What's New at IDI
 

• DARPA Expert Knowledge Series (Demo video)
• Mayo Clinic Brain Injury Survivor Experiment
• Georgetown Hospital Breast Cancer Experiment
• University of Miami Master Teacher Experiment

Master Teacher Experiment at the University of Miami...

The IDI researchers believe that the attributes embodied in the Virtual Conversations® model in concert offer a new paradigm in education; one in which students can engage the master teacher in a one-on-one, face-to-face dialogue about a topic of interest.  Students control the pace and the flow of the virtual dialogue, while using natural language to ask questions of the expert.  This master teacher is ubiquitous; always present and always available for the conversation.  To engage this ubiquitous master teacher, one-on-one in cyberspace, the student only needs access to a personal computer.

This study is funded through a Small Business Innovation Research grant (DMI 0339956) from the National Science Foundation, Division for Design, Manufacture, and Industrial Innovation. The specific objectives are to:  1) transform a lesson, which is usually delivered as a lecture, into a virtual dialogue with the lecturer; and analyze and document the process; 2) field test the program, using the graduate students enrolled in the class as subjects; 3) perform a pre- and post-test to measure student acquisition of the content of the material; and 4) using Likert scales, measure students' acceptance of the virtual dialogue method as a modality for teaching required lessons in a curriculum. 

The experiment will be conducted at the University of Miami School of Medicine within the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health.  The Department offers two master's degrees and one doctoral degree in epidemiology and public health.  The subjects for the experiment will be students who are enrolled in the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) program in epidemiology, the Master of Public Health (MPH) program, or the Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH) program.  

Participating graduate students will engage a master biostatistician (Dr. Robert Duncan) in a one-on-one, face-to-face dialogue about the topic of logistic regression analysis.  They will conduct the interview as if they were in his presence.  They will be able to absorb the information at their own pace and repeat the expert's responses as many times as desired.  A dynamic non-directive scroll of relevant questions will assure that the student will never be "at a loss for words," never stray too far from the subject, and continuously be stimulated to obtain and understand the critical information about the topic. The result will be a calm, focused interview of the master teacher by a student who is entirely in control, emotionally and intellectually.  IDI researchers hypothesize that students will find it easier to learn this complex biostatistics course material using the virtual dialogue method.  They also hypothesize that students will gain a more profound understanding of these difficult statistical concepts than they would through the traditional lecture method. 

The long-range objective is to make this model and this new educational paradigm available in any educational institution that would benefit from its use.  If the approach proves feasible and effective, it would provide a vehicle for thousands of students, including those whose education is restricted by geographic location or economics, to have access to master teachers and some of the best minds in the country; through virtual dialogue.