DEMONSTRATION

Electronic Study Assignments in the Erasmus Curriculum

Mathijs Doets

Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands

ABSTRACT:

At the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, we started in 2001 with a new curriculum called ëErasmusarts 2007í. In this problem-based curriculum, the student is given more responsibility over his own learning process. The number of lectures was decreased drastically. Instead, students work individually or in groups on study assignments, which are presented on paper or electronically. The topic of the electronic assignment demonstrated here is colon carcinoma. A clinical case is presented in over fifty screens, which contain text, multimedia and interactive questions with feedback. The assignment is structured by referring each screen to one of thirteen concepts, which represent steps in the process of clinical reasoning. These concepts include etiology, pathogenesis, case history, physical examination, diagnosis and therapy. A concept diagram is constantly visible on screen and the student can use it to navigate through the program.

The program was conceived and developed by members of the medical faculty and the institute of education. More assignments were created using the same format. Teachers can contribute their text in an MS Access database, which is linked to an Authorware application. Relatively quickly, new programs can be developed.

Evaluation results show that students are enthusiastic about the electronic assignments, because of the multimedia and the interactive feedback. However, the majority of the students do not use the freedom of navigation in the program. Most of them start at the first screen and browse through the program linearly. In future versions, we will try to improve the navigation.

BENEFIT TO PARTICIPANTS ATTENDING SESSION: The program demonstrated is one of many electronic study assignments used in the medical curriculum at the Erasmus Medical Center. They combine multimedia material and interactive questions. An innovative navigational model is used, allowing for a non-linear path through the assignment. The program was developed in Dutch, but a part was translated into English, so the participant can get an idea how students use the electronic study assignment.

Mahijs Doets PO Box 1738 3000 DR Rotterdam The Netherlands Phone: +31 (0)10-4087834 mailto:m.doets@erasmusmc.nl Website www.eur.nl/fgg/oig

CO-AUTHORS: Emely J. Spierenburg PO Box 1738 3000 DR Rotterdam The Netherlands mailto:e.spierenburg@erasmusmc.nl