VIDEO CONFERENCING AS A MEANS OF DELIVERING CORE CURRICULUM: A DEVELOPMENT, METHODOLOGY, AND ASSESSMENT PROJECT

Background:
Video conferencing is being used for teaching, distance presentations, consultation and providing specialist advice in states where rural medicine is prevalent. Pedagogical innovations in education, Video conferencing, have also been used in different curricula to support distance learning in the University of Wyoming.
Therapeutics is a course taught in the third year of the Doctor of Pharmacy program at University of Wyoming. This is a team taught course using problem based learning and case based methods. This study describes development, methodology, and assessment of Video conferencing

Methods:
The team consisted of two Pharmacy Practice Professors and an Information technologist. The information technology department assisted in setting up the remote delivery system. The classrooms at University of Wyoming are equipped with a Polycom unit consisting of two cameras and a microphone. Two cameras are positioned in the classroom to view the front and back of the class (n=52). A professor was set up with a portable Polycom unit from a site 150 miles away from the university. The professor at the remote site was able to see the students and zoom further to get a close up of an area of the classroom when a question was asked. Notes and cases were posted on e-companion one week prior to the lecture dates. A professor familiar with the subject was available to advance the power point slides and clarify questions. An anonymous (n=52) assessment survey with a comment section was distributed and collected at the end of the class. An additional online evaluation tool was also available for student feedback. Quiz and exam scores were also evaluated.


Results:
Two four hour lecture series were delivered on the topic of Diabetes Mellitus type one and two using this methodology. Fifty two students yielded a 100% response rate with the assessment tool. Questions included assessment of the delivery style, teaching methodology, student satisfaction and evaluation of the impact on individual learning. Overall, 20(40%) students strongly agreed with this teaching methodology, 28 (54%) agreed and 4 (7%) disagreed with this teaching methodology. The results of the online evaluation tool were also positive emphasizing the effectiveness of this teaching methodology.

Conclusion:
Video conferencing is a novel method to deliver a case based lecture if faculty or students are located in remote areas. The student assessment survey resulted in a high satisfaction rating. Quiz and exam scores were similar to didactic teaching methods. Advantages include reduction in travel time, decreasing costs for institutions, and providing education to students in remote areas. Teaching Institutions may benefit from this mode of teaching. In the future, it is predicted with cost containment strategies, Video conferencing and Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs), will become a valuable, more economic, reliable and wide spread teaching methodology.