A Narrative Analysis on Teacher Reflections Shifting to Emergency Remote Teaching in Master of Education in Health Professions Education

Abstract

This presentation delves into a university's unique challenges of providing online learning for health professionals from different disciplines and institutions during the pivot to ‘emergency remote teaching’ prompted initially by social unrest then by COVID-19 (Hodges et al., 2020). It adopts a narrative approach featuring the individual reflections (Monrouxe et al., 2015) and joint considerations of the design team and teachers of Semester 2 core courses in a new Master of Education in Health Professions Education (HPE) specialization. An overarching, social constructivist design principle of the new HPE specialism was to develop and foster a learning community that would mutually support knowledge and skills development. In the emergency pivot to online learning, consciously nurturing our fledgling community was a design priority. We agreed that it was crucial to work collaboratively on a coordinated approach so students, while physically distanced, could still experience peer supported learning. Adopting common web platforms for synchronous online teaching and asynchronous access to learning resources, where students were learning one consistent system, was a key feature across both courses, contributing to a unified online learning experience. Student engagement with online learning tools increased as their confidence with new technologies developed. Assessments aimed at fostering learner collaboration and co-learning were adapted to online synchronous formats. These group assessments benefited from students, teachers and co-assessors becoming more proficient with online tools. Individual narrative reflections revealed themes which mirrored differences in course structures and content, as well as teacher experiences and backgrounds. One theme highlighted the unique characteristics of the student cohort, and how features such as the chat function provided a measure of safety for student contributions, fostering growth in proactive learning and interactivity. Other recurring themes specified the importance of utilising multiple methods to maintain student engagement, and the early establishment of open communication channels. Themes related to the constructivist model in teaching included maximising the inherent accessibility of the online platform to engage overseas and local guest speakers as well as build panel discussions; embracing co-teaching and co-assessing which provided an added layer of technical and mental support, expediting proficiency in online teaching. Common themes expressed by teachers across the courses signified the importance of at least one face-to-face session with students to communicate clear expectations and set the stage for subsequent online interactions. The flexibility offered with synchronous online teaching was another commonality. It enabled access for students in busy full-time healthcare work and those who were in quarantine or with a new-born, facilitating regular interaction with their peers in the learning community during the COVID-19 pandemic. Young family members of our students also appeared occasionally. The online format created opportunities for the class to see their peers in a broader context, adding a humanistic touch to the lessons. Teacher reflections and their connectivity to professional identities will be discussed in more depth in the presentation.