Breakout Rooms Research Articles

A telehealth-based training model for an ambulatory care pharmacy skills course

Description: Increasingly, pharmacy services are provided using telehealth-based modalities. This paper describes a pharmacy skills course that utilised telehealth principles to train students on the technical and communications skills necessary for the ambulatory care setting. Zoom breakout rooms, electronic health records, YouTube video vignettes, and teaching assistants portraying patients/physicians simulated a telehealth-based ambulatory care setting. Evaluation: Five quizzes and six written assignments were utilised to measure student’s knowledge and skills. At the end of the course, students were evaluated through a three-station objective structured clinical exam (OSCE). Students also completed a pre/post attitudes survey. Result: Overall, students performed well on various assessments including quizzes and written assignments. The majority of the students performed well on the OSCE. Significant improvement was noted on all items in the attitudes survey. Conclusion: This study suggests that a telehealth training model can be effective in teaching pharmacy students both the technical and communication skills necessary for practice in the ambulatory care setting.

VIRTUAL ADAPTATION OF MULTIMODAL CARDIAC SURGERY RESIDENCY INTERVIEW DURING COVID-19

BACKGROUND The Canadian residency match process has required adaptations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as in-person interviews and out-of-city electives were cancelled. Though an online virtual panel interview is feasible, it may not provide the most holistic assessment especially in the absence of a clinical elective. Our cardiac surgery residency program has previously established a multimodal interview to evaluate a candidate's situational awareness, ability to perform under pressure, and suitability for our specific program. Within the new COVID-19 constraints, we have adapted our multimodal evaluation strategy for the 2021 Cardiac Surgery CaRMS Interview. As virtual interview strategies may continue for the upcoming residency match cycle, our comprehensive approach may provide a sustainable solution. METHODS AND RESULTS The multimodal evaluation strategy consists of a written situational judgement test (SJT), multiple-mini-interview (MMI) session and panel interview, which were all converted to an online format (Image). The paper-based SJT requires applicants to read a scenario and rank appropriate responses from most to least appropriate and was converted to an online format using Google Forms. The MMI was carried out using Zoom conference software with 8 breakout rooms from which the applicants would move virtually with Zoom functions. Two interviewers were in the same room at our center using one laptop and each applicant accessed the Zoom meeting from their own computer. The panel interview was also carried out using Zoom conference software with multiple interviewers and one interviewee accessing the meeting from their own personal computer. To coordinate the event, a WhatsApp group was made and coordinated by two interviewers (VV and AB) to provide instructions to applicants and answer questions. Survey results for interviewer and applicant experiences are listed in the accompanying table. CONCLUSION Our comprehensive multimodal interview strategy allows for a holistic evaluation of applicants and was successfully adapted to a virtual format in a time where in-person interviews and electives were deemed infeasible. This strategy was well received by applicants and interviewers. As a long-term solution and reliable alternative will be needed moving forward, this method is a viable strategy for future virtual CaRMS cycles. Furthermore, as residency interview tours have notoriously been financially taxing on applicants, this online strategy will be a sustainable alternative even after travel restrictions are lifted. In the future, this virtual strategy can be combined with clinical electives to provide a cost-effective evaluation of potential candidates for residency. The Canadian residency match process has required adaptations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as in-person interviews and out-of-city electives were cancelled. Though an online virtual panel interview is feasible, it may not provide the most holistic assessment especially in the absence of a clinical elective. Our cardiac surgery residency program has previously established a multimodal interview to evaluate a candidate's situational awareness, ability to perform under pressure, and suitability for our specific program. Within the new COVID-19 constraints, we have adapted our multimodal evaluation strategy for the 2021 Cardiac Surgery CaRMS Interview. As virtual interview strategies may continue for the upcoming residency match cycle, our comprehensive approach may provide a sustainable solution. The multimodal evaluation strategy consists of a written situational judgement test (SJT), multiple-mini-interview (MMI) session and panel interview, which were all converted to an online format (Image). The paper-based SJT requires applicants to read a scenario and rank appropriate responses from most to least appropriate and was converted to an online format using Google Forms. The MMI was carried out using Zoom conference software with 8 breakout rooms from which the applicants would move virtually with Zoom functions. Two interviewers were in the same room at our center using one laptop and each applicant accessed the Zoom meeting from their own computer. The panel interview was also carried out using Zoom conference software with multiple interviewers and one interviewee accessing the meeting from their own personal computer. To coordinate the event, a WhatsApp group was made and coordinated by two interviewers (VV and AB) to provide instructions to applicants and answer questions. Survey results for interviewer and applicant experiences are listed in the accompanying table. Our comprehensive multimodal interview strategy allows for a holistic evaluation of applicants and was successfully adapted to a virtual format in a time where in-person interviews and electives were deemed infeasible. This strategy was well received by applicants and interviewers. As a long-term solution and reliable alternative will be needed moving forward, this method is a viable strategy for future virtual CaRMS cycles. Furthermore, as residency interview tours have notoriously been financially taxing on applicants, this online strategy will be a sustainable alternative even after travel restrictions are lifted. In the future, this virtual strategy can be combined with clinical electives to provide a cost-effective evaluation of potential candidates for residency.

