Teaching Palliative Care to Physiotherapy Students...
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Teaching Palliative Care to Physiotherapy Students – Creating a safe space for sharing using ‘Voice Thread’ Bernie Bissett, Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Canberra [email protected] @BernieBissett How do you engage Physiotherapy students in exploring sensitive material like Palliative Care, death and dying – and create a safe space where all students can participate and authentically share their experiences and ideas? Background In 2014, Physiotherapy students at the University of Canberra were introduced to Palliative Care content 1 in their curriculum for the first time. This content is important in their pre-clinical semester, as many students will encounter patients with life- limiting illnesses on their clinical placements. However, when it was taught in 2014, with a traditional face- to-face tutorial format, few students actively contributed to discussions about death and dying. Most appeared unwilling or unable to share their personal thoughts or experiences on this sensitive material, leaving a few extroverted or confident students to dominate the discussion. In April 2015, we explored whether an online platform would allow more students to engage in discussion and share their reflections on Palliative Care and death and dying. It was hoped that by creating an authentic eLearning environment, where students could consider multiple perspectives, students would find the learning meaningful and engaging 2 . Methods • Accessed Voice Thread 3 program to design a series of prompt slides that complemented lecture material (see examples on the right) • Tutorial groupings were retained, such that each group had 9 – 12 contributors who could access each other’s comments (but not the whole cohort’s) • Students uploaded their comments in response to each slide through video, audio or text format (preference for video / audio) • Students had 2 weeks in which to upload their comments, which included responding to others’ comments (worth 5% of final grade) • The tutor did not contribute to the discussion beyond initial posts on this first 2 slides. • Value of Voice Thread Activity was evaluated in final slide of activity and end-of-semester student written evaluation Example Voice Thread Slides Results • 43 students (100%) contributed to Voice Thread discussions • 90% students completed end-of-semester written evaluation • More than 90% of students found Voice Thread easy or very easy to use • 100% of students found Voice Thread useful for learning about Palliative Care, with 72% finding it very useful or extremely useful • 72% of students preferred online tutorials for Palliative Care, compared to 20% who would have preferred face-to- face, and 8% who did not have a preference • Of those who preferred face-to-face, the majority acknowledged that online tutorials may be a better option for shy or vulnerable students (see comments left) • Students preferring face-to-face interaction commented on the limited ability for true interactive discussion with Voice Thread, and the inability to support a distressed colleague (as would be possible in the classroom) Conclusion Voice Thread interactive tutorials can successfully replace face-to-face tutorials for the Palliative Care content of the Physiotherapy course. More than 70% of students prefer sharing online compared to in the classroom when dealing with the sensitive topics of death and dying. Based on this feedback, future unit design will retain the online tutorials for the Palliative Care module. References 1. Palliative Care Curriculum for Undergraduate Students http://www.pcc4u.org/ 2. HERRINGTON, J. 2006. Authentic E-Learning in higher education: Design principles for authentic learning environments and tasks. World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education (ELEARN). Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. 3. Voice Thread – Conversations in the Cloud http://www.voicethread.com Challenge 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 Not at all useful A little useful Moderately useful Very useful Extremely useful Voice Thread useful for learning about palliative care? 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 Very difficult A little difficult Neutral Easy Very easy How easy was Voice Thread to use? 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Online Face to Face Either Would you prefer online or face to face tutorials for palliative care content? “Felt much more comfy doing it at home and allowed everyone the opportunity to talk. In class some would have talked less (including me!)” “It is a topic that may be hard for people to talk about. When online it provides time to think and a chance to be in a comfortable zone.” “Online was easier and I also found it was a better way for everyone to share their views and experience without worry of judgement or any inappropriate comments” “Online allows multiple listens and attempts to share. And people won't see me cry” ”For people who are shy or scared to share face to face, I think this was gold.”
