Murphy S, Zafron ML. Use of Facebook in academic health sciences libraries. J Med Libr Assoc. 2009 Jan;97(1):44–7. doi: 10.3163/1536-5050.97.1.008.
    1. Jenkins H, Purushotma R, Weigel M, Clinton K, Robison A. Confronting the challenges of participatory culture: Media education for the 21st century. Boston: The MIT Press; 2009. The Needed Skills in the New Media Culture.
    1. Ahn J. What can we learn from Facebook activity?: using social learning analytics to observe new media literacy skills. LAK '13 Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge; 2013; Leuven, Belgium. 2013. Apr 13,
    1. Haythornthwaite C. Social networks and Internet connectivity effects. Inf Commun Soc. 2005 Jun;8(2):125–147. doi: 10.1080/13691180500146185.
    1. Ellison N, Steinfield C, Lampe C. The benefits of Facebook “friends”: Social capital and college students' use of online social network sites. J Comput Mediat Commun. 2007;12(4):1143–1168. doi: 10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00367.x.
    1. Ellison N. Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship. J Comput Mediat Commun. 2007;13(1):210–230. doi: 10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00393.x.
    1. English R, Duncan-Howell J. Facebook© goes to college: using social networking tools to support students undertaking teaching practicum. J Online Learn Teach. 2008;4(4):596–601.
    1. Knobe M, Münker R, Sellei RM, Holschen M, Mooij SC, Schmidt-Rohlfing B, Niethard F, Pape H. Peer teaching: a randomised controlled trial using student-teachers to teach musculoskeletal ultrasound. Med Educ. 2010 Feb;44(2):148–55. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2923.2009.03557.x.
    1. Meishar-Tal H, Kurtz G, Pieterse E. Facebook groups as LMS: a case study. IRRODL. 2012 Sep 07;13(4):33. doi: 10.19173/irrodl.v13i4.1294.
    1. Deng L, Tavares NJ. Exploring university students’ use of technologies beyond the formal learning context: a tale of two online platforms. AJET. 2015 May 15;31(3):-. doi: 10.14742/ajet.1505.
    1. Treem JW, Leonardi PM. Social media use in organizations: exploring the affordances of visibility, editability, persistence, and association. Annals of the International Communication Association. 2016 May 18;36(1):143–189. doi: 10.1080/23808985.2013.11679130.
    1. Tuckman BW, Jensen MA. Stages of small-group development revisited. Group & Organization Management. 2016 Sep 15;2(4):419–427. doi: 10.1177/105960117700200404.
    1. Gersick CJ. Time and transition in work teams: toward a new model of group development. Acad Manage J. 1988 Mar 01;31(1):9–41. doi: 10.2307/256496.
    1. George DR, Rovniak LS, Kraschnewski JL. Dangers and opportunities for social media in medicine. Clin Obstet Gynecol. 2013 Sep;56(3):453–62. doi: 10.1097/GRF.0b013e318297dc38.
    1. Sandars J, Haythornthwaite C. New horizons for e-learning in medical education: ecological and Web 2.0 perspectives. Med Teach. 2007 May;29(4):307–10. doi: 10.1080/01421590601176406.
    1. Madge C, Meek J, Wellens J, Hooley T. Facebook, social integration and informal learning at university: ‘It is more for socialising and talking to friends about work than for actually doing work’. Learn Media Technol. 2009;34(2):141–155. doi: 10.1080/17439880902923606.
    1. Gil-Or O. Researchgate. 2010. [2017-05-06]. Building consumer demand by using viral marketing tactics within an online social network .

Source: PubMed

Sponsorzy i współpracownicy

Warunki medyczne

Interwencje lekowe

3
Subskrybuj