Foy, Clare

Mawhinney, Alexandra

McCullough, Stephen

McLaughlin, Declan

Demonstrators are used in many practical and laboratory classes across the University and are vital in the Centre for Biomedical Science Education (CBMSE) where histology classes are delivered to up to 135 students at a time.Within CBMSE, potential demonstrators are interviewed to determine their suitability for small group teaching, and asked to make a note of subject areas that they feel display their strengths. Concerning specific subject training, demonstrators are emailed notes and annotated micrographs on a weekly basis and have access to the slides that the students view in class. Demonstrators are invited to attend meetings with the academic lead half an hour before practical classes, to address any questions or concerns.Feedback from students indicated they felt that some demonstrators appeared to be more prepared than others, for practical classes. This resulted in students having to rely on the academic lead to answer their questions. Students recommended that the demonstrating team should rotate around the small groups, so that students gained exposure to all demonstrators and were not, as they noted, disadvantaged.To gather the demonstrator’s views a formative questionnaire was compiled to establish their confidence in teaching the subject. Questions included opinions on the standard and quantity of training provided, as well as assessing the layout, presentation, content, user-friendliness and usefulness of resources.Recently, the University invested heavily in the upgrading and development of audio-visual equipment in the gross anatomy laboratories. Part of this refurbishment was the integration of state-of-the-art specialised cameras and computers linked to Mediasite. The use of Mediasite to record lectures and demonstrations within the dissection laboratories has proved very beneficial to both staff and students.Microanatomy lends itself well to digitalisation allowing whole slides to be scanned and viewed on a computer screen. This pilot study aims to make use of current learning technologies available with Queen’s University, namely Philips Tutor (formally PathXL) and Mediasite. The creation of a teaching aid for use in demonstrator training, allows the academic lead to ensure that all demonstrators are provided with the same consistent level of training, preparing them to answer student questions and facilitate discussions on the topic at hand

Incorporation of pre-recorded microanatomy videos into the part-time demonstrator training programme

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