A Transition To Distance Education: Lessons Learned

Abstract

Developing and implementing distance education courses for the clinical laboratory science (CLS) profession is becoming an option in both the undergraduate and graduate experience. Whether it is done to remove geographic barriers for students, as is the case here, or to offer continuing education to those already in the profession, the design of the course can impact the outcome. In this study, students were faced with transitioning from the traditional “on campus” classroom to a totally distance education format in their final semester of a CLS bachelor’s degree program after a successful professional practice experience. Previously, we had reported on the importance of preferred learning style(s) 1 in trying to identify why some students may fit in or perform better in some parts of the laboratory experience than in others during their professional practice or as new graduates, 2 and in this study, we used the data on preferred learning style(s) to help develop and deliver distance education curriculum.