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Teaching Palliative Care to Physiotherapy Students – Creating a safe space for sharing using ‘Voice Thread’ Bernie Bissett, Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Canberra [email protected] @BernieBissett
How do you engage Physiotherapy students in
exploring sensitive material like Palliative Care,
death and dying – and create a safe space
where all students can participate and
authentically share their experiences and ideas?
Background
In 2014, Physiotherapy students at the University of Canberra were introduced to Palliative Care content1 in their curriculum for the first time. This content is important in their pre-clinical semester, as many students will encounter patients with life-limiting illnesses on their clinical placements.
However, when it was taught in 2014, with a traditional face-to-face tutorial format, few students actively contributed to discussions about death and dying. Most appeared unwilling or unable to share their personal thoughts or experiences on this sensitive material, leaving a few extroverted or confident students to dominate the discussion.
In April 2015, we explored whether an online platform would allow more students to engage in discussion and share their reflections on Palliative Care and death and dying. It was hoped that by creating an authentic eLearning environment, where students could consider multiple perspectives, students would find the learning meaningful and engaging2.
Methods
• Accessed Voice Thread3 program to design a series of prompt slides that complemented lecture material (see examples on the right)
• Tutorial groupings were retained, such that each group had 9 – 12 contributors who could access each other’s comments (but not the whole cohort’s)
• Students uploaded their comments in response to each slide through video, audio or text format (preference for video / audio)
• Students had 2 weeks in which to upload their comments, which included responding to others’ comments (worth 5% of final grade)
• The tutor did not contribute to the discussion beyond initial posts on this first 2 slides.
• Value of Voice Thread Activity was evaluated in final slide of activity and end-of-semester student written evaluation
Example Voice Thread Slides Results
• 43 students (100%) contributed to Voice Thread discussions
• 90% students completed end-of-semester written evaluation
• More than 90% of students found Voice Thread easy or very
easy to use
• 100% of students found Voice Thread useful for learning
about Palliative Care, with 72% finding it very useful or
extremely useful
• 72% of students preferred online tutorials for Palliative
Care, compared to 20% who would have preferred face-to-
face, and 8% who did not have a preference
• Of those who preferred face-to-face, the majority
acknowledged that online tutorials may be a better
option for shy or vulnerable students (see comments left)
• Students preferring face-to-face interaction commented
on the limited ability for true interactive discussion with
Voice Thread, and the inability to support a distressed
colleague (as would be possible in the classroom)
Conclusion
Voice Thread interactive tutorials can successfully replace
face-to-face tutorials for the Palliative Care content of the
Physiotherapy course.
More than 70% of students prefer sharing online compared to
in the classroom when dealing with the sensitive topics of
death and dying. Based on this feedback, future unit design
will retain the online tutorials for the Palliative Care module.
References
1. Palliative Care Curriculum for Undergraduate Students http://www.pcc4u.org/
2. HERRINGTON, J. 2006. Authentic E-Learning in higher education: Design principles for
authentic learning environments and tasks. World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate,
Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education (ELEARN). Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.
3. Voice Thread – Conversations in the Cloud http://www.voicethread.com
Challenge
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Not at alluseful
A little useful Moderatelyuseful
Very useful Extremelyuseful
Voice Thread useful for learning about palliative care?
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10
12
14
16
18
20
Very difficult A littledifficult
Neutral Easy Very easy
How easy was Voice Thread to use?
0
5
10
15
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Online Face to Face Either
Would you prefer online or face to face tutorials for palliative care content?
“Felt much more comfy doing it at home and allowed everyone the
opportunity to talk. In class some would have talked less
(including me!)”
“It is a topic that may be hard for people to talk about. When online it provides time to think and a chance to be
in a comfortable zone.”
“Online was easier and I also found it was a better way for everyone to share their views
and experience without worry of judgement or any inappropriate comments”
“Online allows multiple listens and
attempts to share. And people won't see
me cry”
”For people who are shy or scared to share face to
face, I think this was gold.”