Preface

Proceedings are prepared as a continuation of the 1st Webinar International Conference on Sustainable Architecture International and Engineering with theme: Building, and Technology Towards Society 5.0 which was held Hybrid (Offline and Online) on 28th October 2020.This Webinar is also consist of 4 tracks such as:1. Electrical Engineering : Renewable Energy, Energy Access, Microgrid, Modern System, an Control Engineering.2. Mechanical Engineering : Manufacture Materials, and Energy Convertion3. Architecture : Green Building, Smart Building and Sustainable City4. Civil Engineering : Water Resource, Structure, Transportation and GeotechnicalThis Webinar was attended by 6 countries from 23 universities such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. So, We would like to thank to all presenters and participants who took part in this Webinar as well and also to all those people who supported this Webinar that can be held well. Hopefully, this Proceedings will be useful for all of us.The conference was conducted virtually as the global pandemic of COVID-19 is not currently being able to be controlled well. Consequently, the government keep extending lockdown in non-essential sectors, including international conferences held by higher education. Therefore, the committee agreed to have the conference virtually on Wednesday, 28 October 2020. The conference was opened at 9 AM (GMT+7) and the first three plenary sessions proceeded from 09.30 to 11.00 featuring three international speakers namely Prof. Dr. Ismunandar, Prof. Manukid Parmichkan, and Prof. Dong-Seong Kim. The sessions were then followed by a 30-minute question and answer session. In total, there were around 150 participants attending the sessions. Panel session I then took place at 11.40 to 01.10 PM in 10 breakout rooms in accordance with the predetermined scope. Each speaker was given 10 minutes for both presentation and discussion and one moderator was in charge in each breakout room. Following the session, there were the second three plenary session in which the speakers were Prof. Dr. Ir. Widodo M. Arch Eng, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohammad Ibrahim Safawi Mohd Zain, and Prof. Dr. Ing Uras Siahaan. A discussion session was held in 30 minutes after the last session. Panel session 2 was taking place from 03.10 to 04.40 with the same mechanism as that of session I and the conference was officially closed at 5 PM.Jakarta, October 20201st International Conference on Sustainable And ArchitectureHead Committee of The 1st ICoSAEUlinata, ST. Ars., MTCOMMITTEE, CONFERENCE DOCUMENTATIONS, All photos are available in the pdf

Going virtual for research training during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond: e-SORT IT.

The Structured Operational Research and Training Initiative (SORT IT) model has contributed to building research capacity and has produced evidence for improving public health program performance in countries with limited research capacity. The model involves hands-on mentorship and consists of three modules/weeks. It is recognized to be an innovative research capacity building model. In a world changed by COVID-19, where bringing people together is not viable, an innovative, interactive, web-based, knowledge-transfer platform (e-SORT IT) for virtual implementation of SORT IT modules was created. The platform design imitated the residential course as closely as possible with the same lectures, plenary sessions, and breakout rooms. Despite the challenges, the platform performed well and even though participants and mentors were located in eight different time zones, the course was successful; 90% of participants achieved their milestones and 10 manuscripts were successfully completed. Participant evaluation revealed a satisfaction level that was nearly equivalent to the residential module. However, mentor evaluation indicated a number of shortcomings including capacity building, professional networking, communication, engagement, and contribution by participants, as well as overall module success. In conclusion, COVID-19 stimulated the creation of the e-SORT IT platform that provided a functional alternative to the residential version. Despite the limitations of reduced capacity building and networking, the e-SORT IT platform should be considered a success - it delivered the goods. This is an example of innovation and flexibility, two attributes that are sorely needed to maintain activities during the pandemic and beyond.

