Blended Learning Models for Health Professions Education at Duke University

This presentation highlights effective blended learning models for health professions education at Duke University. Demonstrated approaches of an evidence-based solution to learner-centered course design, methodology, digital pedagogies, online teaching approach, and assessment and feedback strategies will be presented. Quantitative/qualitative data demonstrates impact and potential application to programs beyond Duke.

Background

The discussion begins with an overview of the blended learning model as an applied and practical approach for teaching in the health professions. Duke Learning Innovation partnered with the Duke School of Nursing to design two blended online courses, one in healthcare informatics, a professional development course for adult learners, and a global online course for graduate degree-seeking students. This presentation showcases both evidence-based course designs and effective teaching practices to engage adult professional learners and international students. The program and course examples will illustrate the challenges the instructional design team experienced developing and delivering these courses and programs, and lessons learned that can be applied across disciplines. The presenter will share implementation strategies and teaching effectiveness of the blended learning model. Evidence-based data include the student perspective and post course evaluation of the faculty perspective on the blended approach.

About the Online Projects

Healthcare Informatics Online Project

A Learning Innovation team designed a 10-week online course “Data Standards for Learning Health Systems” for biomedical and health informatics professionals, offered through the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) which has had two successful offerings and will be offered again in Fall 2018. The online teaching approach was enhanced with learner-centered instructional design geared to the adult learner. This includes principles such as tapping into prior relevant experiences, using reflective observation, providing options for self-directed learning, and implementing real-world learning through project-based peer assessments. As part of the course activities, learners defined a clinical question and the standards that support the application and evaluation of evidence in a health care setting. Evidence of effectiveness in the design approach with two-year aggregate qualitative and quantitative feedback indicates learner satisfaction with course design, instructional video/digital media, platform and web conferencing tools, online activities, and the overall learning experience. The survey results as well as survey design will be shared with participants.

Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Online Project

For this graduate online nursing course the instructional design team provided strategies for building student engagement and online community, and teaching strategies to facilitate a learning experience that is collaborative around a set of group based projects and activities. The blended approach includes modular content, interactive video, and online peer learning activities as well as on-site meetings. An outcome of this design model is a set of design guidelines and best practices, as well as faculty teaching considerations to promote a learner-centered design methodology. This course was designed with highly interactive, instructional video, digital pedagogies, and effective teaching practices to engage adult learners and international students.

Audience and Audience Engagement Strategies

This presentation is relevant to a variety of audiences, including faculty teaching graduate and adult professional learners in the health professions, however; design elements apply to a variety of academic disciplines and modalities (hybrid, online, blended). Instructional designers and learning design practitioners who seek evidence-based solutions to course design, teaching methodologies, and digital pedagogies will appreciate the shared design templates and guides that will be provided. Both instructors and researchers will be interested in the survey design and the survey data presented. Faculty who seek to innovate their teaching practice or add a cross-cultural dimension to their teaching or program area will benefit from the international perspective presented by these projects.

The presenter will use several active learning strategies to engage the audience and gather feedback in determining the overall design considerations to develop blended learning programs. Participants will receive handouts and online resources as key takeaways, providing each with a robust set of tools and templates to inform their future work in instructional design for blended learning that can be applied to their own discipline areas. The audience will be engaged with poll everywhere and socrative.

Outcomes

As a result of attending the session, participants will be able to:

• Describe innovative blended course models that promote learner satisfaction in health professions education

• Critically reflect on the challenges and constraints to apply a blended learning approach to their own discipline specific courses and programs

• Identify best practices to integrate the best digital pedagogies that facilitate learner collaboration and engage the adult professional learner

• Understand inclusive principles for course design to engage adult professional learners and international students.

Format and Audience Engagement

• presentation and discussion
• Interactive Q&A/poll everywhere
• Small group discussion
• Active learning strategies

Materials provided: slides, survey design, survey results, online course design templates, handouts, web links to design guides, adult learner principles online teaching guide