Interactive Teaching Module Research Articles

Pengembangan Modul Ajar Interaktif Berbasis Augmented Reality Materi Sistem Tata Surya Untuk Meningkatkan Self Esteem Siswa Kelas VI

The development of science and technology is increasingly encouraging efforts to update the way technology is used in the educational process. Teachers must be able to utilize current technology to help students learn. There are many kinds of media in learning, for example real or technology-based media. One type of technology-based media is augmented reality. The aim of this research is to find out how to create and use interactive teaching modules based on augmented reality, and whether this module can increase students' self-esteem in class VI of SD Negeri Kendalrejo Srengat, Blitar Regency. This research uses research and development (R & D) with the ADDIE method, which consists of analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation. The validation results of the product assessment by material experts obtained a percentage of 92 percent with the criteria "Very Valid". the results of the product assessment validation by language experts got a percentage of 95%, with the criteria "Very Valid" and the results of the product assessment by media experts got a percentage of 80% with the criteria "Valid". The pre-questionnaire and post-questionnaire results showed an average of 92%. Thus, the "very good" category was obtained, which means that interactive teaching module media based on augmented reality has an effect on increasing students' self-esteem.

Interactive Digital Teaching Module Based on Differentiated Instruction and Its Impact on Students' Problem-Solving Skills

Differentiated Instruction (DI) is a solution offered in the Merdeka Belajar curriculum, where students study chemistry material according to their abilities, what they like, and their individual needs so that they are not frustrated and feel like they have failed in their learning experience. This study aims to develop interactive digital teaching modules based on Differentiated Instruction (DI) that meet valid, practical, and effective criteria for problem-solving abilities. This research is development research based on the ADDIE model with stages: analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation. The trial sample was class X students of SMAN 1 Latambaga. The results showed validity with a value of 2.59, Practical with a value of 3.31 on teacher activity and a weight of 3.41 on student activity. Effective with good student response 74%. Problem-solving ability increases with a test score gain of 0.32 in the medium category. It is concluded that the interactive digital teaching module based on Differentiated Instruction (DI) can be used in the learning process because it begins with a diagnostic assessment so that learning is by students' abilities and learning styles

Development and Assessment of Awareness Module on ‘Antimicrobial Resistance and its Prevention’ for School Students in Punjab, India

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the pressing public health issues. Sharing information on AMR with school students will educate and inspire them to act as community ambassadors. The present study was carried out in the form of capacity-building workshops among school children of the Ludhiana district of Punjab, India. Three workshops were organized in three different higher secondary schools for 11th and 12th standard students (medical stream). Each workshop session included an interactive teaching module on basic microbiology, AMR, factors involved in AMR emergence, ‘One Health’ approach to address AMR, and how we can contribute to the community. The learning outcomes were evaluated based on pre and postworkshop assessment questionnaires. A total of 138 students participated in the workshops with an average duration of around 3.5 hours. Among all the students, 68.84% were not aware of the meaning of ‘antibiotic resistance’ and 78.26% believed that antibiotics can cure all coughs and colds. Furthermore, 82.61% of students never heard the term ‘superbugs’ and 71.74% were not able to identify the factors for AMR emergence. The success of teaching workshops was assessed by significant improvement in the correct responses during the post-workshop quiz, where the median post-workshop score (i.e., 14/15) was significantly improved as compared to the pre-workshop score (i.e., 08/15). We propose that the concepts of AMR must be included in school curricula so that young students can be ‘superheroes’ in bringing about desired changes in the community.