Crowdsourcing solutions in the online mathematics classroom

This article discusses a pedagogical technique for utilizing breakout rooms for small group discussions and synchronous drawing features in Zoom to create crowdsourced solutions to mathematical problems that involve graphing or visualization. Students begin with specific examples and then move quickly to the development of a more general understanding of the concepts. The process was primarily used in synchronous settings, although certain aspects could be utilized in asynchronous settings. The method discussed in this paper incorporates active learning techniques into the online classroom, helps students build community by working in groups, and increases student engagement in the online class meetings.

Online mathematics supports in lieu of university tutorials during COVID-19: student and lecturer perspectives

When the first national lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic occurred, all higher educational institutions in Ireland moved to remote learning and have effectively remained in this mode ever since. The situation presented enormous challenges for many mathematics lecturers who had not delivered lectures or tutorials online before. This study looks closely at what a traditional (in-person) mathematics tutorial encompasses and examines learners’ needs with respect to support within a remotely delivered module. The work focuses on how well various formats of remote support address the affordances of the traditional in-person tutorial. The range of support formats explored here includes live tutorials, written homework with feedback, group work via breakout rooms in Zoom, a discussion forum and instant formative feedback through Canvas quizzes and the e-assessment tool Numbas. The effectiveness of the different formats of remote support is assessed through examining student engagement and student and lecturer feedback. Six student cohorts, of levels ranging from first year to MSc level, across three different departments, taking either a mathematics or statistics module, participated in the study and were surveyed on their experience and future preferences. The work highlights some of the key issues surrounding remote support within mathematics modules and discusses the findings in the context of the implications for a lecturer and the factors to consider when deciding on a strategy for remote learning. The paper also analyses student interaction and notes the aspects of remote mathematics support that will have value beyond the pandemic.

2021 Connecting Young Minds (CYM) Undergraduate Research Conference: 5-Minute Research Presentations

Connecting Young Minds (CYM) is an annual bilingual student-led research conference held at the University of Ottawa. Our mission is to encourage undergraduate students to network with professors, present their research, and gain experience drafting scientific literature. The conference engages the interests of students in the sciences through presentations held by keynote speakers, interactive breakout rooms with graduate level students, and a research-based competition. Each year, CYM hosts a 5-minute research presentation competition in which ten candidates are selected by a panel of judges based on the submission of an abstract pertaining to their research. The competition provides an opportunity for undergraduate students to highlight their research findings to an audience and series of judges in a concise and engaging manner. Abstracts in this booklet were submitted by participants on a volunteer basis.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT IN THE VIDEO CONFERENCING ‘SPACE'

The Covid-19 pandemic led to a dramatic shift in the nature of work and collaboration for our design-led research group. In this paper, we describe the experimental use of the Gather Town platform for a variety of communication and collaboration activities. This alternative to standard video conferencing software uses spatial metaphors and attempts to regain some of the affordances of physical co-location such as serendipity and a sense of presence. In creating custom Gather spaces for our team, we found that it brought positive benefits to informal collaboration in work environment. For teaching and workshop facilitation, it created additional opportunities for flexible small-group working with affordances not available with traditional break-out rooms. We also report initial results of Gather being used in a conference setting not just to recreate the liminal, informal social spaces, but as a novel form of interactive paper presentation. While each of these experimental contexts showed benefits of a spatial digital context, we also highlight some of the challenges identified. Through this work, we question future implications for workplaces, knowledge sharing and the post-pandemic world. We ask whether digital tools and technologies should be used not only to attempt replication of physical spaces and practices, but also to explore new opportunities to work in profoundly different ways, that offer independent ways of being.

