Amy Cannella, M.D., knows some students don’t like to sit in lectures, especially when they can obtain the information at home, on their own time.
To better engage students, she and a team of rheumatologists are developing an e-learning game in which students and patients ride a dune buggy as they navigate the symptoms and treatment of gout, a potentially disabling form of arthritis.
“There are high stakes,” said Dr. Cannella, internal medicine, rheumatology. “Players must avoid hazards, which increase their risk of gout, and correctly answer questions about the disease.”
Racers collect bonus points for making choices that lower their risk for the disease.
On a modest scale to begin, UNMC is building a health science version of Khan Academy, a popular e-learning site that boasts interactive courses in math, science, economics and humanities.
“Across the country, we’re seeing a dramatic change in how we teach,” said Dele Davies, M.D., vice chancellor for academic affairs at UNMC. “It’s the first transformative Strategic initiative to enhance learning, teaching innovation change in the past 100 years in the science of teaching.”
Interactive e-learning provides students and faculty members with opportunities to maximize learning – both at home and in the classroom. As part of a strategic initiative to enhance on-campus learning, Dr. Davies has challenged faculty to develop a blended approach that uses e-modules and e-courses coupled with flipped classrooms.
“E-learning comes in with a promise,” he said. “Whether it meets that promise will depend on how creative and innovative we are with it.”
“Still, our goal is to be a national leader in blended (online integrated with face-to-face) classrooms. This will enhance teaching at all levels, allow us to adopt best practices quickly, and promulgate research in teaching innovation among our faculty.”
Dr. Cannella and UNMC faculty members Carrie Elzie, Ph.D., and Ryan Splittgerber, Ph.D., are among the more than 25 faculty members leading e-learning innovation at UNMC, thanks to a grant from the vice chancellor for academic affairs.
Assistant professors in UNMC’s Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy, Drs. Elzie and Splittgerber are transforming traditional PowerPoint lectures into 18 interactive, self-contained, e-learning modules that can be used with flipped classrooms, to better help first-year students prepare for gross anatomy.
“We’re bringing one-dimensional PowerPoints to life,” Dr. Splittgerber said. The planned modules, designed with mobile capability, will cover an array of topics from terminology to anatomical positions and planes of the body. In addition to first-year students, they envision the modules being used as tutorials by high school students, summer undergraduate students, even patients.
“They’ll be brief and basic and give feedback that PowerPoint never did,” Dr. Splittgerber said. “Students can learn by doing, get it wrong and do it again until they understand.”
That’s one of the promises of e-learning, Dr. Davies said. “You put a lecture online and build in opportunities to practice and master it, similar to Khan Academy where you work at your own pace and repeat until ‘voila’ you’ve mastered it.”
Khan Academy enables students to receive instant feedback, select videos and interactive challenges that resonate best with them, synthesize connections between topics and access lifelong learning resources.
Mirroring that concept, UNMC is examining new teaching methods that combine online learning modules with classrooms that are freed for critical thinking, team-building and problem-solving exercises.
The goal is to have a blend of interactive e-learning modules, some traditional classrooms and some flipped classrooms, in which students watch an e-learning module and then come to class to put the lessons into practice.
“This generation is excellent at getting information,” Dr. Davies said, noting that they opt to listen to the recorded lecture on their own at double speed. “Up to 50 percent of students may not show up for a lecture and do fi ne in spite of not coming. What they aren’t as good at is critical thinking and how to use the information.”
With a flipped classroom, students review didactic material prior to class and then, in class, gain context for their training. UNMC’s long-standing Problem-Based Learning (PBL) and Integrated Clinical Experience (ICE) courses are strong examples of a flipped classroom, where the teacher becomes more of a facilitator than a content deliverer.
During PBL, groups discuss a case and students develop a differential diagnosis or hypotheses to explain the nature of the patient’s problems and make decisions about diagnostic testing and therapeutic management. During ICE, students are exposed to clinical issues and receive instruction on topics from history and physical examinations to communication skills and behavioral sciences.
“With flipped classrooms, conversations can occur at a higher level,” said Howard Liu, M.D., director of faculty development programs at UNMC who is playing a major role in this initiative. “Students know the background knowledge, so they can focus on developing higher order skills such as critical thinking when they come to class.”
A learner-centered mission requires meeting the students where they are, and today’s students are comfortable with technology, he said. “From the students’ perspective, they always want what’s best and most efficient.”
E-learning offers the promise — and potential — to flatten the world. Khan Academy’s goal is to provide a world-class education to anyone, anywhere and at anytime, all for free. That’s different than Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), which drew great interest in 2012. Such courses, however, are designed for large audiences and continue the traditional model of a cohort tied to a course with a set start and end date. “They can be excellent, but they are not for everyone,” Dr. Davies said.
E-learning courses also offer the promise of reducing the cost of education, Dr. Davies said. Students may be able to move along at their own pace, which could shorten their training, as well as lower the tremendous debt burden carried by many students.
“The flexibility afforded by this blended model of learning will be critical to the success of our students, faculty, alumni and partners in the new era of the Affordable Care Act,” Dr. Davies said.
For Drs. Elzie and Splittgerber, the greatest promise is in a more engaged learner. Built-in assessments, including multiple choice questions and embedded 3-D images, will enable Drs. Elzie and Splittgerber to know whether students struggled with particular sections or quickly mastered it.
“As teachers, we want to help students learn at their maximum potential,” Dr. Elzie said. “This mirrors how students engage and learn today and, with the feedback, allows us to tailor or place greater emphasis on certain topics during class.”
As they develop the modules, they also are sharing their knowledge with colleagues across campus. “We want to be a resource to other faculty and elevate those who are interested,”
Dr. Elzie said.
The initial interest from faculty and their stellar proposals bode well for UNMC’s current and future status as a national and international leader in teaching innovations, Dr. Davies said.
“These courses should be an excellent foundation for building our vision of a premier health sciences e-learning center on campus.”