Students and staff as educational partners in the practice and research of e-learning in medical education

Jane Williams, Dominic Alder, Sue TimmisUniversity of Bristol

Introduction

• Background• What makes a good learning (and teaching) experience?• Student eLearning initiative: some examples• Students and staff as educational partners

• Students as educators• Roles and relationships in higher education

• Challenges and new directions

Role of e-Learning in Medicine @ Bristol

Distributed teaching model:One curriculum, many sitese-Learning: helps provide

consistent student learning experience and prepares them for clinical teaching

What makes a good learning experience?

InteractionLearning by teaching

DoingPeer teaching

Engaging the studentGood relationships

Activities linked to theoryWell supported

Student e-Learning Initiative

• Part of Student Selected Components Programme: Opportunities for independent study

• Range of options:Develop innovative online interactive materials

• End of years 3 and 4: 3-4 week period concludes intensive years of clinically-based teaching focusing on core clinical skills: consultation, history taking and examination.

Student e-Learning Initiative: part 2• Entering our tenth year:

Enjoys high profile with students; is continually evolving based on students and staff experiences; support workshops, surgeries and Blackboard course

• Student motivation:Materials integrated into curriculum; used by peers; student prize for innovation in e-learning in medical education

Williams et al (2011)

Examples• Will Duffin – Chest x-rays• Alona Courtney – Breath Sounds• Bridget Taylor – Breast disease• Olivia Jagger and Camilla Milner Smith – Neck and thyroid

examination• Finn Catling – Prepare for the PSAMore available at

http://www.pinterest.com/brismedschool/e-learning-university-of-bristol-medical-school/

http://www.nolandgrab.org/archives/2008/08/whats_going_on_3.html

Insights and opportunities

• Extensive development of skills: Literature searching, IT, project management, collaboration, educational theory and learning design, personal inquiry, complex problem-solving

• New insights: New knowledge, new combinations of tools – creative knowledge production, new e-learning development models

• Publishing

Students as Educators

• All F1/F2 doctors have to teach: “All doctors have a professional obligation to contribute

to the education and training of other doctors, medical students and non-medical healthcare professionals on the team”*

*Doctors as Teachers, Board of Medical Education, British Medical Association, September 2006

Why wait until a Trainee?

• Foster skills for being a medical educator early

• Personal experiences of good and ‘not so good’ teaching

• eSSC: setting learning objectives, scoping and pitching material at right level, variety of interactive learning exercises, giving feedback, evaluation

• Reflect on learning and teaching theory and apply this to their product

I feel that I have been able to apply many of the teaching principles that I developed whilst making the e-learning SSC when teaching medical students. It showed me the value of making sessions student-led, problem-based, interactive and clinically relevantWill Duffin

‘... increase my own understanding of the topic and begin to understand the process of being a ‘teacher’ and the intricacies of providing education to medical studentsRachel O’Connell

Staff-student partnershipsTeachers

• Develop e-resources on core topics• Bring experience and knowledge that is rich

and current• Query whether students have depth of

knowledge requiredStudents

• Spend a lot of time getting it (content) right• Reflective cycle of development testing out

assumptions in dialogue• Inspirational and creative• Fill ‘gaps’ and strengthen the curriculum

E-learning team• Bring: wealth of e-learning knowledge and

design• Gain: new insights into e-learning materials

development and practice

I felt an extra sense of responsibility that every detail of my tutorial had to be accurate if it were to be used [...] to teach [...] students

Rachel O’Connell

‘They take ideas and materials from a variety of sources and produce something that is very different, and very much their own. For us this represents the creative process working at its best. Our students have provided us with a variety of inspirational and professional products and we have incorporated many of their ideas into our own online learning material developmentMiranda Whinney, Dominic Alder

Reconfiguring higher education relationships• Communities of inquiry: inclusive knowledge-

building communities; partnerships (Brew, 2006)• Student as producer: Collaborative relations

between student and academic for the production of knowledge (Neary and Winn, 2009)

• A more relational view of HE Students and staff working together in a changing, dynamic relationship (Streeting & Wise, 2009)

• Relational Agency: “A capacity to align one’s thought and actions with those of others in order to interpret problems of practice and to respond to those interpretations” (Edwards, 2005, p.169)

http://www.icts.uiowa.edu/content/looking-clinical-connections-lincc-fellowships-awarded

‘I felt a strong sense of partnership with my supervisor who as a consultant radiologist could offer the expertise and core knowledge, knowing that I was bringing an idea of what kind of information and learning experience we needed as students. Through creating learning content for the first time, becoming an active contributor rather than just a passive user. Will Duffin

Challenges and next stepsStudents accepted as educational partnersTrue partnership? Embed ‘student as producer’

activity across the programmeDesired outcomes - conflicts?Productive learning: embracing both the learning

process and the outcome of that process (Lillejord & Dysthe, 2008)

Medical students: • Creative problem solvers who can

critically reflect on decisions and actions• Reflection remains problematic

Future Research: links between creative production of knowledge, digital tools, working with others and reflective practice http://microsites2.segfl.org.uk/view_page.php?id=1671

Acknowledgements

• Our fantastic and inspirational students!

References

1. BMA (2006) Doctors as Teachers, Board of Medical Education, British Medical Association.http://www.bma.org.uk/Archive/doctorsasteachers.jsp2. Brew, A. (2006). Research and teaching : beyond the divide. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.3. Edwards, A. (2005) Relational Agency: learning to be a resourceful practitioner, International Journal of Educational Research. 43. 3. 168-182.43. GMC (2009)Tomorrow's Doctors: Outcomes and standards for undergraduate medical education. General Medical Council.5. Lillejord, S., & Dysthe, O. (2008). Productive Learning Practice - A Theoretical Discussion. Journal of Education and Work, 21(1), 75-89.6. Neary, M., & Winn, J. (2009). The student as producer: reinventing the student experience in higher education In L. Bell, H. Stevenson & M. Neary (Eds.), The future of higher education: policy, pedagogy and the student experience. London: Continuum.7. Streeting, W., & Wise, G. (2009). Rethinking the values of higher education - consumption, partnership, community? Quality Assurance Agency. http://www.qaa.ac.uk/students/studentEngagement/Rethinking.pdf8. Williams, J., Alder, D., Cook, J., Whinney, M., Connell, O., Duffin, W., et al. (2011). Students and Staff as Educational Partners in the Development of Quality-Assured Online Resources for Medical Education. In S. Little (Ed.) Beyond consultation: Developing staff-student partnerships in learning and teaching development and research. London: Continuum.