Abstract
Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has transformed the world's economy, health and education in a blink of an eye. Almost 1 billion learners have been affected across the globe. This has resulted in a paradigm shift to blended learning. Therefore, it was felt necessary to provide practical guidelines for the development of blended curriculum in medical education. It would help to overcome the challenges faced due to unprecedented transformation of medical education on account of pandemic. Methods: Guidelines based on personal experience of the authors and literature search were developed using the complex adapted blended learning system (CALBS) framework. Seven experts developed these guidelines using the nominal group technique. The consent form and literature for CABLS framework was shared with experts. The experts developed the guidelines independently during phase one of the technique. After a given time, phase 2 started with moderator mediated discussion about the individual guidelines developed by the experts. After discussion and mutual consensus four types of guideline ideas were developed. During the third phase the experts ranked the guideline ideas on a scale of 1 to 5. The guideline idea that ranked highest was selected as a final guideline for developing a blended learning curriculum. Results: The group consensus resulted in developing seven guidelines for a blended course or curriculum in medical education. These guidelines are based on a conceptual framework supplemented by expert's own personal experience and current evidence from literature. Conclusions: These guidelines would provide a comprehensive and systematic approach to develop a blended learning curriculum in medical education.
Highlights
Blended learning can be classified as an integrated learning approach where two or more teaching and learning strategies are blended to achieve the learning outcome
To aid medical educators involved in developing blended learning courses, we developed a set of guidelines utilizing the theoretical framework, complex adaptive blended learning system (CABLS)
All the experts were qualified medical educationists belonging to clinical and basic medical sciences. These guidelines for blended learning curriculum were organized around CABLS framework
Summary
Blended learning can be classified as an integrated learning approach where two or more teaching and learning strategies are blended to achieve the learning outcome. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has transformed the world in a blink of an eye in the context of the economy, health and education at all levels.[3] Educational landscapes across the globe have seen rapid improvisations at all levels due to partial or complete lock down and other protective strategies to minimize the spread of the virus.[4] Almost 1.5 billion learners have been affected worldwide due to pandemic, which[5] has resulted in varied responses to education, from complete cessation of all educational activities to a holistic shift to online learning. Results: The group consensus resulted in developing seven guidelines for a blended course or curriculum in medical education These guidelines are based on a conceptual framework supplemented by expert’s own personal experience and current evidence from literature. Conclusions: These guidelines would provide a comprehensive and article can be found at the end of the article
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