Penerapan Konsep Gamifikasi Nilai Filosofis Seni Reak dalam Pendidikan Budi Pekerti

This community service prioritizes the documentation method through observation, interviews, and literature studies, which focusing on implementing of gamification in character building education that elevates the philosophical values of Reak's performing arts as its main content. This is closely related to the implementation of the preservation of local wisdom from an early age to the younger generation. A qualitative method with an ethnographic approach through in-depth interviews, focus group discussions by providing training on the Kaulinan Reak board game were uswd to analysed this project. The main targets are children in primary school who live in the vicinity of Reak Tibelat Art Studio, Kampung Jati, Cibiru, Bandung. In addition, strengthening character education is a form of concerning the implementation of habituation, practice, and a good model based on local wisdom. This habituation is realized through a fun learning process using the principles of gamification through board game teaching media and interactive teaching modules. The enthusiasm of the children in learning the philosophical values of Reak was indicated by their keenness in every learning activity using the boardgame.

Teaching Ultrasound at the Point of Care in Times of Social Distancing.

Point-of-care ultrasound has become an integral aspect of critical care training. The Bedside Assessment by Sonography In Critical Care Medicine Curriculum was established at the University of Toronto to train critical care trainees in basic echocardiography and general critical care ultrasound. During the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, our program needed to adapt quickly to ensure staff safety and adherence to infection-control protocols. In this article, we share our experience and reflect on the challenges and benefits of shifting from a primarily in-person teaching model to a hybrid model of remote and in-person teaching. Curricular changes were threefold: the transition to entirely web-based interactive didactic teaching and online imaging interpretation modules, the recruitment of sonographers at multiple academic sites as instructors to facilitate in-person practices with lower instructor to trainee ratio, and the use of a mobile application for informal group case-based discussions. Challenges included lost opportunities for scanning healthy volunteers, variability in attendance at online lectures, and a lower number of study submissions for review. However, curricular changes enabled maintenance of directly observed practice, high levels of engagement with recorded content, and an expansion of our reach to a global audience. We believe that future curricula should combine high-quality online curriculum and resources with the ongoing in-person delivery of key elements of curriculum to allow for direct observation and feedback as well as the maintenance of self-directed point-of-care ultrasound portfolios.

An interactive teaching module for increasing undergraduate physiotherapy students' cultural competence: A quantitative survey.

To provide safe and effective healthcare, physiotherapists must be aware of, and able to appropriately respond to, the individual needs of their clients. Cultural competence is an essential part of the curriculum to prepare physiotherapy students for their graduate practice. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a 4-week educational intervention to increase the perceived cultural competence of undergraduate physiotherapy students and whether effectiveness changed as students progressed in their education. Secondary aims were to understand if a clinical placement prior to the course intervention, or the student's cultural background, influenced the effectiveness of the intervention. A prospective cohort study was conducted with 73 students in their second year of an Australian Bachelor of Physiotherapy programme who participated in a 4-week tutorial module to develop their cultural competence. Perception of cultural competence was measured at three time points (pre, post, post 18 months) using the Cultural Intelligence Scale questionnaire which assesses metacognitive, cognitive, motivational and behavioural domains. Participant and their parents' country of birth data were collected. Cultural intelligence scores for the cohort significantly increased from pre- to post-intervention (mean change 0.4, p < 0.001). A 3-week clinical placement prior to the teaching intervention had no effect on the change in scores. Students who were not born in Australia, or who had a parent not born in Australia, demonstrated less change in overall cultural intelligence score than Australian-born participants. Undergraduate physiotherapy students at an Australian university can increase their perceived level of cultural competence by participating in a 4-week classroom-based tutorial module, and this effect can be sustained over an 18-month period. Exposure to cultural diversity is not sufficient by itself for a change in perceived cultural competence. However, classroom-based teaching needs to be responsive to the cultural characteristics of the students.

Neonatal Resuscitation: A Blended Learning Curriculum for Medical and Physician Assistant Students.

