50 - Educational Videos Improve Student Learning Through Blended Learning 2.0

Poster Board Number: 50
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Odd poster #s – first hour
Even poster #s – second hour

Abstract Body : Introduction & Objective:
Traditional didactic lectures adopt a passive transfer of information, restrict the student’s attention span, and affect declarative/explicit memory formation. Thus, higher educational institutions have implemented a paradigm shift from teacher-centered (didactic) to student-centered (flipped classroom or blended learning) approach. Blended learning 2.0 (BL 2.0) is technology-integrated delivery of information with educational videos and/or pre-recorded or interactive face-to-face (F2F) classes. The National University of Singapore Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine has adopted the use of BL 2.0 to improve student’s learning outcomes. This study aims to evaluate the students’ perception of educational videos in learning anatomy through BL 2.0.

Materials & Methods:
Medical students from cohorts AY20/21, AY21/22 and AY22/23 were recruited. Students were provided educational videos and pre-recorded lectures in the form of voice-over to PowerPoint presentations (VOPPTs) as preparatory materials for their BL 2.0 prior to the teaching of Thorax and Abdomen anatomy. Our evaluation includes: 1) identification of the different anatomical structures, 2) understanding of the anatomical relationships, and 3) achieving the intended learning outcomes. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board. Informed consent was obtained from all participants. The survey questionnaire consists of five-point Likert scale (1, strongly disagree; 5, strongly agree) and open-ended questions. Descriptive statistics were analysed using Qualtrics survey software while qualitative data were analysed thematically. Quantitative data were reported as mean ± standard deviation (± SD).

Results:
90 medical students participated in the present study. Among them, 12 students were from AY20/21, 15 students from AY21/22 and 63 students from AY22/23. In total, 88 students (97.8%) either strongly agreed or agreed that the educational videos enhanced their learning experience and appreciation of 3D anatomical relations. 67.8% of students (n=61) from all 3 cohorts preferred learning from educational videos over traditional lectures while 16.7% (n=15) remained neutral. 91.1% of students (n=82) agreed that the educational videos enhance their self-directed learning (SDL) ability. Furthermore, 81.1% of students (n=73) benefited from an increase in confidence to participate during F2F interactive classes after BL 2.0. Through BL 2.0, 95.6% of students (n=86) were in favour of including educational videos in the routine anatomy learning process. Thematic analysis reflected positive aspects of educational videos such as promoting deep learning and understanding among students, encouraging SDL while offering flexibility in time management.

Conclusion:
Educational videos via BL 2.0 enhances SDL as they promote a deeper appreciation of educational outcomes. Educational videos could be an important supplement to traditional teaching modalities such as cadaveric dissections and prosections.

Significance/Implication:
BL 2.0 is an efficient and engaging approach to improve curriculum delivery and student learning. While BL 2.0 was observed to have reduced student-teacher interactions, the following strategies were noted to improve the implementation of BL 2.0: 1) adding subtitles in the educational videos, and 2) adding visual illustration by the side of the video during elaboration on an anatomical structure or relation.