Nadja Beeler
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Publications1 - 10 of 24
- The effects of procedural and conceptual knowledge on visual learningItem type: Journal Article
- An evaluation of measurement systems estimating gait speed during a loaded military march over graded terrainItem type: Journal Article
- Developing Visual Expertise for Skin Lesion ClassificationItem type: Conference PosterBeeler, Nadja; Ziegler, Esther; Volz, Andreas; et al. (2022)
- Visual Learning in Melanoma Detection: Factors Related to Diagnostic Performance and the Efficacy of Educational InterventionsItem type: Doctoral ThesisBeeler, Nadja (2023)Visual learning is essential in many medical domains. In dermatology, for example, it is crucial but challenging for prospective health professionals to learn the visual distinction between potentially harmful and harmless skin lesions, such as malignant melanomas and benign nevi. However, studies testing different learning interventions in medicine are limited, and we need a better understanding of visual learning to improve current teaching methods. With this thesis, I make five main contributions: four empirical studies and one online learning tool. Study I explored factors related to the performance of laypersons diagnosing pigmented skin cancer. Knowledge about these factors is a prerequisite for designing and evaluating evidence-based learning interventions. Hence, I investigated how the characteristics of the skin lesions, the number of classified lesions and the response times of laypeople were related to their diagnostic performance. The results showed large differences between the lesions, as some were classified correctly by more than 90% and others by less than 10% of the participants. For melanomas, the correct diagnosis was provided significantly more often than for nevi. Furthermore, I found a positive relationship between the number of solved tasks and diagnostic performance in the first 50 classification tasks. However, after 50 tasks, the participants’ performance decreased, indicating a trade-off between adaptation and fatigue effects. Finally, investigating the response times revealed that compared to true decisions, participants spent longer on false-negative but not on false-positive decisions. These results provided novel knowledge about performance-related factors, which are helpful for designing learning interventions and performance tests for melanoma detection. Study II investigated the relationship between diagnostic performance and response time in visual skin lesion classification tasks in medical students versus dermatologists. Assessing performance and response time provides objectively measurable data on diagnostic decisions; hence, many studies in medical education include these variables. However, the relationship between these two measurands has only been investigated within expertise levels, mostly showing negative correlations. To complement previous findings, I illuminated the differences in the performance–response time relationship between medical students and dermatologists in visual skin lesion classification tasks. The participants had to diagnose malignant melanomas versus benign nevi in online surveys. I found that the negative correlation between diagnostic performance and response time was more pronounced in experts, indicating that the strength of the performance–response time relationship might generally increase with diagnosticians’ abilities and that practitioners could profit from educational interventions targeting awareness of response time. Study III looked into the role of active and passive tasks in visual learning. Prior research has shown that combining active and passive tasks improves learning efficiency. However, previous studies have only implemented passive before active tasks, contradicting findings on productive failure learning designs. I aimed to replicate and extend earlier results by comparing 1) combined versus uniform active and passive tasks and 2) active before passive versus passive before active tasks in the visual detection of pigmented skin cancer. The sample consisted of 161 university students without professional knowledge about skin lesion classification. I randomly assigned the participants to four groups: 1) active before passive, 2) passive before active, 3) uniform active, and 4) uniform passive tasks. The students completed the learning intervention, an intermediate and three post-tests (immediate, two days delayed and two weeks delayed) online. In line with my hypotheses, I found that learning with combined active and passive tasks led to higher diagnostic accuracy in difficult-to-classify skin lesions in the two-week delayed post-test than learning with only one of the two task types. Furthermore, I found that active before passive tasks resulted in higher diagnostic accuracy than passive before active tasks. These findings suggest that initial active tasks improve long-term visual learning outcomes in difficult melanoma detection tasks. However, future research needs to confirm this result and explore the underlying learning mechanisms further. Study IV investigated the effects of procedural and conceptual knowledge on visual learning. Even though past research suggests that visual learning may benefit from conceptual knowledge, current interventions for medical image evaluation often focus on procedural knowledge, mainly by teaching classification algorithms. Using a double transfer research design, I compared the efficacy of pure procedural knowledge (three-point checklist for evaluating skin lesions) versus combined procedural plus conceptual knowledge (histological explanations for each of the three points). All students then trained their classification skills with a visual learning resource that included images of two types of pigmented skin lesions: benign nevi and malignant melanomas. Both treatments produced significant and long-lasting effects on diagnostic accuracy in transfer tasks. However, only students in the combined procedural plus conceptual knowledge condition significantly improved their diagnostic performance in classifying lesions they had seen before in the pre- and post-tests. Findings suggest that the provision of additional conceptual knowledge supported error correction mechanisms. Finally, developing the online learning tool Dermoscopy Trainer concretised the empirical findings of the abovementioned studies to ensure their translation to educational practice. Overall, this thesis contributes to improving visual learning interventions for melanoma detection by adding to the literature in this field and by providing a novel, evidence-based learning tool.
- A physical fitness intervention during basic military training improves health behavior in civil life afterwardsItem type: Other Journal Item
- Validation of ambulatory monitoring devices to measure energy expenditure and heart rate in a military settingItem type: Journal Article
- Werden körpertragbare Sensoren zur Energieverbrauchsabschätzung im militärischen Alltag als störend empfunden?Item type: Other Conference Item
- Accuracy of commercial fitness trackers measuring distance covered on footItem type: Conference Poster
- The Wearing Comfort and Acceptability of Ambulatory Physical Activity Monitoring Devices in SoldiersItem type: Journal Article
- The validation of the US Army estimated core temperature algorithm during a 35 km Swiss Army march in the coldItem type: Conference PosterDelves, Simon K.; Wyss, Thomas; Roos, Lilian; et al. (2016)
Publications1 - 10 of 24