Hands-on engineering courses in the COVID-19 pandemic: adapting medical device design for remote learning.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Liu Y
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7788547 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:In order to provide undergraduate students with a full, rich online learning experience we adapted pre-existing online content including graduate courses from Johns Hopkins University Engineering for Professionals (JHU EP) program. These online courses were designed using published methodologies and held to a high level of rigor of a Masters-level curriculum. Adapting pre-existing online course material enabled us to more rapidly adapt to the COVID-19 shutdown of in-person education. We adapted content to meet the majority of lab-based learning objectives rather than generating self-recorded lecture material and allowing us to focus faculty time on addressing student needs. Here we discuss benefits, challenges, and methods for replicating these courses, and lessons to be applied in future offerings from this experience.
| S-EPMC7781414 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Problem-based learning (PBL) has been effectively used within BME education, though there are several challenges in its implementation within courses with larger enrollments. Furthermore, the sudden transition to online learning from the COVID-19 pandemic introduced additional challenges in creating a similar PBL experience in an online environment. Online constrained PBL was implemented through asynchronous modules and synchronous web conferencing with rotating facilitators. Overall, facilitators perceived web conferencing facilitation to be similar to in-person, but noted that students were more easily “hidden” or distracted. Students did not comment on web conferencing facilitation specifically, but indicated the transition to online PBL was smooth. Course instructors identified that a fully synchronous delivery as well as modifications of Group Meeting Minutes assignments as potential modifications for future offerings. Future work will aim to address the perceptions and effectiveness of web conferencing facilitation for PBL courses within an undergraduate BME curriculum, as web conferencing could prove to be another significant breakthrough in addressing challenges of problem-based learning courses.
| S-EPMC7466918 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundGene circuits are important in many aspects of biology, and perform a wide variety of different functions. For example, some circuits oscillate (e.g. the cell cycle), some are bistable (e.g. as cells differentiate), some respond sharply to environmental signals (e.g. ultrasensitivity), and some pattern multicellular tissues (e.g. Turing's model). Often, one starts from a given circuit, and using simulations, asks what functions it can perform. Here we want to do the opposite: starting from a prescribed function, can we find a circuit that executes this function? Whilst simple in principle, this task is challenging from a computational perspective, since gene circuit models are complex systems with many parameters. In this work, we adapted machine-learning algorithms to significantly accelerate gene circuit discovery.ResultsWe use gradient-descent optimization algorithms from machine learning to rapidly screen and design gene circuits. With this approach, we found that we could rapidly design circuits capable of executing a range of different functions, including those that: (1) recapitulate important in vivo phenomena, such as oscillators, and (2) perform complex tasks for synthetic biology, such as counting noisy biological events.ConclusionsOur computational pipeline will facilitate the systematic study of natural circuits in a range of contexts, and allow the automatic design of circuits for synthetic biology. Our method can be readily applied to biological networks of any type and size, and is provided as an open-source and easy-to-use python module, GeneNet.
| S-EPMC6487017 | biostudies-literature
Project description:PurposeThe COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the cancelation of traditional on-site clinical rotations for medical students across the country. Radiology educators have had to rapidly adapt to a new, virtual educational landscape. We describe our experience restructuring a Trauma and Emergency Radiology Elective to an online format and present survey data obtained from students who completed the course.MethodsThis elective is a 4-week course offered to third and fourth year medical students at a large Level 1 Trauma Center. Changes to the traditional rotation included assigning an increased number of self-study educational resources, independent review of unknown cases using a virtual workstation, and online interactive conferences. At the conclusion of each block, students were asked to complete post-course feedback surveys.ResultsThirteen students enrolled in this online course; 92% submitted post-course surveys. Students strongly agreed that the course was clinically relevant, with accessible, engaging material (average score, 4.92/5), and 91.7% of students were very likely to recommend this rotation to others. Students reported improved post-course confidence in ordering and interpreting imaging studies. A majority (60%) of students who had previously taken an on-site course would have preferred a course that combined traditional and online learning elements.ConclusionsThe success of our online rotation highlights the merits of self-directed learning and flipped-classroom techniques. Many of the principles incorporated into this course could be applied and/or modified to increase medical student engagement when students return to the hospital.
