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Welcome to my electronic portfolio. This website summarizes the assignments I completed during the Masters of Education in Educational Technology and Health Professions courses at Wright State University. The information presented here is oriented towards educators interested in learning about the research and implementation of learner-centered teaching. In the accompanying pages I will provide a brief summary of the core concepts discussed in each class, connections to my field of medical education, and some ideas for implementation at your program. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments.
About The Author
My name is Smita Krishnamurthy, and I'm an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Pathology and Dermatology at the Boonshoft School of Medicine at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. My current role involves teaching first and second year medical students and dermatology residents along with practicing dermatopathology and performing educational research. I am a certified trainer/consultant in team based learning by the Team Based Learning Collaborative, serve on the problem based learning case writing group at our medical school, and co-direct the second year medical student musculoskeletal and integument course.
By participating in the Masters of Education program at Wright State University I have acquired the skills and knowledge necessary to become a better medical educator and investigator. Each course in the program has helped me to further develop my skills in teaching, instructional design, and research while exposing me to new and emerging technologies that enhance deeper learning and student engagement. Some of the technologies I am now comfortable implementing include web conferencing, digital video recording and web posting, using different learning management systems and creating online learning modules. Several of the projects created as part of this program are currently being utilized for teaching and research at our medical school and will be submitted for publication in the near future.
Program & Course Overview
Program:
I have completed all requirements for a Masters of Education (M.Ed.) in educational technology with an emphasis on health professions applications at Wright State University, and will be graduating in the spring semester of 2017. This program consists of 10 courses, which are summarized below.
Courses:
Course Title: EDL 7200: Analysis of Teaching
Content Summary: In this course we learned principles of learner centered teaching from the book, Analysis of teaching: Putting the research on learning into practice by Terry Doyle (2011). Some of the concepts we discussed include focusing on active learning methods rather than lectures, changing our role from conveyors of information to facilitators of learning, creating authentic learning activities based on real-world experiences, using a multisensory approach to teaching, and the importance of repeated practice for long-term memory formation. My final workshop focused on strategies for medical students to enhance long term memory formation based on principles discussed in this class. This presentation was recorded on Camtasia using the beyond bullet point design format in Microsoft Powerpoint to decrease cognitive load.
Reflection on Learning: This class reinforced many of the teaching strategies we are currently using at our medical school based on current research. After taking this class, I started to decrease the amount of written text in my lecture presentations and adding more images to decrease cognitive load and enhance multisensory learning. I now try to revisit concepts discussed in earlier courses when teaching so our students can continue to build on what they know, and explicitly point out any recurring patterns between diseases to help them understand and recall the information better.
Course Title: EDT 8390: Instructional Design & Online Learning
Content Summary: In this course we learned about the principles of backward design based on the Understanding by Design model developed by Wiggins and McTighe (2011) . We learned about designing instruction starting with the learning objectives, followed by assessment activities to examine achievement of these objectives, and finally developing course content to align with both the learning objectives and assessment activities. My final project involved using the Understanding by Design template to better align the learning goals, assessment activities, and course content in the second year Musculoskeletal and Integument course which I co-direct at Boonshoft School of Medicine.
Reflection on Learning: Before taking this course, the concept of instructional design was foreign to me. I taught the way I had been taught in medical school and residency and did not realize the importance of structuring learning experiences based on learning theories. The principles learned in this class have been invaluable to me as I design modules in our new curriculum at Boonshoft School of Medicine. As part of the leadership team for two of our upcoming integrated medical modules, I have seen the importance of using the instructional design model discussed in this class to ensure that the learning objectives are well thought out and reflected accurately in the assessment activities and course content.
Course Title: EDT 8490: Making Online Classes Interactive
Content Summary: In this course we learned about using educational technologies to promote collaborative and engaged online and blended learning. The principles in this course were based on the Community of Inquiry model developed by Randy Garrison (2011), which emphasizes the importance of a supportive learning community with individual reflection followed by meaningful group interaction to promote deep understanding and engagement in online classes. I created 3 videos in this course using BlackBoard Collaborate to descibe how I use some of these principles when teaching pathology.
Reflection on Learning: Before taking this class, I had limited experience with online learning classrooms. I discovered that the theories and design strategies we discussed were just as applicable to blended learning and face-to-face instruction as they were to online learning. I have facilitated several forms of small group learning in our medical school classes including peer instruction, team based learning, and problem based learning, and have found that collaboration between students results in better identification and correction of misconceptions and a more engaged classroom.
Course Title: EDT 8590: Learning Management Systems & Evaluation
Content Summary: In this course, I compared two learning management systems, Desire-2-Learn, which is Wright State University's current LMS, and Canvas, to make a final recommendation on the best LMS for the institution. I compared various tools in both learning management systems and became comfortable with using both of them by the end of the course.
Reflection on Learning: Before taking this course, I never paid much attention to the learning management system we used at the medical school. All our courses are set up using the Desire-2-Learn platform, and I now feel more comfortable managing and navigating the course pages. After taking this course, I created a new course in our LMS for our dermatology residents where I add recorded presentations on various topics relevant to dermatopathology. I feel comfortable adding new material to this course page and adding and deleting residents from the course when they graduate each year.
Course Title: EDT 8150: Digital Professional Development
Content Summary: In this course, we discussed the principles of andragogy or adult learning theory as described in the book by Knowles, Holton, and Swanson (2015). We learned that adult learners need to know how the learning material is relevant to their lives and take responsibility for their own learning, . We also discussed the importance of considering the learner's prior experiences when designing teaching and learning activities and focusing on real-world tasks which students find relevant to enhance deeper understanding. My final video for this class was recorded using the green screen effect in Camtasia and describes how andragogical principles are applied in team based learning.