ADEBAYO ADEJIMI_Action research on breakout rooms (1).pdf

Active collaborative and group learning are common practice in real estate education. This is because the real estate profession is primarily based on group work and collaboration among professional colleagues. With the recent COVID-19 pandemic, there has been significant shifts in the mode of learning real estate subjects. The traditional face-2-face classroom teachings have been transformed into compulsory online learning and teaching. As such, application of technological tools that support online group learning has become imperative to learning real estate subjects (modules). This study examines online group learning viz-a-viz breakout rooms tool of MS Teams. The study explores the effectiveness of breakout rooms in learning real estate subjects through the lenses of students and academics of Property Management and Development (PMD) department at NTU. The study inquires how technology (that is, MS Team breakout rooms) can enhance active collaborative learning among PMD students. The research seeks to:i. Understand the PMD students’ perspectives on the use of breakout rooms, ii. Understand PMD academics perspectives on the use of breakout rooms, Evaluate the effectiveness of online breakout rooms to enhance student learning, and Make recommendations on how breakout rooms could be used more effectively.

SHOWCASE: Engaging Students in Active Learning Classrooms or in Hybrid/Hyflex Models (90 mins)

COVID-19 has brought remote and online teaching to the forefront of all instructors' daily lives and routine. Even as we return to on campus classroom learning environments, many courses will remain online; be reimagined into some blend of online and face-to-face components (hybrid); or offer both in person and remote participation options (hyflex). This session will feature panelists with experience teaching in Mason’s active learning classrooms, using hybrid models of course design, or using online and classroom technologies to create hyflex learning opportunities. Specifically, the session will focus on ways to engage students in active learning environments and remotely using classroom and online technologies to effectively teach students from diverse backgrounds across a spectrum of modalities. By the end of this session, participants will be able to list the major teaching technologies and active learning environment spaces and technology support resources available to them at Mason and leave with concrete plans for using at least one of these technologies or approaches in their own courses. 1. Introductions (10 minutes) 2. Panel discussion about [coming soon] (30 minutes) 3. Technology showcase demonstrations in breakout rooms (30 minutes) 4. Q&A and discussion of applying to participant courses (20 minutes) Conveners: Steven Zhou, Crystal Anderson Panelist Speakers: Mihai Boicu (Volgenau School of Engineering) will share his strategies for successfully teaching in Mason’s active learning classrooms (for the last 7 years); how he incorporates online components into face-to-face courses; and how his teaching has been transformed due to COVID-19. Crystal Clemons (Classroom Technologies) will share updates on the newest active learning classrooms on Mason’s campuses (e.g., Horizon Hall) and the latest in classroom technologies available to support instructors in offering students real-time remote participation in face-to-face courses. Irina Hashmi (Volgenau School of Engineering) will share [coming soon] Katrina Johnson (Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning) will share a variety of online technologies and activities that can be used across disciplines to support learning across modalities. Jim Mclean (Information Technology Services) will share [content needed] Gene Shuman (Volgenau School of Engineering) will share [content needed] Julia Tungli (Information Technology Services) will share [content needed] Katie Rosenbusch (School of Business) will share what has and hasn’t worked in Mason’s active learning classrooms (from her experiences over the last 5 years); how she incorporates online components into face-to-face courses; and how her teaching has been transformed due to COVID-19.

Pandemic-Driven Online Teaching-The Natural Setting for a Flipped Classroom?