| S-EPMC7793389 | biostudies-literature
Project description:By early spring 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused mandatory campus closures of academic institutions nationwide, prompting the rapid transition to online instruction. While lectures and exams were more straightforwardly administered online using video-chatting software, many hands-on laboratory-based courses were forced to develop creative solutions. In response to online instructional requirements, instructors at the University of California Irvine developed an online electroencephalography (EEG) laboratory to simulate the laboratory experiment for students unable to perform the experiment on campus. The laboratory experiment was performed and video recorded by the instructional team under three different scenarios to provide students with multiple data sets acquired under various experimental conditions often enacted by students. Students were required to complete a pre-lab quiz, analyze the acquired EEG data offline, complete a post-lab quiz, and submit their laboratory report to communicate their findings prior to final exams. Student performances compared to prior student performances, and qualitative survey responses, were examined to assess the effectiveness of and response to the online laboratory format. Based on student feedback and lab report grades, the majority of students responded positively and demonstrated an understanding of the EEG experiment's learning outcomes. In summary, the online EEG laboratory enabled students to achieve the main learning objectives and become familiar with the laboratory experiment, indicating its success as an alternative laboratory experiment.
| S-EPMC7567418 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Teaching ecology effectively and experientially has become more challenging for at least two reasons today. Most experiences of our students are urban, and we now face the near immediate and continuing need to deliver courses (either partially or wholly) online because of COVID-19. Therefore, providing a learning experience that connects students to their environment within an ecological framework remains crucial and perhaps therapeutic to mental health. Here, we describe how prior to the pandemic we adapted our field-based laboratories to include data collection, analysis, and interpretation, along with the development of a citizen-science approach for online delivery. This design is simple to implement, does not require extensive work, and maintains the veracity of original learning outcomes. Collaboration online following field data collection in ecology courses within the context of cities offers further options to adapt to student experience levels, resource availability, and accessibility, as well as bringing instructors and students together to build an open well-curated data set that can be used in ecology courses where no laboratories are available. Finally, it promotes an open collaboration among ecology instructors that can drive lasting conversations about ecology curriculum.
| S-EPMC8057323 | biostudies-literature
Project description:One solution offered by technology is learning through recorded lectures (RLs). The main objective of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of online RLs in learning of clinical courses at a School of Medicine. The study comprised four phases: (i) pre-post uncontrolled study to evaluate knowledge gain with RLs, (ii) non-randomised crossover study to compare learning with RL before or after a face-to-face lecture (FL), (iii) focus groups to evaluate perceptions from students about RLs and, (iv) randomised controlled trial to verify whether the addition of questions every 10 min and a summary webpage to an RL improve knowledge. Results showed that knowledge gain occurred through RLs and was similar to FLs. Additionally, either watching an RL after attending an FL or vice versa showed comparable additional knowledge gain. Furthermore, students were in favour of the use of RLs but not as a replacement of FLs. At last, the insertion of questions and a summary in RLs meant no additional knowledge gain. In conclusion, it is feasible to learn through RLs in clinical courses, but the importance given to FLs suggests adopting blended learning.
| S-EPMC8353299 | biostudies-literature
Project description: Not available
| S-EPMC8036164 | biostudies-literature
Project description: Not available
| S-EPMC7654342 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundUndergraduate medical education was severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. As traditional clinical rotations were suspended, medical students quickly began alternative, novel educational experiences. Third-year medical students at an academic medical center were given the opportunity to join inpatient eConsult teams within the department of medicine. This study describes the development and implementation of this program as well as the experiences of student and faculty participants.MethodsStudent eConsult participation was rapidly developed and implemented within medical subspecialty teams in either infectious diseases (ID) or nephrology. Twelve third-year medical students and 15 subspecialty attendings participated in this program during an eight-week period from April 6 through May 29, 2020. Breadth of student clinical experience was assessed via review of clinical documentation and surveys. Participating students and attending physicians completed surveys to reflect upon their impressions of the program. Surveys were returned by nine students and eight faculty members. Survey responses were summarized with descriptive statistics.ResultsOver an eight-week period, student consultants wrote 126 notes on 100 patients; 74 of these patients (74%) were hospitalized with COVID-19. Student experiences were largely positive with most strongly agreeing that attendings promoted interactive and engaged learning (N = 8 of 8, 100%), that the experience helped to expand their knowledge about consultant roles (N = 6, 75%), and that they would participate in a remote eConsult program again if given the opportunity (N = 6, 75%). Faculty also were largely positive about the experience with most agreeing or strongly agreeing with the importance of teaching medical students about telehealth (N = 7 of 8, 88%) and eConsults (N = 6, 75%). In narrative responses, students and faculty agreed that teaching was a strength of the program whereas lack of in-person contact was a challenge.ConclusionsRapid development of an inpatient eConsult-based educational experience for third-year medical students was feasible and successful. Student-consultants saw a range of pathology including COVID-19 and related complications. Students were satisfied with the program. They were able to develop a strong relationship with attendings while learning about the role of a consultant. Faculty agreed with the importance of teaching students about telehealth and eConsults specifically.
| S-EPMC7897886 | biostudies-literature