ACQUIRED: An Innovative Asynchronous Modality to Increase Quality Teacher-Learner Dialogue and Overcome Classroom Barriers in Basic Science Medical Education.

Abstract

Learners are faced with psychological and temporal classroom barriers that may preclude participation and learning. We present an asynchronous instructional design modality aiming to address learning barriers, retain active learning, and foster quality teacher-learner interactions. We designed and evaluated individualized online lessons constructed with flexible navigation, short instructional videos, integrated formative assessment, and reflection questions with bidirectional teacher-learner communication. Narrative student comments (n = 3075, from 33 basic science sessions over three cohorts of 125 students) were extracted from faculty evaluations, and descriptive coding identified strengths and constructive criticisms. Data are presented as mean ± SD. A majority of comments were positive (76.6% ± 2.12%) with 43.5% ± 8.7% of these focused on the ACQUIRED modality. Within these responses, students most benefited from formative practice questions (18.6% ± 2.3%), the modular format (17.3% ± 2.7%), engagement with material (11.1% ± 0.9%), ease of asking questions (9.2% ± 2.4%), overall organization (8.0 ± 2.8%), and fast responsiveness from the teacher (7% ± 2.0). Fewer comments were constructive (15.0 ± 2.1%), with 51.5% ± 30.9% of these focused on the ACQUIRED modality. More formative questions (30.5% ± 21.8%) were described for improvement. Our data informed the design of the ACQUIRED model for asynchronous instruction, emphasizing ACcessible QUality Interactions and REsponsive Design. The model addresses learning and participation barriers and fosters meaningful, bidirectional teacher-learner interactions.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40670-024-02248-w.