Evidence-based Education in Radiography

Abstract

The notion of evidence-based education is not a new idea in academic settings. However, it seems the culture of using education research evidence to inform teaching is still developing in academic institutions. The purpose of this chapter was to review the recent radiography education research literature and the outcomes would inform radiography educators on some better (evidence-based) strategies applicable to their daily teaching. A comprehensive literature search was conducted using the ScienceDirect and informit databases, and by using the keywords, learning and teaching, and radiography to identify English peer-reviewed original research articles focusing on pre-registration radiography educational strategies and published in the last 10 years. Thirty-two articles met the inclusion criteria and included in the literature review. These articles reported positive findings related to the use of 10 student-centred learning strategies including constructive alignment, fully online learning, blended learning, reflective learning, clinical education, simulated learning, interprofessional education, enquiry-based learning, multi-dimensional assessment and portfolio.The evidence provided in the articles suggests these strategies are able to enhance the radiography education in different aspects. Radiography educators should consider to apply these strategies to their daily teaching, so as to achieve evidence-based education. Apparently, the breadth and depth of evidence for evidence-based education in radiography need to be strengthened. It is recommended that further research should be conducted, for example, to evaluate the use of these strategies in a program scale involving larger sample size and multiple sources of evidence including student learning performance, so as to strengthen the existing evidence base. In this way, a higher level of evidence-based education practice could be attained.