IntroductionDemonstration of competence in neonatal resuscitation is critical for health care providers who provide newborn care because each year, approximately 400,000 (10%) newborns require resuscitation in delivery rooms across the United States. Therefore, neonatal resuscitation skills certification is provided to graduates entering specific specialties at the beginning of residency and renewed biennially through the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Heart Association. However, there is no formal curriculum to prepare medical (MD) and physician assistant (PA) students prior to graduation.MethodsWe developed a neonatal resuscitation curriculum for MD and PA students using a blended learning approach. The curriculum included web-based interactive teaching modules, a demonstration video of a mock neonatal resuscitation, and a neonatal resuscitation simulation. Final-year MD and PA students were evaluated using pre-/posttest, a neonatal resuscitation checklist, and an optional survey on interprofessional communication skills, roles, and responsibility.ResultsEighteen health professions learners completed the neonatal resuscitation curriculum. A paired-samples t test was conducted to compare pretest and posttest scores. There was a significant difference in pretest (M = 61.4, SD = 15.3) and posttest (M = 78.6, SD = 8.0) scores, t(17) = −4.7, p < .001. The mean score on the checklist was 79%. Learners strongly agreed/agreed that the simulation improved skills performance (100%), communication skills (92%), and understanding of roles and responsibilities (83%) during a neonatal resuscitation.DiscussionThere were improvements in knowledge, procedural, and interprofessional skills in learners who received the neonatal resuscitation curriculum.

Use of an Interactive Online Teaching Module Improved Students' Ability to Write a Clinically Appropriate SOAP Note.

The veterinary problem-based medical records lesson (Subjective-Objective-Assessment-Plan [SOAP] notes) at the University of Wisconsin, previously taught in lecture format, provides students little time for reflection. Moreover, evaluation of student-written SOAPs from subsequent courses demonstrates poor knowledge retention and application of the SOAP note structure. This article hypothesized that a virtual, interactive, case-based module would improve student SOAP-writing skills. A second-year student cohort (n = 79) was taught SOAP skills in lecture format (LECTURE-2); 2 years later, another second-year student cohort (n = 73) used the virtual module (MODULE-2). All students wrote SOAPs, which were evaluated using a standardized rubric and the cohorts' scores were compared. SOAPs were then compared between a third-year student cohort who received lecture-based SOAP instruction the year before (LECTURE-3, n = 55) and a third-year student cohort who received the virtual module (MODULE-3, n = 44). SOAP scores were significantly higher in the MODULE-2 group (Mdn = 6.5, range = 1.5-9.0) than in the LECTURE-2 group (Mdn = 5.0, range = 2.0-9.0, p = .006). Similarly, the MODULE-3 students scored higher on the differential diagnosis SOAP component than the LECTURE-3 students (Mdn = 1, range = 0-2, vs. Mdn = 0.5, range = 0-2, p = .041). Student feedback on the online module was positive. An online teaching module improved students' short- and long-term ability to write clinically appropriate SOAP notes. The findings suggest the module encouraged student engagement and reflection, leading to long-term retention and skill application.

Efficacy of structured education in enhancing medication adherence in type-2 diabetic patients admitted to a rural tertiary care hospital - A randomized control trial

Background: It is known that good blood sugar management prevents microvascular complications of type-2 diabetes mellitus. Effective diabetic control calls for adherence to the treatment regimen. According to the World Health Organization, only 50% of patients with chronic diseases adhere to their medications. Aim and Objectives: In this parallel-group, randomized controlled clinical trial, we assessed the role of a structured educational module in enhancing the participants’ adherence to diabetic medications. Materials and Methods: After receiving institutional ethics committee approval, 66 consenting type-2 diabetic patients between 40 and 70 years of age were consecutively recruited. We assessed the adherence to antidiabetic medications using the validated Morisky Medication adherence scale – 8 (MMAS-8). The participants were then randomized by permuted block randomization with allocation concealment to either receive the structured educational intervention (Group A) or standard care (Group B). The intervention consisted of an interactive teaching module, instruction on maintaining a diabetic medication log, and a handout in addition to the standard care. The follow-up MMAS-8 was administered by a blinded assessor after two weeks. Results: Patients with scores less than six were classified as having low adherence, while those with a score of 8 were in the high adherence group, with those in between in the medium adherence group. Only 8 (25%) participants had high-adherence scores in the initial assessment. After the intervention, high adherence scores were obtained by 14 (43.8%) participants in Group A and 6 (18.8%) in Group B. This reflects a significantly greater adherence to medication after the intervention in Group A. (P = 0.008). Conclusions: A significant increase in adherence to diabetic medication was observed using the MMAS-8 after the planned educational intervention given to the participants in Group A.

