Haidich, A.B.

Smyrnakis, E.

Talimtzi, P.

English

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki: Open Journals / ΑΡΙΣΤΟΤΕΛΕΙΟ ΠΑΝΕΠΙΣΤΗΜΙΟ ΘΕΣΣΑΛΟΝΙΚΗΣ

What problems were addressed?Team-based learning (TBL) is a modern teachingmethod that provides positive learning experience forstudents and receives positive reviews from teachers1.It requires advanced pre-class preparation for the in-structor. Even though stratch-off answer sheets areused for the readiness assurance test (RAT), nowadayselectronic audience response systems tend to replacethe paper ones. Both of them require special knowledgefrom the instructor, administrative support and the ap-propriate funding.What was tried?We applied TBL in two of ten 2-hour sessions in apublic health course for 3rd year medical students. Theaverage class size was 35 students, with five teams of 7students in each. We sent email to students’ personaladdress one week before their session. In that emailwe informed them about the instructional method, thetopic that we would cover and the need to study theattached educational material in advance. We preparedfive MCQs for the RAT (individual and team test),that was delivered at the begging of each session in apaper format. The correct answers for each questionwere presented in a power point presentation for theintergroup discussion. Students’ critical thinking skillswere developed in the last part of the TBL session withmodule activities that promoted both deep thinkingand engaged content-focused discussion.Students evaluated positively the TBL sessions. Thekey themes that emerged from the thematic analysisof their comments were “the interactivity” and “thegood relation between theory and practice”. Moreover,we were asked to discuss about our experience in a per-sonal interview by an external evaluator. We both agreethat students’ involvement in the class made the timeof teaching more enjoyable. However, we reported thatmedical students were no well informed about the TBLand most of them were not prepared in advance forthe RAT. The main reasons for that were that theydidn’t understand that this step was important. Therewere also many students who mentioned problems withemails (didn’t check them regularly, didn’t read themor didn’t receive them at all). In relation to the appli-cation of RAT we noted that the need to create copiesof the questionnaires was time consuming due to lackof administrative support. What lessons were learned?Having previous experience in eLearning modules weagreed that eLearning could solve many of the issuesthat our TBL revealed. The involvement of all studentsin an eLearning environment where all learning re-sources will be timely posting could overcome manyproblems. Sending reminding messages via eLearningis extremely simple. Besides, eLearning can supportTBL sessions as well. Nowadays all students have s-martphones or tablets. Free Wi-Fi access in universityBrief reportCombining team-based learning to eLearning in medical educationSmyrnakis E1, Haidich AB2, Talimtzi P21Laboratory of Primary Health Care, General Practice and Health Services’ Research2Laboratory of HygieneMedical School, Aristotle University of ThessalonikiCorresponding author: Smyrnakis Emmanouil, School of Medicine, Panepistimioupoli Thessaloniki 54124, Greecee-mail: smyrnak@auth.gr  - tel.number 0030 2310 999147 - fax 0030 2310 9991311. Burgess AW, McGregor DM, Mellis CM. Applying es-tablished guidelines to team-based learning programs inmedical schools: a systematic review. Acad Med 2014;89(4):678-88.campus enables completion of both the individual andthe team RAT online without the need to use paperforms.  Immediate scoring and feedback is an additionalasset of eLearning. Furthermore, the material neededfor module team activities can also be posted to eLearn-ing. In conclusion, eLearning can facilitate teaching inTBL classes, overcoming many obstacles of the tradi-tional method. 36 Aristotle University Medical Journal, Vol. 43, Issue 3, October 2016referenCesTeam-based learning in a public health course for 3rd year medical students.

Combining team-based learning to eLearning in medical education

https://ejournals.lib.auth.gr/aumj/article/download/5606/5506

Combining team-based learning to eLearning in medical education

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Aristotle University of Thessaloniki: Open Journals / ΑΡΙΣΤΟΤΕΛΕΙΟ ΠΑΝΕΠΙΣΤΗΜΙΟ ΘΕΣΣΑΛΟΝΙΚΗΣ