TY - JOUR
T1 - Best practices for learning physiology
T2 - Combining classroom and online methods
AU - Anderson, Lisa C.
AU - Krichbaum, Kathleen E.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 The American Physiological Society.
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - Physiology is a requisite course for many professional allied health programs and is a foundational science for learning pathophysiology, health assessment, and pharmacology. Given the demand for online learning in the health sciences, it is important to evaluate the efficacy of online and in-class teaching methods, especially as they are combined to form hybrid courses. The purpose of this study was to compare two hybrid physiology sections in which one section was offered mostly in-class (85% in-class), and the other section was offered mostly online (85% online). The two sections in 2 yr (year 1 and year 2) were compared in terms of knowledge of physiology measured in exam scores and pretest-posttest improvement, and in measures of student satisfaction with teaching. In year 1, there were some differences on individual exam scores between the two sections, but no significant differences in mean exam scores or in pretest-posttest improvements. However, in terms of student satisfaction, the mostly in-class students in year 1 rated the instructor significantly higher than did the mostly online students. Comparisons between in-class and online students in the year 2 cohort yielded data that showed that mean exam scores were not statistically different, but pre-post changes were significantly greater in the mostly online section; student satisfaction among mostly online students also improved significantly. Education researchers must investigate effective combinations of in-class and online methods for student learning outcomes, while maintaining the flexibility and convenience that online methods provide.
AB - Physiology is a requisite course for many professional allied health programs and is a foundational science for learning pathophysiology, health assessment, and pharmacology. Given the demand for online learning in the health sciences, it is important to evaluate the efficacy of online and in-class teaching methods, especially as they are combined to form hybrid courses. The purpose of this study was to compare two hybrid physiology sections in which one section was offered mostly in-class (85% in-class), and the other section was offered mostly online (85% online). The two sections in 2 yr (year 1 and year 2) were compared in terms of knowledge of physiology measured in exam scores and pretest-posttest improvement, and in measures of student satisfaction with teaching. In year 1, there were some differences on individual exam scores between the two sections, but no significant differences in mean exam scores or in pretest-posttest improvements. However, in terms of student satisfaction, the mostly in-class students in year 1 rated the instructor significantly higher than did the mostly online students. Comparisons between in-class and online students in the year 2 cohort yielded data that showed that mean exam scores were not statistically different, but pre-post changes were significantly greater in the mostly online section; student satisfaction among mostly online students also improved significantly. Education researchers must investigate effective combinations of in-class and online methods for student learning outcomes, while maintaining the flexibility and convenience that online methods provide.
KW - Blended learning
KW - Hybrid courses
KW - Physiology education
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85021834386&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85021834386&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1152/advan.00099.2016
DO - 10.1152/advan.00099.2016
M3 - Article
C2 - 28679576
AN - SCOPUS:85021834386
SN - 1043-4046
VL - 41
SP - 383
EP - 389
JO - Advances in Physiology Education
JF - Advances in Physiology Education
IS - 3
ER -