Building an Antibiotic Stewardship Program: An Interactive Teaching Module for Medical Students.

Given the increasing importance of antibiotic stewardship, an understanding of the basic tenets of antibiotic prescribing is critical for all medical students. This engaged learning module focuses on terminology and foundational concepts in antibiotic stewardship while assisting learners with application in their early clinical practice. This module was developed for third-year internal medicine clerkship students at the University of South Dakota, Sanford School of Medicine. The students participated in an introductory discussion of the harms of antibiotic overuse in a large-group format, followed by small-group work to develop a miniature antibiotic stewardship program. Upon completion of the small-group portion, the large group reconvened to share antibiotic stewardship strategies and to complete the session with additional training regarding individual provider and system-level antibiotic stewardship strategies. Approximately 150 students have participated in this module. Through use of the module, students have been highly engaged in identifying antibiotic stewardship interventions in their early practice and creating potential solutions. Themes identified during analysis of one-minute paper responses demonstrated student learning around the rationale for antibiotic stewardship programs, implementation strategies, and patient education. This module was primarily developed for medical students, but it could easily be adapted for use with learners of varying levels. Additionally, it could be implemented as an interprofessional exercise to leverage the expertise of trainees in pharmacy and nursing.

Teaching Radiology Physics Interactively with Scientific Notebook Software

The goal of this study is to demonstrate how the teaching of radiology physics can be enhanced with the use of interactive scientific notebook software. We used the scientific notebook software known as Project Jupyter, which is free, open-source, and available for the Macintosh, Windows, and Linux operating systems. We have created a scientific notebook that demonstrates multiple interactive teaching modules we have written for our residents using the Jupyter notebook system. Scientific notebook software allows educators to create teaching modules in a form that combines text, graphics, images, data, interactive calculations, and image analysis within a single document. These notebooks can be used to build interactive teaching modules, which can help explain complex topics in imaging physics to residents.

Structured Smoking Cessation Training for Medical Students: A Prospective Study.

Introduction:Physician adherence to guideline recommendations regarding the provision of counseling and support for smokers willing to quit is low. A lack of training during undergraduate medical education has been identified as a potential cause. This prospective intervention study evaluated a novel teaching module for medical students.Methods:As part of a 6-week cardiovascular course, 125 fourth-year undergraduate medical students received a multimodal and interactive teaching module on smoking cessation, including online learning material, lectures, seminars, and practical skills training. Short- and medium-term effects on knowledge, skills, attitudes, and self-reported practice were measured using written examinations and an objective structured clinical examination at the end of the module and 6 months later. Results were compared to data obtained from a historical control cohort (n = 70) unexposed to the intervention.Results:At the 6-month follow-up, scores in the knowledge test were significantly higher in the intervention than the control group (61.1% vs. 51.7%; p < .001). A similar pattern was observed in the objective structured clinical examination (71.5% vs. 60.5%; p < .001). More students in the intervention than control group agreed that smoking was a chronic disease (83.1% vs. 68.1%; p = .045). The control group was more likely to report recording smoking status (p = .018), but no group difference was detected regarding the report of advising to quit (p = .154).Conclusions:A novel teaching module for undergraduate medical students produced a sustained learning outcome in terms of knowledge, skills, and attitudes but not self-reported practice.Implications:Studies across the world have identified considerable knowledge gaps and deficits in practical training with regard to smoking cessation counseling in undergraduate medical students. This paper describes a teaching intervention informed by current recommendations for the design of educational activities aimed at enabling medical students to deliver adequate behavior change counseling. The teaching module was tailored to the needs of a specific healthcare system. Given its effectiveness as demonstrated in this prospective study, a rollout of this intervention in medical schools might have the potential to substantially improve medical students’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes in relation to smoking cessation counseling.