As the COVID-19 pandemic forced a sudden shift to online teaching and learning in April 2020, one of the more significant challenges faced by instructors is encouraging and maintaining student engagement in their online classes. This paper describes my experience of flipping an online classroom for a core Chemical Engineering Fluid Mechanics class to promote student engagement and collaboration in an online setting. Comparing exam scores with prior semesters involving in-person, traditional lecture-style classes suggests that students need a certain degree of adjustment to adapt to this new learning mode. A decrease in student rating of teaching (SRT) scores indicates that students largely prefer in-person, traditional lectures over an online flipped class, even though written comments in the SRT contained several responses favorable to flipping the class in an online setting. Overall, SRT scores on a department level also showed a similar decrease, which suggests students were less satisfied with the quality of teaching overall throughout the department, with this flipped method of instruction neither improving nor worsening student sentiment toward online learning. In addition, whereas most students liked the prerecorded lecture videos, they were less enthusiastic about using breakout rooms to encourage student collaboration and discussion. Further thought and discussion on best practices to facilitate online student interaction and collaboration are recommended, as online learning will likely continue to grow in popularity even when in-person instruction resumes after the pandemic.

Meeting Laboratory Course Learning Goals Remotely via Custom Home Experiment Kits

Cost-effective, custom home experiment kits were developed and used for remote teaching of first-semester introductory physics labs. The kit experiments were designed to match the existing onsite lab course learning goals. A revised group project approach optimized for remote use was also developed that leverages the kits. Student survey results at the end of the summer 2020 semester indicate that the critical learning goals were met, student satisfaction with the remote course was maintained, and successful collaboration via video conferencing breakout rooms was achieved.

Crashing from cadaver to computer: Covid-driven crisis-mode pedagogy spawns active online substitute for teaching gross anatomy.

In early 2020, the Covid-19 crisis forced medical institutions worldwide to convert quickly to online platforms for content delivery. Although many components of medical education were adaptable to that format, anatomical dissection laboratory lost substantial content in that conversion, including features of active student participation, three-dimensional spatial relationships of structures, and the perception of texture, variation, and scale. The present study aimed to develop and assess online anatomy laboratory sessions that sought to preserve benefits of the dissection experience for first-year medical students. The online teaching package was based on a novel form of active videography that emulates eye movement patterns that occur during processes of visual identification, scene analysis, and learning. Using this video-image library of dissected materials, content was presented through asynchronous narrated laboratory demonstrations and synchronous/active video conference sessions and included a novel, video-based assessment tool. Data were obtained using summative assessments and a final course evaluation. Test scores for the online practical examination were significantly improved over those for previous in-person dissection-based examinations, as evidenced by several measures of performance (Mean: 2015-2019: 82.5%; 2020: 94.9%; P=0.003). Concurrently, didactic test scores were slightly, but not significantly, improved (Mean: 2015-2019: 88.0%; 2020: 89.9%). Student evaluations of online sessions and overall course were highly positive. Results indicated that this innovative online teaching package can provide an effective alternative when in-person dissection laboratory is unavailable. Although this approach consumed considerable faculty time for video editing, further development will include video conference breakout rooms to emulate dissection small-group teamwork.

Addressing Student Isolation During the Pandemic: An Inquiry into Renewing Relationships and Reimagining Classroom Communities on Remote Instruction Platforms

We began this pandemic cycle of inquiry by acknowledging that we all viewed relationships with our students as foundational to the teaching and learning process (i.e., Elmore, 2004; Fullan, 2007; Noddings, 2014; Rimm-Kaufman, et al., 2014). While we had well-established strategies for creating caring classroom communities in our face-to-face classrooms prior to the pandemic, we were all searching for new online strategies for keeping relationships vital when faced with the abrupt transition to remote instruction and the isolating effects of the Spring 2020 lockdown, both for ourselves and for our students. Hence, we committed to documenting and sharing with one another, the innovative strategies we were employing across our elementary and secondary school contexts. Through the use of informal sharing time and Zoom breakout rooms, we were able to connect personally with our students and to revitalize teacher-to-student and student-to-student relationships in our virtual classroom space.

