The preparation of medical students for clerkship has been criticized, in terms of both students understanding of their new role as clinical trainees and their ability to carry out that role. To begin to address this gap, the authors report the development, implementation, and assessment of a novel program in which first-year medical students shadow first-year residents during their clinical duties. The program matches each student to a single resident, whom they shadow for several hours, once per month, for eight months. In the programs inaugural year (2009–10), 83 student–resident pairs participated; over 70% responded to pre- and post-intervention questionnaires, which included an 18-item preparedness scale. The authors used those responses to evaluate the program. Compared to students in a control group, the students in the program assessed themselves as better prepared to learn in a clinical setting. The low-cost student–resident shadowing program described in this article provided an early and structured introduction to the clinical environment, which may help prepare students for the transition into clerkship.

Technology-enhanced formative assessment (TEFA) represents strategies for improving student learning and motivation, yet researchers point to methodological issues underpinning claims of effectiveness. This mixed methods paper, using an empirical example, illustrates the novel contributions of mixed insights in informing the implementation of two TEFA classroom strategies. An embedded mixed methods case study design bounded by an 8-week undergraduate course across three terms was used to answer the following research question: How can a mixed methods approach examining the influences to and effects of involvement in TEFA offset the weaknesses inherent to either qualitative or quantitative data and guide collection, analysis, and integration? A qualitative dominant crossover mixed analysis strategy generated four novel mixed insights from the integration of 175 classroom-based observations, 26 instructional team meeting summaries, and 274 end-of-course student questionnaires. These are represented in a case summary and joint displays: influences on involvement, effects on learning, accessibility of feedback, and impacts on instruction. The mixed insights have important implications for theory, research, and practice related to TEFA strategies and highlight the contribution that mixed methods approaches can have in advancing educational technology in higher education.

Mixed methods (MM) research has gained wide global and disciplinary acceptance. However, MM designs that prioritize qualitative perspectives are not easily recognizable yet offer great potential for researchers. By situating the current state of qualitatively oriented mixed methods (QOMM) research and offering practical guidance, we aim to help researchers leverage design possibilities. We begin by positioning ourselves and describing some distinguishing characteristics to help researchers recognize QOMM designs. We then introduce the key features of a QOMM study and weave illustrative examples into the descriptions of six interconnected design spokes to help researchers navigate a nonlinear design process. Finally, we discuss three useful lessons we learned from our own research experiences and consider their implications to help researchers design future QOMM studies.