Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of a Distance Learning Framework to Adapt to the Changing Landscape of Anatomy Instruction in Medical Education During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Proof-of-Concept Study

Design, implementation and evaluation of e-learning program for common diseases to smartphone-based medical students: at a developing university

OBJECTIVE

Mobile-based educational software offers a wealth of resources that can foster the growth of learners and facilitate the creation of an interactive learning environment. This environment encourages both students and instructors to engage in exploration and the examination of various medical issues. The objective of this study is to design, implement, and evaluate an electronic educational program focused on common medical conditions, specifically tailored for medical students and accessible through mobile phones.

METHOD

The study was conducted following an action research approach, which comprised four key stages: needs assessment, application design, training, and evaluation. This research took place at the Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences' Medical School. In the needs assessment phase, a formal survey was distributed to the teaching faculty members, requesting them to identify diseases and medical issues of high importance for medical interns' education that were suitable for virtual teaching. Each faculty member was asked to prioritize a minimum of three and a maximum of seven cases. Subsequently, 10 faculty members from various departments completed the survey, leading to the identification of 47 common diseases after eliminating duplicates. These 47 cases were then presented to 30 medical interns, who were asked to select the 20 most significant cases. The 20 diseases with the highest statistical frequency were selected for further development due to resource constraints. The mobile application was developed for the Android platform using the Java programming language and the Android Studio development environment. To assess the application's effectiveness from the students' perspective, a questionnaire was designed, encompassing 25 questions across five domains: satisfaction, performance, learning, usability, and educational effectiveness. The questionnaire employed a Likert scale, with response options ranging from 'completely disagree' to 'completely agree,' scored from 1 to 5. One hundred medical interns and trainees were invited to participate in the evaluation, with 92 of them completing the questionnaires.

RESULTS

The findings revealed a significant disparity in the average scores between students who underwent traditional teaching methods and those who engaged in mobile-based app-assisted education. This discrepancy was statistically significant across all three examined components.

CONCLUSION

Mobile-based learning represents a burgeoning educational approach with profound implications for healthcare education and the enhancement of patient care quality. The widespread integration of mobile phones into the educational framework offers a flexible teaching paradigm, fostering the potential for continuous lifelong learning.

Using Rubrics to Evaluate E-Learning Tools in Radiology Education

Recent trends in medical education with an emphasis on active learning strategies and blended learning techniques have resulted in a growing volume and utilization of online educational resources. Integration of online learning tools into medical curricula has been further necessitated during the COVID-19 pandemic. With access to abundant digital radiology education resources, it has become increasingly important for educators to be able to evaluate the efficacy of e-learning tools for use in radiology education. In this manuscript, the authors describe their successful search for a vetted method to evaluate e-learning tools in radiology education. The selected rubric was designed by educational developers supporting technology to be used as a formative tool in higher education. The rubric was applied in condensed and noncondensed formats to 2 existing popular highly subscribed radiology e-learning resources and results were displayed in narrative and visual formats. More widespread application of this rubric would be beneficial to the content creators and learners alike.

Designing a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) in face-to-face sessions. A blended design to teach practical histology

Teaching histology, through virtual microscopy in educational strategies, undeniably moved towards the digitization and distancing of teaching. The setting up of the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) entitled "Introduction to Histology: exploring the tissues of the human body" made it possible to exploit the potential to share digital resources with a wider audience while being integrated into the teaching on-campus students. This article described the pedagogical choices prevailing during the design of the MOOC and its combination with face-to-face sessions to achieve specific learning outcomes. The pedagogical alignment of learning outcomes described according to their cognitive levels, with online and face-to-face learning activities and evaluation methods has been demonstrated. The impact of such a blended design into an academic program has been ascertained using perception and performance data. Student satisfaction and engagement as well as motivational cues were identified. The level of performance was maintained in the educational strategy implemented and made it possible to achieve the objectives expected by the teachers. The benefits of integrating a MOOC with classroom-based teaching were highlighted, as well as barriers that could hinder the successful implementation.