Production of an Anatomical Video of the Middle Cranial Fossa and Its Conversion into an Interactive Teaching Module (550.12)

Videos are an excellent tool to present and introduce anatomy to students. They especially provide an overview that includes a three dimensional appreciation of the subject matter. A high resolution video of the middle cranial fossa was produced using Adobe software. The significant anatomical points of interest were described by narration. The video presentation included the boundaries and bony landmarks of the middle cranial fossa. Numerous blood vessels and nerves associated with the region are well illustrated. Camera angles, zooming and motion were implemented during the capture to enhance three dimensional appreciation of the viewer. In the present study, I have sought to extend the students learning experience to include an interactive self‐paced learning module of the subject matter. Images from the video were captured and placed in a sequence to so that the viewer can operate a timeline scrubber to advance the images at their own pace. They can do a quick overview of the images and then come back and focus on more detail. The images in the timeline are labeled with links that enact popups for access to more detailed descriptions and explanations of the of the item indicated in the image, e.g. information regarding the distribution of the ophthalmic division of the trigeminal nerve. The use of an interactive module should enhance the students attention and cater to the pace of the individual student. It is planned that such modules will be introduced within the context of their initial anatomy studies to augment student learning. The study modules are projected to be used as a review and refresher of previously learned material. This approach will use the same material for both initial learning and subsequent review.

Development and evaluation of learning module on clinical decision-making in Prosthodontics.

Purpose:Best practice strategies for helping students learn the reasoning skills of problem solving and critical thinking (CT) remain a source of conjecture, particularly with regard to CT. The dental education literature is fundamentally devoid of research on the cognitive components of clinical decision-making.Aim:This study was aimed to develop and evaluate the impact of blended learning module on clinical decision-making skills of dental graduates for planning prosthodontics rehabilitation.Methodology:An interactive teaching module consisting of didactic lectures on clinical decision-making and a computer-assisted case-based treatment planning software was developed Its impact on cognitive knowledge gain in clinical decision-making was evaluated using an assessment involving problem-based multiple choice questions and paper-based case scenarios.Results:Mean test scores were: Pretest (17 ± 1), posttest 1 (21 ± 2) and posttest 2 (43 ± 3). Comparison of mean scores was done with one-way ANOVA test. There was overall significant difference in between mean scores at all the three points (P < 0.001). A pair-wise comparison of mean scores was done with Bonferroni test. The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level. The pair-wise comparison shows that posttest 2 score is significantly higher than posttest 1 and posttest 1 is significantly higher than pretest that is, pretest 2 > posttest 1 > pretest.Conclusion:Blended teaching methods employing didactic lectures on the clinical decision-making as well as computer assisted case-based learning can be used to improve quality of clinical decision-making in prosthodontic rehabilitation for dental graduates.