Survey of case study users during pandemic shift to remote instruction

Before COVID-19, the use of case studies to learn science was well established in high school and postsecondary classrooms. Once the pandemic ensued, many faculty continued to use the method as a way to infuse elements of active learning remotely. The results of a survey taken by 600 faculty reveal how they accomplished this feat. Respondents to the survey found that the case method readily transferred to online learning. Most used a mixture of synchronous and asynchronous classrooms. Serious challenges were encountered, primarily due to the difficulty instructors had in keeping track of learner participation. Many obstacles were overcome by creative strategies such as using Google Forms. Some semblance of a normal classroom was achieved by using online conferencing tools and using small groups in synchronous breakout rooms. Cases were commonly broken into chunks and spread over several days. This worked especially well with cases that were already structured this way, including interrupted cases and problem-based learning exercises. Assessment of student performance largely followed the traditional path of exams, projects, and essays, although a third of the faculty attempted to evaluate participation. Classes conducted via an asynchronous approach were largely lecture based, with cases given to learners to complete as homework either individually or as groups. The greatest challenge in this setting was that answers to case questions were often readily available to learners on the internet. This was avoided by faculty modifying questions or creating their own.

Building interprofessional and interinstitutional bridges in health care education.

In Germany, most health professionals are trained at different universities and training institutions outside of medical faculties. Rigid curricular and institutional training regulations make it difficult for students in health professions to network and to learn with, from and about each other. The possibilities that online learning offers for the teaching of collaborative activities in health care are still not being fully utilised. Online teaching can provide a bridge to enable learning with and about each other in diverse educational settings. Thus, online teaching to facilitate interprofessional collaborative activities and patient-centred communication appears to be a promising approach. We transformed an established interprofessional case discussion course1 into an online teaching format where medical and nursing students from two different German universities could learn together despite site-specific, curricular and current pandemic-related challenges. FINCO online (fostering interprofessional communication) was offered as a voluntary interinstitutional course. The online format comprised five synchronous teaching sessions and was taught by an interprofessional tandem, consisting of a physician and a nurse. About 20 students participated per session. Each session lasted 2 h and was concluded by a simulated telemedical visit with standardised patients (SPs). The learning objective was to jointly develop a care plan and to prepare the students for their future collaborative work and its requirements. Medical and nursing students communicated their joint care plan and could thus apply and improve their team- and patient-communication skills. Additional to the facilitator tandem, each interprofessional student dyad was supervised by another experienced nurse and clinician who gave feedback on the process and the patient-centred communication. Structured feedback on the joint performance was also provided by the SPs. The conferencing tool Zoom served as a common learning space. Evaluation results from two digital implementation rounds (n = 55) in the winter term 2020/21 suggest that FINCO online promotes all processes of interprofessional observable collaborative activities. The students successfully conducted interprofessional case discussions online. During case discussions, they were sharing and negotiating profession-specific information and perspectives, as well as developing common care goals. The students appreciated the digital use of SPs and the possibility to apply the acquired knowledge directly within an interprofessional telemedical visit. They highlighted the direct patient feedback as particularly conducive to learning. The independence of locations and the digital small-group setting in breakout rooms, which would not have been available in a traditional classroom setting, proved to be advantages of the online learning environment. The ‘room selection’ feature of the conferencing tool expanded the didactic planning options of the facilitators in order to conduct practical exercise units in small groups. Additionally, the tandem-teaching was supported by pre-defining the teaching roles ‘technical supporter’ and ‘facilitator’. This enabled the tandems to focus on the seminar process. Teachers switched between roles several times throughout the seminar. Accompanying empirical research will help to determine to which extent FINCO online can promote interprofessional collaborative activities in patient care between health professions and how it can further be improved. The project is funded by the Medical Faculty of LMU Munich.

How We Do It: Otolaryngology Applicant Impressions of Virtual Meet and Greets at a Single Institution

The COVID-19 pandemic altered residency recruitment in the 2021 application cycle. As a result, many programs adapted by creating virtual opportunities to connect with applicants such as clerkships, open houses, meet and greets, and interviews. Recent research has explored applicant impressions on virtual interviews and open houses, but none have assessed the utility of meet and greets, optimal structure, or desired topics to be addressed. We hosted two virtual meet and greets for otolaryngology applicants and subsequently conducted a structured survey to assess the benefit, gather insight into desired topics, and determine how future sessions could be optimized. Twenty of 65 participants responded to the survey (31% response rate). The majority of participants learned about the event through social media (n = 15) or online resources such as OtoMatch or HeadMirror (n = 12). Desired topics to be addressed included faculty-resident relationships (85%), research (80%), the city of Madison (75%), breadth and depth of faculty (75%), and ability to train residents for future positions and fellowships (75%), among others. Overall, participants found the events helpful in conveying the culture and environment, exposure to faculty and residents, addressing questions, and providing insight into intangible aspects of the program. The main area of improvement identified was related to having breakout rooms, longer sessions, and varying the topics for breakout rooms. Virtual meet and greets facilitate outreach and provide opportunities for applicants to engage with residency programs and demonstrate interest. While initially implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they will likely remain helpful in generating interest, reaching broader audiences, and possibly facilitating a successful match. It is critical to understand and incorporate the content that applicants wish to learn about at virtual meet and greets to best address questions, highlight key features, and demonstrate the intangible aspects of a residency program.

