Collaborative Concept Mapping and Critical Thinking in Fourth-Year Medical Students

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Neonatalogy
• Critical Thinking Assessment

Background:

• Critical thinking (CT) is crucial for medical professionals.
• Assessing CT in medical students is an ongoing challenge.
• Neonatal topics require complex clinical reasoning skills.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate if small group concept mapping improves critical thinking (CT) in fourth-year medical students during a neonatal elective.
• To explore correlations between CT scores and United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) Step 1 and Step 2 Clinical Knowledge (CK) scores.

Main Methods:

• A pilot study involved 27 students in a 1-month neonatal elective.
• Pre- and post-assessments included the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST), California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI), and a multiple-choice knowledge test (MCKT).
• Weekly group sessions focused on 4 core neonatal topics, incorporating small group concept mapping.

Main Results:

• No significant difference was found in CCTST scores pre- and post-elective (P = .57).
• No significant correlations were observed between CCTST scores and USMLE Step 1 (r = .276, P = .164) or Step 2 CK (r = .214, P = .482) scores.
• A significant improvement in MCKT scores was noted, from 35% pre-course to 50% post-course (P ≤ .001).

Conclusions:

• Concept mapping effectively enhances content knowledge in neonatal medicine.
• While not statistically significant, the study provides a foundation for developing curricula to improve CT.
• The small sample size may have limited the ability to detect a significant impact on CT scores.