{"id":71230,"date":"2021-12-13T08:12:34","date_gmt":"2021-12-13T00:12:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medicine.nus.edu.sg\/taps\/?post_type=issues&p=71230"},"modified":"2022-04-05T11:01:50","modified_gmt":"2022-04-05T03:01:50","slug":"enhancing-the-student-experience-through-sustainable-communities-of-practice","status":"publish","type":"issues","link":"https:\/\/medicine.nus.edu.sg\/taps\/issues\/enhancing-the-student-experience-through-sustainable-communities-of-practice\/","title":{"rendered":"Enhancing the student experience through sustainable Communities of Practice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Submitted: 29 March 2021<\/span>
\r\nAccepted: 28 September 2021
\r\nPublished online: 4 January, TAPS 2022, <\/span>7(1), 102-105<\/span>
\r\nhttps:\/\/doi.org\/10.29060\/TAPS.2022-7-1\/SC2508<\/a><\/p>\r\n

Mairi Scott & Susie Schofield<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n

Centre for Medical Education (CME), School of Medicine, University of Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom<\/span><\/i><\/p>\r\n

Abstract <\/span><\/b><\/p>\r\n

Introduction:<\/span><\/b> <\/span>The switch to online off-campus teaching for universities worldwide due to COVID-19 will transform into more sustainable and predictable delivery models where virtual and local student contact will continue to be combined. Institutions must do more to replace the full student experience and benefits of learners and educators being together. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n

Methods: <\/span><\/b>Our centre has been delivering distance blended and online learning for more than 40 years and has over 4000 alumni across five continents. Our students and alumni come from varied healthcare disciplines and are at different stages of their career as educators and practitioners. Whilst studying on the programme students work together flexibly in randomly arranged peer groups designed to allow the establishment of Communities of Practice (CoP) through the use of online Discussion Boards. <\/b><\/span><\/p>\r\n

Results: <\/span><\/b>We found Discussion Boards encouraged reflection on learning, sharing of ideas with peers and tutors, reduce anxiety, support progression, and enable benchmarking. This led to a highly effective student sense of belonging to each other, our educators, and the wider University, with many highlighting an excellent student experience and maintaining a thriving CoP within the alumni body.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\r\n

Conclusion: <\/span><\/b>Despite being based on one large postgraduate programme in medical education, our CoP approach is relevant to any undergraduate programme, particularly those that lead to professional qualification. With our mix of nationalities, we can \u2018model the way\u2019 for enabling strong CoP\u2019s to share ideas about best practice with a strong student and alumni network which can be shared across the international healthcare community.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\r\n

Keywords<\/span><\/b>:<\/span><\/b>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Communities of Practice, Sense of Belonging, Student Experience<\/span><\/i><\/p>\r\n

<\/span>I. INTRODUCTION<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

The sudden switch to online, dual delivery and on-campus\/off-campus teaching for Universities worldwide will not be reversed at the end of the current COVID-19 crisis but will transform into a more sustainable and predictable delivery model where virtual and local student contact will continue to be combined. The switch, known as Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) (Hodges et al., 2020) achieved much in a short timeframe but institutions need to do more to truly replace the full student experience and benefits of learners and educators being together on-site. The need for this new approach is acute in professional-based courses such as medicine where students need to learn complex skills within the context of healthcare delivery. These skills are acquired through multiple interactions with clinical colleagues in the workplace which, although often brief, are focused in real-time.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Given that the learning environment is dependent on the institutional \u2018personality, spirit, and culture\u2019 (Holt & Roff, 2004, pp. 553), human interaction is necessary to create that culture. We must develop new approaches to delivering medical education by merging established educational technologies with virtual approaches to establish on-line interaction with peers and senior colleagues such as can be achieved in Communities of Practice (CoPs) (Lave & Wenger, 1991). CoPs are social structures where people can share ideas, stories, and experiences relevant to the community\u2019s activities. They help participants make sense of new knowledge and enable novices to benefit from working with experts, thus reducing anxiety, supporting progression, and enabling benchmarking. These components lead to the creation of a rich environment for information-sharing which has become increasingly important within healthcare delivery organisations during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We have built on over 40 years\u2019 experience of delivering distance, blended and online Masters-level accredited medical education learning across five continents to \u2018model the way\u2019 to providing a strong student experience for online learners. Our students and alumni come from various interdisciplinary healthcare disciplines, at different stages of their career as educators and practitioners. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

<\/span>II. METHODS<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Several Discussion Boards (DBs), usually one per study week plus one for assignment questions are created in each 12-week Moodle-based module. Students are randomly assigned to groups to work together flexibly within these peer groups. Each discussion has a \u2018prompt\u2019 linked to that week\u2019s work, designed to create CoPs and a highly effective student sense of belonging (SoB) to each other and programme educators. In the first module students are actively encouraged to participate, with emphasis being on the \u2018safe space\u2019 created that allows them to learn effectively from and with each other. DB comments are used as part of programme enhancement and quality assurance. Students give informed consent to their evaluation comments within DBs being extracted for overall programme review. <\/i><\/span><\/p>\r\n

<\/span>III. RESULTS<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

As students move from legitimate peripheral participant to experienced member, they often express increased confidence that their posts will allow them to share their view and help colleagues. The forum posts have been analysed as part of a much larger study; the following diagram (Figure 1) highlights some of the benefits.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/p>\r\n

Figure 1. Sample of comments in DBs posts<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Our experience over the last four years is that student levels of interaction increase the further into the programme they go, suggesting that they value and enjoy it. Overall, when asked specifically if that assumption is correct, feedback from students is exceptionally positive and they comment on their achievement of a SoB through engagement with the DBs. Many highlight the excellent student experience. Another indirect indication of success is that student module success rate averages 93% across the modules, which is high for an online learning programme.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The benefits of using DBs are threefold:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    \r\n\t
  1. <\/span>They allow for reflection on learning in real-time due to regular module-specific weekly activities requiring students to reflect on that week\u2019s educational materials and post their thoughts on the DBs.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n
      \r\n\t
    1. <\/span>They allow sharing with peers and tutors, establishing CoPs: The DB posts create peer-to-peer dialogue, encouraging students to practise the language of the discipline in a safe, supported environment. Learning activities are based on the principle of linking previous experience with the interpretation of new knowledge, thus enabling an escalation of the complexity of questions to enhance deeper connection and dialogue. Although essentially (and importantly) it is the students as peers who are encouraged to respond to each other\u2019s questions and comments, the tutors do monitor posts, providing input when necessary and desirable. In some modules, students are required to give peer feedback on draft assignments using a 1:4 ratio to encourage a range of views and expertise, increasing the depth and extent of their critical thinking and analysis. This also gives them practice in giving and receiving feedback, an essential skill for future medical educators.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n
        \r\n\t
      1. <\/span>CoPs build trust in colleagues and a SoB within the learning environment, leading to an excellent learning experience. Students state that they value the tutor contribution as this increases the confidence they have in their own online comments, sometimes shifting the discussion to a more profitable area for new learning in a way that was not pre-planned or even at times expected.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n

        IV. DISCUSSION<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n