Stories

Professor Paddy Horner and the Unity Sexual Health Team successfully delivered sexual health teaching to 65 students, replicating the aims and objectives of an existing 3-day face-to-face workshop. The new 2-day online version comprised: Day 1 – asynchronous a mix of pre-recorded lectures, case-based learning activities with model answers, followed by online quiz (built with Xerte) Day 2 – synchronous sexual history taking workshop and two case-based learning tutorials (including role-play,) Both face-to-face and online format are highly effective and provide a foundation on which students can build as medical professionals to develop their holistic consultation skills.  The resultant…

Angus Nightingale designed a cardiology seminar to hook students’ interest ahead of interacting with case studies. 54 of 69 students who responded to a survey identified this session as useful or inspiring. Following an initial icebreaker, Angus asked students to identify abnormalities in 6 ECGs. This initial quiz question kept students intrigued; the ECGs were key to the 5 case studies that followed. Each case study had a similar structure (1. presentation and history, 2. show ECG, 3. student poll on management,…

Scott used Mentimeter (an online polling tool) in the classroom pre-COVID to engage students and develop a dialogue. With the pivot to online, Scott employed Menti during synchronous webinar teaching to help reduce the “transactional distance” (remoteness) with students. Through Menti, Scott builds a sense of community with his class. A range of feedback options allows Scott and his students to interact through polls and text feedback activities, increasing dialogue between student and teacher. Whilst Scott has so far used the free…

Jane Williams and Mike Cameron redesigned the TEL unit of the TLHP to work online. Two full days of teaching become two half-day workshops with four additional shorter events. The move to digital delivery over 6 weeks allowed learners to reflect on what it means to be an online learner, while building community with peers and teachers. For the assessment, students develop, critique and present an online learning intervention during the course. The standard of work produced by student was high. Tools…

Joe Hartland used Sway as part of the move to online teaching during COVID, to create documents that act as interactive workbooks, designed as both pre-reading and documents students can visit after a session has run to cement concepts. Tools used: Sway, Forms, YouTube, SharePoint Full story Joe’s plan for his teaching within 3D and TLHP was to strip back the content so that important concepts are covered using Sway to create small bite-size pieces of learning. Students can complete one “chapter”…

As part of the iBSc in Bioethics offered during COVID, Jonathan Ives delivered a journal club in a hybrid mode, with some students present and others remote. Trial and error improved the sessions: better placement of the laptop, mics and speakers whilst remembering to engage two audiences were important. Jonathan feels the sessions were pedagogically effective. Students appreciated them, though would prefer in person, circumstances allowing. This preference may say less about pedagogic efficacy and more about our nature as social beings….

The iBSc Bioethics programme team (Zuzana Deans, Richard Huxtable and Jonathan Ives) responded to COVID, flipping the programme to make the best of the teaching modes available. For the ‘Introduction to Bioethics’ unit, the team replaced the old model (2 hour interactive lectures, reading tasks, and research seminars) with 3×20 minute videos, individual tasks, online group tasks, ending with an online weekly plenary, plus a weekly (in-person) journal club. Whilst the changes were a response to circumstance, the iterative approach, informed by…