Insights Provided by Student Feedback on Integrated E-Learning Modules Covering Entrepreneurial Topics

As a best practice, it is customary to ask students for their feedback on curricular interventions. The feedback is typically used to justify further changes and ascertain how well they may accept the intervention for broader implementation. At the University of New Haven, 18 e-learning modules were developed and integrated into courses spanning the 4-year engineering and computer science majors' curricula. The modules centered on topics seen to contribute to the development of students' entrepreneurial mindset. We saw this as a way to assist faculty in leveraging entrepreneurial minded learning (EML) in their courses when the topics are likely outside their area of expertise. The development, integration, and students' learning assessment efforts of the e-learning modules have been the topics of many of our previous papers and presentations. This paper focuses on an analysis of the feedback collected from students regarding the modules and their integration. Our faculty have been using the modules for over five years. In that span, we have collected over 1000 student responses to an end-of-term survey administered in every course in which a module was integrated. The survey includes questions pertaining to time spent on the module and the associated course assignment, their level of agreement related to statements about their perceived effectiveness of the curricular intervention, and open-ended response questions focused on what they liked/did not like about the modules and their integration. Our findings thus far reveal a positive trend in the students' perception of the e-learning modules and their integration over the span of the deployment. Correlation analysis of several indicators provide further insights about students' attitudes towards the modules. For example, students place more value on the module if they see a connection between the module content and the content of the course, as well as if the instructor reinforces what they learned in the module through a contextual activity. However, despite students seeing value in the module or stating that the assignment supported the concepts taught in the module, we do not find a strong correlation to students expressing interest in additional modules of this type integrated into their courses. These findings are insightful and timely given the increased use of hybrid learning in a COVID and post-COVID academic environment. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2022

I-PHAN Study - Use of E-learning modules to Promote Physical activity and wellness among Nurses in order to improve mental and physical health: A research protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

AIM: To develop and test the effectiveness of an E-learning program for promoting physical activity (PA) and wellness among nurses. BACKGROUND: Restrictions during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic drastically changed many people's lives. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is an everyday challenge faced by the general popula-tion. Nurses are one of the health care professionals who are typically well-educated in taking care of patients. There are studies that show that night shifts, extended shifts, and obesity have a correlation with the prevalence of acute low back pain among female nurses. PA is the key factor in the prevention and treatment of many chronic diseases, resulting in an improvement in the quality of life. The impact of social media and technology on our lives is undeniable in the modern era. DESIGN: This study will be a single-centre, single-blind, randomi-zed controlled trial executed on an E-learning platform to provide the control and intervention groups with a distance learning program. Par-ticipants will be randomly assigned to either the control or intervention group. Participants in the control group will only sign up for module 1 of the PA modules, which only comprises information on PA and health promotion. On the other hand, the participants in the intervention group are expected to carry out 3 modules of exercises at home three days a week for a total duration of 8 weeks. The exercises will be performed at moderate intensity (5-6 on the Borg CR10 Scale). ETHICAL ISSUES: This trial will comply with the declaration of Helsinki 1975, as revised in 2000. Informed written consent will be obtained from the participants. The Sapienza University of Rome, institutional ethics committee and review board approval will be requested for this study. CONCLUSION: Establishing an online PA program with good quality, such as a high level of convenience in access and use, simplified, easy to practice, and made available on social media, can minimize the difficulties faced previously in the implementation of an online PA program for nurses, and may enhance the health and wellbeing of many nurses in healthcare institutions.

Transforming University of California, Irvine medical physiology instruction into the pandemic era.

At the University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine (UCISOM), the COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating the transition of face-to-face didactic lectures to online platforms. Institutions nationwide have opted to transition their lectures into remote instruction for the upcoming Fall 2020 academic year. UCISOM's pre-clerkship Medical Immunology course in the Spring 2020 serves as a template for other medical courses to successfully transform lecture content into virtual presentations. To help facilitate successful large-scale transition to online courses, UCI developed institutional support and implemented a Division of Teaching Excellence and Innovation (DTEI) Fellowship and iMedEd programs to support medical educators throughout Summer. Previously developed E-learning modules for renal and acid-base physiology serve as the foundation for novel pulmonary E-learning modules at UCISOM. In preparation for the new academic year, in a collaboration between faculty, UCISOM's top performing second-year medical students (MS2s) and DTEI fellows worked together during the summer to transition UCISOM's Medical Physiology and Pathophysiology course online. With over 100 first-year medical students attending the Medical Physiology course over live synchronous Zoom instruction, formative and summative assessments were incorporated into Canvas modules along with peer-led review sessions and new E-learning modules to educate and monitor student progress. The course will maintain existing in-person active learning activities for students to get hands-on experience using the latest medical devices while maintaining social distancing. Successful transition to online medical education at UCISOM will depend on increasing use of formative assessments, increased utilization of peer-led review sessions, and efficient communication to help foster self-directed learning.