Reflection on Learning: Before taking this class, I did not realize that adult learning theory was different from pedagogy, or childhood learning theory. I used to affectionately think of our medical students as "kids" and felt that lectures giving them the information they need to know helped them learn the material. I now realize the importance of respecting our medical students as adult learners, recognize their ability to master core concepts on their own with minimal faculty guidance, and use class time for complex problem solving. I believe that there is a role for mini lectures for the novice learner and for explaining complex topics. However, I try to use more active learning strategies in my teaching including team based learning and problem based learning to enhance critical thinking, collaboration, and self directed learning.
Course Title: EDT 8210: Applied Psychology Learning Theory for Digital Learning
Content Summary: In this class we learned to apply principles from the cognitive load theory and the cognitive theory of multimedia learning to design instruction that maximizes student understanding. In my final video I discuss three instructional design principles based on these theories to minimize extraneous cognitive load and enhance student learning.
Reflection on Learning: I found the theories described in this class interesting and relevant to designing teaching and learning activities. I routinely use signaling to highlight key concepts in my presentations, and try to place text boxes close to the pictures they describe (spatial contiguity principle) to minimize extraneous cognitive load. I am also using multimedia learning theory to guide my research project on digital pathology learning modules.
Course Title: EDT 8220: Instructional Design Concepts & Theories
Content Summary: In this class we learned about principles of systematic instructional design based on the book by Brown and Green (2016). Systematic instructional design starts by defining the problem and the learner by performing a needs, learner, and task analysis. This context is used to set learning goals and objectives and learning activities are organized and delivered after carefully considering the learning environment and possible teaching styles. Finally an evaluation is conducted to assess whether learners met the stated objectives, and also to assess the overall success of the instructional design project. My final project in this course describes how I used these principles to develop a model for integrating basic science and clinical medicine using longitudinal online learning modules. I designed surveys using the survey tool, Qualtrics for the needs and learner analysis portions of this project.
Reflection on Learning: This class refined my understanding of systematic instructional design and provided some concrete examples that I use in my daily teaching. In designing the new curriculum that is being implemented at our medical school, we use many of the strategies discussed in this class. Students are often invited to the designing committee meetings to gain insight into the learner's needs, previous course assessments are carefully evaluated to document any existing problems, and much time is devoted to creating learning goals and objectives before developing the course assessment and learning content.
Course Title: EDT 8230: Digital Scholarship of Teaching: Research Methodologies
Content Summary: Based on the book by Salkind (2012), we discussed the basic principles involved in designing and evaluating qualitative and quantitative educational research studies. We discussed measures of reliablity and validity to ensure test results are accurate and reproducible. I designed plans for a qualitative and quantitative research project regarding online pathology modules using the Prezi presentation software.
Reflection on Learning: This class helped me solidify my knowledge of research design. Since my research focuses on teaching and learning strategies, the principles we discussed have been very helpful in designing new research projects. I now evaluate results from published research articles more critically than I did in the past. I plan to implement the research study developed in this class in the near future.
Course Title: EDT 8240: Digital Scholarship of Teaching: Literature Review
Content Summary: In this class I learned about the types and relevance of literature reviews, conducted literature searches using Google Scholar and our library databases, used coding forms to organize the data, and wrote a literature review paper. Literature reviews help to evaluate and synthesize many primary research articles on a single topic. We discussed the differences between narrative and systematic reviews and meta-analyses, and described the characteristics of a good literature review. My literature review was a systematic analysis on the influence of the modality effect on learning outcomes in online medical education modules.
Reflection on Learning: I found the concepts discussed in this class very relevant to my interest in the scholarship of teaching and learning. I'm currently in the process of developing online skin pathology modules for our medical students, and had an opportunity in this class to synthesize the available literature on the best method to present this content. The literature review paper I authored during this class will be submitted for publication in the near future.
Course Title: EDT 8620: Educational Technology Applied Research in Health Professions Applications
Content Summary: In this class I was asked to design a research project based on an educational technology relevant to medical education. I used the concepts developed in our previous courses to create an online atlas for melanocytic lesions with clinical and pathologic images for our medical students using Microsoft Powerpoint. A text-based version of this module was created as part of this course. For my research study, I will record the atlas without the written text, and test both versions of the module on our first year medical students to evaluate any differences in learning outcomes. The results of this study will help me develop other learning modules that maximize student learning.
Reflection on Learning: I found this class enjoyable and was able to finish a project I started in previous classes. I plan to record a second version of this module in the spring, and carry out the research study this fall with our incoming first year medical students. This class helped me synthesize principles learned in our other courses on adult learning theory and multimedia learning to create a project that will be used for education and research at our medical school.
References
- Brown, A. H., & Green, T. D. (2016). The essentials of instructional design: Connecting fundamental principles with process and practice (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
- Doyle, T. (2011). Learner centered teaching: Putting the research on learning into practice. Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing.
- Garrison, D. R. (2011). E-Learning in the 21st century: A framework for research and practice (2nd edition). New York, NY: Routledge.
- Knowles, M. S., Holton III, E. F., & Swanson, R. A. (2015). The adult learner: The definitive classic in adult education and human resource development (8th ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
- Mayer, R. E. (2014). The Cambridge handbook of multimedia learning (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
- Salkind, N. J. (2012). Exploring research (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc.
- Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2011). The understanding by design guide to creating high-quality units. Alexandia, VA: ASCD.
- Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J (2012). The understanding by design guide to advanced concepts in creating and reviewing units. Alexandia, VA: ASCD.