`Goldilocks anatomy' - data-conserving anatomy video tutorials during emergency remote teaching

AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT : Namibia's State of Emergency was announced on 27 March 2020. Institutional attempts to introduce blended learning and formal online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic prior to the students leaving campus came too late. We subsequently did not have the luxury of time to plan and prepare formal online material. Emergency remote teaching (ERT) was started whilst our students were on recess with many stuck at home in rural off-grid settings. They were subsequently faced with erratic internet connectivity and limited data. This limitation necessitated a small file size alternative that addressed the educational needs of our students whilst permitting constructive alignment with the intended learning objectives. Furthermore, it was also found that students prefer communication through WhatsApp. Here the authors report on a novel and content-specific approach to ERT through to-the-point anatomy video tutorials that are data friendly - i.e., Goldilocks Anatomy

Saving student interaction by saving the Starks

AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT : Amidst all the confusion with the pandemic, the shift to online learning was an adjustment for both students and lecturers. The loss of face-to-face contact sessions meant the absence of the initial visual diagnostic assessment and the opportunity to consolidate acquired knowledge in real-time. It was also observed that student interest and active engagement on online platforms, decreased as the year progressed and an "online fatigue" ensued. To overcome the difficulties experienced, a gamification-based formative assessment approach was taken. This was done to assess the application of knowledge of first-year medical students acquired during their antibacterial pharmacology narrated lecture. The game, called " Saving the Starks " is themed after a popular TV series called Game of Thrones and was created using Microsoft PowerPoint with animated triggers and the soundtrack of the Game of Thrones show to create a truly immersive experience. The game was well-received by students based on the overwhelmingly positive response on the discussion board. The gamification element increased student engagement and helped excite them about the content. The use of popular culture references and the competitive aspect of the game fostered enthusiasm within the learning environment and amongst peers. It also allowed for student-lecturer engagement on a more congenial level creating a pleasant environment for learning

Pedagogy to probity

AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT : What does a new campus orientation, class representative election, meeting the Deanery and lessons learnt by senior students have in common? Nothing, except for 300 first year medical students and a one-week first year compulsory course that had to be converted to an online experience. This was the challenge that presented itself to the lecturer. The module " Introduction to the Study of Medicine" is a one-week course that was re-designed to do just that

Bringing literature to life: A digital animation to teach analogue concepts in radiographic imaging during a pandemic - Lessons learnt

AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT : Background: Teaching important, but `outdated' technology (analogue) in a digital age is challenging as resources are rapidly phasing out. Combining that challenge with COVID-19 regulations and movement restrictions, educators needed to create meaningful and conducive learning experiences in the virtual classroom. To address this, lecturers in the Radiography department, created an animated video on automatic film processing (AFP) concepts, one with narration and one without. Students were then asked to engage with the animations to provide a description of the events they depicted in the form of an essay. Objectives: To explore and describe students experiences of the online automatic film processing (AFP) animations as a learning tool.Methods: A qualitative, descriptive exploratory design was adopted. A focus group interview was conducted with second year radiography students enrolled for the radiographic sciences module. Content analysis was used to analyse the data.Results: Findings emerged from three themes, namely: AFP animation without narration can serve as an effective learning and assessment tool, animation with narration is a passive learning tool and recommendations to improve AFP concepts.Conclusion: The animation without narration enabled the students to gain from inquiry based, experiential learning. However, the animation with narration and captions appeared to have a high cognitive load, hindering its effectiveness. The lessons learnt from this study is that although animations are deemed as an effective adjunct to teaching, active engagement is necessary for deep learning occur. Therefore, care must be taken when designing multimedia resources to ensure that effective learning takes place

Breaking the isolation: Online group assignments

AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT : The Covid-19 pandemic forced us to go online in a hurry whilst maintaining constructive alignment, enforce learning, and be student-centred, whilst simultaneously developing 21st century graduate attributes and critical thinking skills. Whilst interactive learning and collaborative is frequently cited as a good practice even in the online environment, this learning approach is not without challenges either for the student or the facilitator