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Introduction: The need to improve team work in medicine has long existed and it has been only after years of residency and practice as an attending physician that collaborative practice is best realized in nurses and physicians. In the current teaching models students in medicine and nursing learn their roles in patient care individually and seldom to never practice clinical care in team settings. Despite current improved clinical learning through use of simulation of acute and chronic patient care situations, team learning with combined health professionals is not performed at out institution. Methods: The project will combine interactive on-line teaching modules of team work and be followed up with practical simulation session and a brief post- simulation joint review with medical and nursing students and a post- simulation on line follow up tutorial. 5 separate on line modules were required of all participants: 20 minute teaching lessons on nursing and physician team approach, advanced team interaction and successful patient focused care, effective team communication, collaborative skill performance and barriers to successful medical team-work. In addition, video examples of effective and in-effective team resuscitation scenarios on cardiac arrest and ICU resuscitation will be made available with a review of critical actions, highlighted for each of the two scenarios. The simulation session will then follow with a team de-briefing for each team. Each patient focused collaborative simulation scenario will take 30 minutes which includes 15 minutes of actual team testing and similar time for review of the critical actions and areas of needed improvement. Outcomes will be determined by comparing the performance of 8 critical actions for each resuscitation scenario as del as time to successful completion of the resuscitation. participants will be measured as individual medical and nursing teams with the MD and RN role filled in by faculty without providing input and then these teams will be compared to a colaborative team of one med and one nursing student. for the pre-established critical criteria and time measures. Results: The mean scores as individual teams for Nursing and medical students achieved 3.5 (std dev 2.5) and 4.3 (std dev 3.1) of the designated critical action in the ICU resuscitation scenarios. The mean time to completion were 25.2 and 24.8 min. The collaborative team achieved significant improvement in critical actions achieved 6.5 of the 8 critical actions in a mean time of 19.4 min. All these changes had p< 0.01 by student’s t-test. Feedback was also greatly positive although not yet quantified. Conclusions: Team integration in clinical practice is relatively new, and is contrary to what is traditionally taught,---the physician directs the ship, with little collaboration, especially in the emergency situation. However, interdisciplinary cooperation is a more effective model of care and obtaining student assessment of the process is important in terms of measuring learning outcomes. This pilot project demonstrated great improvement in clinically simulated success and future follow up on actual outcomes will need to be followed to confirm such improvements.

The impact of the Virtual Ophthalmology Clinic on medical students' learning: a randomised controlled trial.

The Virtual Ophthalmology Clinic (VOC) is an interactive web-based teaching module, with special emphasis on history taking and clinical reasoning skills. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of VOC on medical students' learning. A randomised controlled trial (RCT) was conducted with medical students from the University of Sydney (n=188) who were randomly assigned into either an experimental (n=93) or a control group (n=95). A pre- and post-test and student satisfaction questionnaire were administered. Twelve months later a follow-up test was conducted to determine the long-term retention rate of graduates. There was a statistically significant (P<0.001) within-subject improvement pre- to post rotation in the number of correctly answered questions for both the control and experimental groups (mean improvement for control 10%, 95% CI 1.3-2.6, and for experimental 17.5%, 95% CI 3.0-4.0). The improvement was significantly greater in the experimental group (mean difference in improvement between groups 7.5%, 95% CI 0.8-2.3, P<0.001). At 12 months follow-up testing, the experimental group scored on average 1.6 (8%) (95%CI 0.4 to 2.7, P=0.007) higher than the controls. On the basis of a statistically significant improvement in academic performance and highly positive student feedback, the implementation of VOC may provide a means to address challenges to ophthalmic learning outcomes in an already crowded medical curriculum.

A unique, interactive and web-based pediatric rheumatology teaching module: residents’ perceptions

BackgroundThe limited availability of pediatric rheumatologists for teaching in pediatric residency programs negatively impacts resident education about rheumatology. At present, there are no educational websites available for trainees to learn about pediatric rheumatology. We are planning to develop an interactive web-based teaching module to improve resident learning about rheumatology (“POINTER”: Pediatric Online INteractive TEaching in Rheumatology). The aim of this study was to perform a needs assessment of pediatric residents who will be using POINTER.MethodsPediatric residents (n = 60) at The Hospital for Sick Children were emailed an online survey. This was designed to assess prior use of online teaching modules, the utility of an online teaching module for rheumatology and which technologies should be included on such a site.ResultsForty-seven residents participated in the survey (78.3% response rate). Ninety-one percent of the respondents thought that an interactive teaching website would enhance their learning and should include case-based teaching modules. Several web-based technologies were felt to be important for inclusion on the teaching modules. These included graphics and animation (86.4%), interactivity (93.2%), pictures (100%), live digital videos (88.9%) and links to articles and research (88.6%).ConclusionsAn interactive web-based rheumatology teaching module would be well utilized by pediatric residents. Residents showed preference for case-based teaching modules as well as multimedia modalities for learning a detailed musculoskeletal examination.

