The challenges of delivering addictions psychiatry teaching in the COVID era

AimsDuring the pandemic, addiction psychiatry moved from face-to-face lectures (delivered by Addictions Psychiatrists) to bitesize pre-recorded lectures (delivered by clinical teaching fellows) alongside interactive tutorials (delivered by Addictions Psychiatrists). The Addictions Team developed an online tutorial (delivered via Blackboard Collaborate) containing a combination of information slides, case studies, interactive quizzes, and short videos. These were delivered ‘live’ to small groups of students in up to four simultaneous virtual classrooms on a 6-weekly rolling basis. We aimed to assess student and tutor feedback regarding the move to interactive online tutorials in addiction psychiatry.MethodTwo questionnaires sought feedback from students and tutors, focussing on the change from face-to-face to virtual teaching during a 20-week period.Result21 (of 161) students completed the questionnaire. •100% ‘strongly agreed’ or ‘agreed’ that the content of the tutorial was relevant to learning outcomes.•52% felt ‘somewhat comfortable’ unmuting their microphones to contribute verbally, contrasting to 24% feeling ‘not very’ or ‘extremely uncomfortable’. In practice, only 30% of students contributed verbally.•57% felt most comfortable contributing via the written ‘chat’ function (rather than audio or camera).•65% felt either ‘somewhat’ or ‘very comfortable’ turning their cameras on, but only 1 student turned their camera on across all tutorials.•48% felt the tutorial was more accessible virtually than face-to-face; 5% considered it less so.•When COVID restrictions are lifted, 14% would prefer the tutorial to remain virtual, 53% would rather it returned face-to-face, and 33% had no preference.7 (of 7) tutors completed the questionnaire. •100% felt that students having their camera on would make their experience of delivering teaching ‘much better’ or ‘better’.•71% of tutors felt that students contributed ‘slightly’ or ‘significantly’ less in the virtual classroom.•Only 29% of tutors found the experience of virtual teaching ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ enjoyable, contrasting 43% finding it ‘somewhat’ or ‘very’ unenjoyable.•Several white space tutor comments suggested the lack of audio-visual engagement made teaching less rewarding, whilst also preventing them from adapting content, pace, and teaching style to suit the group's needs. Tutors felt that the ease of delivering teaching from any location was beneficial.ConclusionVirtual teaching has become embedded in medical education and will likely remain so post-pandemic. For it to be an effective and enjoyable experience, for both students and teachers, there needs to be adaptation of content, technology, etiquette and culture.

An online discussion between students and teachers: a way forward for meaningful teacher feedback?

Background Student evaluation is an essential component in feedback processes in faculty and learner development. Ease of use and low cost have made paper evaluation forms a popular method within teaching programmes, but they are often seen as a formality, offering variable value towards the improvement of teaching. Students report poor motivation to engage with existing feedback tools whilst teachers describe receiving vague, contradicting, or irrelevant information. We believe that feedback for teachers needs to be a two-way process, similar to feedback for students, for it to be effective. An online feedback tool has been implemented for third-year medical students from Imperial College London to promote open discussion between teachers and students. The feedback tool is accessible throughout students’ clinical attachment with the option of maintaining anonymity. We aim to explore the benefits and challenges of this online feedback tool and assess its value as a method for teacher feedback. Methods Qualitative data was obtained from both volunteer third-year medical students of Imperial College London and Clinical Teaching Fellows using three focus groups and a questionnaire. Data was analysed through iterative coding and thematic analysis to provide over-arching analytical themes. Results Twenty-nine students trialled this feedback tool with 17 responding to the evaluative questionnaire. Four over-arching themes were identified: reasons for poor participation with traditional feedback tools; student motivators to engage with ‘open feedback’; evaluative benefits from open feedback; concerns and barriers with open feedback. Conclusion This feedback tool provides a platform for two-way feedback by encouraging open, transparent discussion between teachers and learners. It gives a unique insight into both teachers and peers’ perspectives. Students engage better when their responses are acknowledged by the teachers. We elaborate on the benefits and challenges of public open feedback and approaches to consider in addressing the self-censorship of critical comments.

A Teacher Educator's Meaning-Making From a Hybrid “Online Teaching Fellows” Professional Learning Experience

This chapter describes a two-part, hybrid “Online Teaching Fellows” faculty development initiative and the tensions and transformations one faculty participant experienced. Case study and self-study research methodologies were utilized to systematically document and explore, from an insider's perspective, the lived experience of professional learning related to the design and delivery of online courses. This chapter identifies and describes tensions and transformations that contributed to professional learning and concludes with a discussion of how literacy practices in the design of frameworks for teaching and for learning may contribute to understanding how instructors read and make meaning from experiences in the context of professional learning. Implications extend Rosenblatt's transactional theory of reading and writing to multimodal online teaching and learning contexts.

From Graduate to Employee

Teaching fellows within this study are graduates participating in a paid postgraduate programme of training and development, providing them with skills for lecturing in higher education. Identifying with widening participation characteristics, as well as the attributes of Y and Z Generations, this study examines a programme firmly rooted in the philosophies of both work-based learning and work-integrated learning. This was a unique approach to offering opportunities which went beyond undergraduate study to graduates of the institution, preparing them for employment through exposure to experiences of shadowing and eventual teaching. This therefore highlights three distinct areas which crucially impacts on their development: social learning within a community of practice (CoP), emotional challenges of imposter phenomenon, and reflective practice. The study concludes with evidence of how providing this opportunity to a generation of individuals, who may not have considered it before, can promote the connections between theory and practice as part of their practical experience.