Meghan East

2020 Clinical Laboratory Educators Conference, Orlando, FL

Medical laboratory science students (MLSs) must be able to use their textbooks for courses, clinical rotations, and ultimately a national certifying exam. Many undergraduate college students, including MLSs, struggle with how to read highly specialized textbooks. There is interest in supporting proficient post-secondary students in explicit disciplinary reading instruction to increase their disciplinary knowledge. With IRB approval, we applied eye movement miscue analysis (EMMA) to study hematology text reading to examine patterns in readers’ use of reading strategies and readers’ use and integration of prior knowledge and multimodal representations in text comprehension.
A 3-part reading protocol was given to four senior-level undergraduate MLSs: first, prior domain-specific knowledge was obtained, then each read 3-pages on leukemia with video-recorded tracking of their eye-movements, and finally an interview about their comprehension, perceived use of figures/tables, and strategy use. With a disciplinary comprehension framework, we interpret and compare readers’ processing, strategy use, and disciplinary-specific miscues during reading of text to support their meaning-making processes.
Findings revealed these MLSs relied on their burgeoning disciplinary knowledge to construct meaning while engaged with the text. They were also developing in their discipline, evidenced through strategic word substitutions (“white blood cell” for “WBC”). A change in units caused readers to work harder at comprehending (g/L vs. g/dL). Image/figure usage was dependent on both reader and text placement (figures not readily visible were not used in comprehending). Educators must be explicit in teaching proficient post-secondary readers to leverage their disciplinary knowledge and demonstrate appropriate usage of multimodal textual elements.

MAPA Trends In Patient Management, Ocean City, MD

Learning Objectives for “Subtleties of the CBC”: • By the conclusion of this presentation, participants will be able to discuss common changes seen on the CBC and their relevance to patient care. • By the conclusion of this presentation, participants will be able to state “new” tests that may be included in the CBC, and how they should be used clinically. • By the conclusion of this presentation, participants will be able to list effects of improper collection and transportation on CBC results.

CHHS FLC Lunch & Learn , Salisbury, MD

Results of data gathered from the CHHS FLC's IPE conference were shared with faculty from the CHHS.