Design, implementation and prospective evaluation of a new interactive musculoskeletal module for medical students in Ireland

We designed, implemented and assessed an interactive musculoskeletal teaching module for fourth-year medical students. Over a 2-week period, students followed a programme of alternating lectures, interactive tutorials, case discussions, clinical examination and 'how to do' sessions using patients and clinical models. Over a 4-month period, 140 fourth-year medical students rotated for 2 weeks through a new interactive musculoskeletal teaching module in an elective orthopaedic hospital. To assess the impact of our module, a basic-competency examination in musculoskeletal medicine was developed and validated. Each student completed the examination on the first and last days of the module. We also assessed musculoskeletal basic knowledge in students from a different medical school, receiving a classic lecturing programme. In the pre-course assessment, only 20 % of students achieved an overall pass rate. The pass rate increased to 85 % in post-course examination. Students found particularly beneficial the interactive tutorial approach, with 48 % finding this to be the single most effective teaching method. When compared with students who completed a classic lecturing programme, students attending our interactive module scored higher in all aspects of musculoskeletal knowledge. This study highlights the benefits and need for more interactive teaching of musculoskeletal medicine in medical schools.

Development and Impact Evaluation of an E-Learning Radiation Oncology Module

Radiation oncologists are faced with the challenge of irradiating tumors to a curative dose while limiting toxicity to healthy surrounding tissues. This can be achieved only with superior knowledge of radiologic anatomy and treatment planning. Educational resources designed to meet these specific needs are lacking. A web-based interactive module designed to improve residents' knowledge and application of key anatomy concepts pertinent to radiotherapy treatment planning was developed, and its effectiveness was assessed. The module, based on gynecologic malignancies, was developed in collaboration with a multidisciplinary team of subject matter experts. Subsequently, a multi-centre randomized controlled study was conducted to test the module's effectiveness. Thirty-six radiation oncology residents participated in the study; 1920 were granted access to the module (intervention group), and 17 in the control group relied on traditional methods to acquire their knowledge. Pretests and posttests were administered to all participants. Statistical analysis was carried out using paired t test, analysis of variance, and post hoc tests. The randomized control study revealed that the intervention group's pretest and posttest mean scores were 35% and 52%, respectively, and those of the control group were 37% and 42%, respectively. The mean improvement in test scores was 17% (p < 0.05) for the intervention group and 5% (p = not significant) for the control group. Retrospective pretest and posttest surveys showed a statistically significant change on all measured module objectives. The use of an interactive e-learning teaching module for radiation oncology is an effective method to improve the radiologic anatomy knowledge and treatment planning skills of radiation oncology residents.

Nephrology fellows show consistent use of, and improved knowledge from, a nephrologist-programmed teaching instrument

Teaching nephrology through a traditional classroom-based approach has significant time and place limitations. In the 21st century, these limitations are more prevalent and harder to resolve. Fortunately, online teaching instruments can overcome these restrictions. On this basis, we hypothesized that a nephrology-focused online teaching instrument, programmed and maintained by nephrology educators, would result in sustained use by, and improved test scores for, nephrology fellows. To test this hypothesis, we programmed and managed a 3-tiered Web-based teaching instrument based on the Blackboard platform. Nephrology fellows from Emory University, from the Classes of 2008-2010, were the primary subjects asked to use this instrument. We tracked their use of every teaching resource for 20 months. In addition we tested their knowledge of nephrolithiasis before and after using our interactive teaching module. Both the e-Library and Discussion forums showed increases in total use from years 1 to 2 (31% and 91% increases, respectively). When stratified by category or year in training, the changes in average monthly use of all online teaching resources were nonsignificant. Eight of 10 renal fellows showed increases in postmodule test scores (42.3% increase for the Class of 2009; 10.7% increase for the Class of 2010). Our results demonstrate sustained use in all 3 tiers of the online instrument. There was a significant improvement in knowledge after using the online module. The results indicate that nephrology educators can program sustainable online teaching tools that improve fellows' knowledge of nephrology.