Projects

PI: Tavinder Ark — tark@med.cuny.edu

 Jul 2024 – Ongoing

This project develops and evaluates the use of LLMs to generate timely, high quality feedback for Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs). The project is structured around two key phases. The initial retrospective study analyzes archived OSCE video transcripts to optimize prompt engineering to pedagogical standards, compare AI outputs against faculty feedback, and establish rigorous quality-control guardrails. Building on this technical foundation, the subsequent prospective study will pilot the system in real OSCEs and gather input from students and faculty regarding their trust in and perceived value of system.

PI: Parvathy Pillai — ppillai@wisc.edu

Jul 2023 – Ongoing

As the health impacts of global climate change become increasingly critical, medical schools must adapt their core curricula to prepare future physicians. This study investigates effective methods for introducing emerging content into undergraduate medical education by developing, implementing, and evaluating a longitudinal climate change curriculum. Following a literature review, the research team identified a curricular framework and developed a novel, validated 10-item knowledge check to complement established attitudinal surveys like the Six Americas Super Short Survey (SASSY!). The team systematically integrated “spiraled” content horizontally and vertically across pre-clinical (Phase 1) and clinical (Phase 2) training using newly developed online videos and case-based learning sessions. The project demonstrates the feasibility of embedding this content into existing structures while assessing and supporting faculty comfort with teaching emerging topics.

Co-PI: Kelly Harold — kherold@medicine.wisc.edu

Co-PI: Theresa Pesavento — pesavento@wisc.edu

Jul 2023 – Jul 2026

The Individualized Learning Plan (ILP) project is a research initiative introducing a structured self-reflection and goal-setting tool for medical students completing Phase 2 (required clerkships) as they prepare for their final semesters and residency. Adapted from templates widely used in graduate medical education, the ILP guides students through five sections—graduation preparedness, Phase 3 goals, anticipated obstacles, accountability commitments, and desired learning experiences—completed before a coaching meeting with their Learning Team Coach (LTC). The project uses a self-efficacy framework, measuring four dimensions (autonomy, competence, preparedness, and relevance) through three brief surveys before, during, and after the meeting. After a successful pilot in February 2024, the intervention rolled out to the full class of approximately 170 students in Spring 2025. Low survey participation that cycle prompted refinements for March 2026, including making the ILP a required activity, improving communication through LTCs, and strengthening survey uptake through automated messaging. The project has been presented at the CGEA conference with data to support its primary goal: demonstrating that ILPs can meaningfully increase student self-efficacy in undergraduate medical education and ultimately serve as a bridge document as students transition into residency training.

PI: Beth Altschafl — altschafl@wisc.edu

Jul 2023 – Jul 2026

The Concept Mapping as a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Intervention project is a research study conducted at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, funded by the Wisconsin Partnership Program. It integrates concept mapping—a visual tool that represents relationships among key ideas and mirrors memory networks to improve retention—into first-year medical students’ weekly case-based learning sessions (called Body in Balance). Grounded in UDL’s three principles of engagement, representation, and action, the intervention asks students to first create individual concept maps after group case discussions on Mondays, then collaborate to build a group consensus map on Thursdays. The study uses a historical control pre/post design across the 2024 and 2025 student cohorts and evaluates outcomes through four mechanisms: a Concept Map Intervention Opinion Survey for students and faculty facilitators, focus groups, pre- and post-intervention responses to the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ), and exam performance data. Preliminary findings showed that MSLQ scores were reliable but did not significantly change pre-to-post, most students did not report strong benefits from concept mapping (though higher-MSLQ students were more favorable), faculty found it understandable but questioned its efficiency and workflow fit, and academic grades remained comparable across cohorts.