Pickering, JD orcid.org/0000-0002-0494-6712 and Swinnerton, BJ orcid.org/0000-0002-4241-4952 (2017) An Anatomy Massive Open Online Course as a Continuing Professional Development Tool for Healthcare Professionals. Medical Science Educator, 27 (2). pp. 243-252. ISSN 2156-8650
Abstract
Massive open online courses (MOOCs) remain a novel and under-evaluated learning tool within anatomical and medical education. This study aimed to provide valuable information by using an anatomy MOOC to investigate the demographic profile, patterns of engagement and self-perceived benefits to healthcare professionals. A 21-item survey aimed at healthcare professionals was embedded into the Exploring Anatomy: The Human Abdomen MOOC, in April 2016. The course attracted 2711 individual learners with 94 of these completing the survey, and 79 of those confirming they worked full- or part-time as healthcare professionals. Variations in use across healthcare profession (allied healthcare professional, nurse or doctor) were explored using a Fisher’s exact test to calculate significance across demographic, motivation and engagement items; one-way ANOVA was used to compare self-perceived benefits. Survey data revealed that 53.2% were allied healthcare professionals, 35.4% nurses and 11.4% doctors. Across all professions, the main motivation for enrolling was to learn new things in relation to their clinical practice, with a majority following the prescribed course pathway and utilising core, and clinically relevant, material. The main benefits were in relation to improving anatomy knowledge, which enabled better support for patients. This exploratory study assessing engagement and self-perceived benefits of an anatomy MOOC has shown a high level of ordered involvement, with some indicators suggesting possible benefits to patients by enhancing the subject knowledge of those enrolled. It is suggested that this type of learning tool should be further explored as an approach to continuing professional, and interprofessional, education.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. |
Keywords: | Massive open online course; Continuing professional development; Interprofessional education; Online learning; Medical education |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Education, Social Sciences and Law (Leeds) > School of Education (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > School of Medicine (Leeds) > Leeds Institute of Medical Education > Division of Anatomy (LIME) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 15 Feb 2017 11:28 |
Last Modified: | 23 Jun 2023 22:23 |
Published Version: | http://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-017-0383-7 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Springer US |
Identification Number: | 10.1007/s40670-017-0383-7 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:112357 |