Distance versus face-to-face education of gross anatomy for dental hygiene students: Perceptions and academic achievements of learners

The provision of distance education has increased rapidly over the past few years owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. The core of gross anatomy distance education is three-dimensional (3D) visualization of anatomical structures, and the use of simple 3D visualization tools has increased as distance education has become more popular. The purpose of this study was to establish a more effective operation plan in dental hygiene by investigating learners' opinions about distance education of gross anatomy and 3D visualization tools, and by comparing and analyzing their academic achievements. The study involved 250 students and comprised an analysis of 120 students who took a head and neck anatomy class at the Department of Dental Hygiene at D University via distance learning during 2020-2022, and 130 graduates who had completed the class via face-to-face learning during 2015-2017. An online survey of 120 of the enrolled students comprised 10 questions asking for opinions on the head and neck anatomy distance learning classes, five questions on the 3D visualization tool, and five on general characteristics. Overall, the learners had positive perceptions of distance education for head and neck anatomy and the 3D visualization tool. Among the education methods compared, they generally preferred blended learning (n = 47, 39.2%). There was a significant preference for the distance learning method of asynchronous classes (n = 86, 94.5%). Analysis of academic achievements according to whether or not distance education was conducted revealed a significantly higher score in the face-to-face class group (P < 0.05). A blended learning method can be effective in increasing learner satisfaction and improving academic achievement in gross anatomy classes on dental hygiene. It is suggested that theoretical material should be learned through asynchronous content and knowledge expanded through small-group activities during face-to-face learning. This will help establish a standard model for teaching of gross anatomy in dental hygiene in the postpandemic era.

Promoting more future-ready anatomy education after the Covid-19 pandemic: A scoping review

The coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic caused an abrupt transition from face-to-face to online anatomy teaching, learning, and assessment. Although online education has ensured the continuity of anatomy education during the pandemic, its implementation has been challenging, and its effectiveness has been questioned. Therefore, literature pertinent to online anatomy education during the pandemic is crucial to explain Covid-19's disruptions to this field. Accordingly, this scoping review explored changes, disruptions, and gaps in anatomy teaching and assessment during Covid-19 using an enhanced version of Arksey and O'Malley's six-stage protocol. Five online databases were searched for articles that described changes and disruptions in anatomy education. Three independent researchers were involved in titles, abstracts, and full texts screening, while another four researchers were independently involved in data extraction, charting, and synthesis. This review revealed six themes: immediate strategic plans and actions, teaching and learning changes, online assessment practice, students' and educators' receptivity and adaptability, online learning and assessment effects, and future directions. It also revealed four gaps: non-future-ready curricula, learning obstacles, administrative and teaching challenges, and online education ethical issues. The results were reported in tabular and narrative forms, following the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR guidelines). Understanding the evolution and gaps in anatomy education during the Covid-19 pandemic will help anatomists design future-ready, adaptable curricula.

Exploring medical students' perception of non-face-to-face theory and face-to-face laboratory classes during COVID-19 pandemic: focusing on anatomy course

PURPOSE

This study investigated students' perceptions of non-face-to-face theory classes and face-to-face laboratory classes conducted in anatomy courses at medical schools during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

METHODS

This study utilized a questionnaire to assess self-reported academic achievement level, satisfaction with non-face-to-face theory classes, satisfaction with face-to-face laboratory classes, and self-directed learning level, and conducted difference verification and regression analysis for 51 students who took anatomy courses from the fall semester of 2020 to the spring semester of 2021.

RESULTS

The group with a high self-reported academic achievement level was more satisfied with the non-face-to-face theory classes than the group with a low self-reported academic achievement level. The group with a high self-reported academic achievement level had a higher self-directed learning level than the group with a low self-reported academic achievement level. In addition, it was found that the higher the self-directed learning level, the higher the satisfaction with non-face-to-face theory classes.

CONCLUSION

These results suggest that to enhance satisfaction with non-face-to-face theory classes in an anatomy course, a favorable class environment that can increase the self-directed learning level is needed. In particular, careful concern is required when designing non-face-to-face classes for students with a low self-reported academic achievement.