Blending into

blended learning

Thalia Arawi, PhDClinical Bioethicist,

Salim El-Hoss Bioethics And Professionalism Program

AUB-FMta16@aub.edu.lb

Appeasing word of caution!!

This is a short presentation .It does not include all what I can say about my experience with BL.I selected a few points to share.

3 in 1Online Learning

Self Paced Learning

Face to Face Learning

Blen

ded

(hyb

rid )

Lear

ning

This short presentationGeneral overview of the courseWhat blended learning offered that F2F does notSamples of students’ opinionsIs blended better or different?

Physicians, Patients & Society-2

MED III, AUB-FM84 StudentsSept to April; Fridays: 2:30 – 4:00Students are divided into 2 groups (A & B).Each topic is covered over a period of one week, one group at a time. Thus each student has a PPS-2 session once every two weeks.5 out of 16 units are online.

TEAM of FACULTY

Course ContentIntroduction to the New Blended Format

Bioethics

End of Life Issues

Ethical Issues in Surgery

Ethical Issues in OB/GYN

Ethical Issues in Psychiatry

Ethical Issues in Pediatrics

Organ Donation & Allocation of Scarce Health Resources

Physicians and other members of the Health Care team

The Lebanese Code of Medical Ethics

Truth Telling and Medical Errors

Ethics and Genetics

Research Ethics

Physicians & the Pharmaceutical Industry

What blended learning offers

The Blended learning model provides students with greater time flexibility and improved learning outcomes. Yet, this means that students will have to manage their time properly taking greater responsibility for their own learning while using modern technology.This is in line with what we want our students to be: independent and responsible learners and critical thinkers.

Example:

The course included

1. Live Synchronous discussions: F2F

2. Live Synchronous Discussions via Illuminate:

EM

3. Self-paced Asynchronous discussion: Forums

Asynchronous component includedOn-line self-paced Learning

readingsE-mail discussions with course coordinator Discussion Forums Classroom Assessment Techniques + RepliesLink to BlogsArticlesAudiosVideos Assignment posted 1 month before the due date.

What blended learning offers

The chance to introduce an entrance activity which allows students to get interested in the unit. This usually would have taken a lot from the class time :

Example: Videos vs. Case vignettes

Entrance Activity- Case Vignette vs. Video

A bulimic patient is in need of a heart transplant. The attending physician lies to the transplant committee to get her on the list. What do you think of the behavior of the physician? Do you think it is morally justified?

Around 95 Responses, short and little debate.

45 minutes video

Watch this episode of House MD to get the details of the story you have been discussing. Do you still hold the same opinion? did anything change even a little in your perspective?  What, Why and How?

•126 Replies,•Changes of opinion•Agreed that it makes a difference to SEE and INTERACT with events•That this methods of interaction allows room for moral imagination, critical thinking and empathy much more than a simple reading of a few lines that does not allow one to see the different sides of the narrative.•Learning objectives were met much more than if one were to use a simple case vignette.

201 posts

Live Interaction with a figure from the Entrance

activity

About the students' comments--I've read through all of them and find them very interesting, especially since they are varied in sometimes extremely subtle ways.  I've been reading them to Brooke, too, and he also finds them very interesting--they make him think through things even more.So yes, we'd be grateful if you'd get consent from the students to use them--we may want to include some or all of them in the book we're planning.    It might also be interesting to post them to the blog--there are a lot of people reading the blog and these comments shed quite a lot of new light on the subject.Peggy

Margaret Battin, PhDDistinguished Professor of Philosophy & Adjunct Professor of Medicine Division of Medical Ethics & HumanitiesUniversity of Utah

Could not have done that in a regular F2F

where one Unit takes place in one session.

The flexibility and pace of th

e Blended

format made this possible.

Visiting professor,Truth Telling and Medical

Errors Dr. Ken Brummel

Smith,Charlotte Edwards

Maguire Professor and Chair, Department of Geriatrics

Florida State University College of Medicine

If this were a regular F2F class, th

e

alternative would have probably been the

cancellation of this important unit.

Perception of students Perception of instructors

Was the new format successful?

What do students say“The lecture was clear and there wasn’t much ambiguity in the lecture but I think I prefer it to be face to face so that it will be more interactive and we can discuss the issues and expand a little more on the subject.”“I think that the new style of video lecture gives the students flexibility in watching the lecture in the time that suites them and they have the chance to reply to some points more than once. However, it misses an important side which is interaction and discussion. It is important in cases to see how others react and what are their viewpoints and justifications to see the issue from different angles. ”“First I would like to state that I enjoyed this lecture more than a F2F lecture, maybe because the topic was interesting, or I could repeat a certain part, or maybe because I don’t have to sit still for 1 hr.”“It was a very interesting online lecture.”“I liked the way the lecture was presented, even though it was a video it was interactive since Dr … asked questions and allowed us to think.”“I want to thank Dr. … and Dr. …for arranging for us this online session. However, I have to say that I did not enjoy this session as much as the previous face to face session by Dr. …. The material is nice and dr. …has an excellent approach, but we did not have the chance to discuss.”“The presentation was very interesting and the ideas and cases that were discussed are of major importance in our future career as physicians”

10%

47%17%

10%

17%

I felt very comfortable with the online activities of the course

Strongly AgreeAgreeNeutralDisagreeStrongly Disagree

56% agreed17% neutral

10%

23%

40%

10%

17%

The course as a whole, compared to other face-to-face courses was:

Excellent Very Good

Good Poor

Very Poor

73% Positi ve Impression

47%

10%

20%

13%10%

The blended course delivery method has improved and facilitated my understanding of the topics covered

Agree

Strongly Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

57% agreed20% neutral

30%

37%

7%

17%

10%

The time removed from face-to-face sessions and moved to online activities has given me valuable flexibility in my schedule

Strongly Agree Agree

Neutral Disagree

Strongly Disagree

66% agreed7% neutral

Word of Caution• There a healthy gap

between F2F and Blended. The point is not to fill it and end up with a completely ONLINE course!

• F2F encounters are important.

DO

NOT

53%

47%

Would you rather take a blended course or a face-to-face course in the future?

Blended Face-to-face

53% BL47% F2F

freedom of thought and expression, tolerance, respect for diversity, dialogue, individuals committed to creative and critical thinking, life-long learning, personal integrity, civic responsibility, and leadership. Add to this the notion of autonomous learners Paradigm shift among students who are still not very much used to the latter.

AUB mission statement

BL and AUB’s Mission Statement

Flexibility (students on vacations, rotations,..)Self learners, autonomous learnersRules of the forums gave rise to more tolerance of the views of others, respect for diversity, greater dialogue*Cases posted lead to creative and critical thinking

Downsides of BLThe nature of the course itself creates a downside: online “units” were given. Although there was a continuity in units, there was no continuity within units between blended and F2F.Problems with technology (33% of students experienced pbs with internet connection).Procrastination on behalf of the studentsInstructors need to manage the time quite well.

A Special Thank You to the ACC TEAM

Thank you!