Virtual breakout rooms: an effective approach to offer guidance to medical students on residency applications.

Implication statementPeer mentorship on residency applications has been difficult due to recent public health measures, prompting a shift from in-person events to virtual platforms. To address gaps in career exploration, we created a virtual, non-recorded space that allowed medical students and residents to discuss the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS) process meaningfully and transparently. Attendees reported a greater understanding of the match process and reduced anxiety after the event. This model provides a virtual framework that can be adapted for various mentorship opportunities.

EFL Teaching and Learning via Zoom during COVID-19: Impacts of Students’ Engagement on Vocabulary Range and Reading Comprehension Skills

The social distancing policy by nearly 200 countries and territories (Le et al., 2020) due to the quick widespread of the COVID-19 Pandemic triggered the online learning mode via various platforms, including Zoom, MS Teams, Google Meets or Hangouts. This change left many teachers and stakeholders concerns about creating and maintaining a virtual but dynamic and engaging EFL learning environment. Since the size of vocabulary and reading comprehension play an important role in acquiring other skills in English learning (Amirzai, 2021; Hartshorn et al., 2017), this study aimed to investigate the impacts of EFL students’ engagement when studying reading online through Zoom on the performance of vocabulary and reading comprehension. Forty-four intermediate-level students at a public university in Vietnam were placed into a control group and an experimental group based on the results of a pre-test. While students in the control group followed the traditional format with the teacher-centred mode, those in the experimental group experienced the student-centred mode with frequent use of breakout rooms for pair work, group work and screen sharing for giving answers, elaborating on explanations and hosting vocabulary activities. After ten weeks, all the participants were required to take the post-test and particularly those in the experimental group were asked to complete a questionnaire on their attitudes towards this new learning style. Descriptive statistics of the post-test scores indicated that the experimental students outperformed the control students in vocabulary and reading comprehension. Findings from the questionnaire revealed overall satisfaction towards this learning style, and more interestingly, there appeared a correlation between students’ attitudes and the post-test scores.

Evolving Molecular Bioscience Education 2021

More than 90 educators from 27 countries joined us at the joint Biochemical Society and FEBS training event, Evolving Molecular Bioscience Education. Day one, skills development: different approaches to embed skills into the Biosciences curriculum were presented, including ways of assessing skills. Skills assessment was identified as one of the main challenges in education. Examples of how to foster skills development addressed computational skills and science communication to a public audience. From an industrial perspective, skills which are not easily gained during a degree were highlighted, followed by suggestions for addressing the gap between education and the workplace. The day’s key message was that students need more help to recognize their skills development and evidence it on job applications. Day 2, students as co-producers: talks explored ways to involve students in curriculum design, including assessment and feedback, and helping educators to identify and address equality and diversity issues. The power of the student voice in guiding the design of educational approaches and the importance of increasing assessment literacy were two of the key take-home messages of the day.On both days, well-populated break-out rooms were used to foster group discussion, allowing participants to share their own practices and challenges. Discussions addressed the current pandemic-related higher education changes, with a particular focus on ways to move forward. The event celebrated teaching awards granted by the Biochemical Society and the Royal Society of Biology. In addition, pre-recorded flash-talks on both days provided more food for thought while sharing good practice.We had great feedback from the attendees, who particularly liked the group discussions and engagement opportunities with speakers and each other, as well as the fantastic presentations.We look forward to seeing you all again in 2 years’ time!