It is forecast that there will be 300m people using the internet by 2003. This article looks at the use of web-based learning to augment the delivery of a pharmaceutical microbiology module to pharmacy students
 |
| Our annual feature on pharmacy education includes articles on the use of internet technology to teach pharmacy undergraduates, pharmacy education in the Netherlands and how good pharmaceutical practice has been built into undergraduate pharmacy training in South Africa. It also contains details of the pharmacy courses offered by British universities and approved by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, along with details of courses for pharmacists offered by three further universities |
The internet, the world wide web and e-commerce have rapidly
integrated themselves into all aspects of our lives. For many, it has become
commonplace to order groceries, manage bank accounts, arrange travel and choose
holidays online using the internet.
In academia, this technology has established itself as a method of delivering
distance learning and is now slowly being introduced into traditional undergraduate
courses where students are studying full-time. This is being driven by
Moreover, the use of this new technology is implicit in the Dearing report2 and may be explicit in a university’s teaching and learning strategic plan. Consequently, we are seeing a huge commitment of resources to this means of delivering learning.1
How is it used?
The internet can be used in a number of ways to deliver learning.3
The examples below are illustrated with my own web pages used for delivering
a pharmaceutical microbiology and biotechnology module to second year pharmacy
undergraduates at De Montfort university.
Passive conveyance of information Web pages are an effective means of passively delivering information to large groups and, because they can be updated easily and cheaply, offer an advantage where the information does not remain current for long. Simple examples are reading lists, course timetables, “flat” lecture notes, tutor/tutee lists.
 |
| Figure 1. A web page listing learning resources |
Figure 1 shows part of the web page listing learning resources
for the pharmaceutical microbiology and biotechnology module. Besides simply
listing the resources — as a paper-based version would do — this web
page also gives students access to the online version of the recommended textbooks
and links to an online bookseller and a comparative pricing website, should
they wish to purchase a book. From this page, the user can also link directly
to all the web-based computer-aided learning programmes designed for the module.
Interactive learning The ability of web pages to contain text,
high quality graphics, hyperlinks, sound and video, facilitates the provision
of interactive learning to actively engage the learner. By asking for frequent
user input, by providing self-assessment and giving instant feedback online,
web-based learning material, like some other forms of computer-aided learning,
can provide reassurance for the student that learning is taking place in the
way intended by the educator, even in the tutor’s absence. It can also
stimulate the student to undertake independent learning through the provision
of hyperlinks to other, searchable, sources of information on the world wide
web.
 |
| Figure 2. A microbiology tutor web page |
Figure 2 shows a web page from the practical microbiology tutor. Students work progressively through this package prior to attending each practical class. The exercises are illustrated with high quality images. Students see examples of the results they are expected to obtain, they receive background information about the exercises and are challenged with questions to stimulate them to think about the concepts behind the techniques. There are also links to external health-related web sites, such as that of the Public Health Laboratory Service. In this way, students arrive at each class better prepared for the practical exercises and can place their work into context more easily.
Assessment Like computer program written in other formats, web pages can be used to deliver assessments. By using, for example, Javascript, the user’s response can be evaluated and instant feedback can be given.
 |
| Figure 3. Web pages can offer tuition in microbiological calculations |
Figure 3 shows a web page that gives tuition in microbiological calculations. Every time the programme is run, the questions remain the same but new values are inserted. Clicking the “help” button provides a description in the scrolling text box of how the calculation can be tackled. Students are given three weeks to use this package in their own time before they undertake an unseen, time-limited spot test without the use of calculators.
| Students’ views of web-based learning | |
|
Student support and feedback Communication between student and tutor over the internet enables students to voice concerns and receive support and feedback, even at a distance. E-mail is a simple means of communication. A more sophisticated mechanism is to use computer conferencing, such as a chat room, where real-time or asynchronous textual communication can take place between a number of individuals. This could be between tutor and students in on-line tutorials or among students alone undertaking collaborative learning.4
Useful for feedback
A web page is also a useful means of providing feedback to the whole student
group.
 |
| Figure 4. A feedback page which allows comparison of performance |
Figure 4 shows the feedback on coursework assessment given to
all the students at the end of the module. Providing the distribution of marks
in the histogram allows students to place their performance within the context
of the cohort.
The website for this module also has a web page reporting the results of the
university student feedback questionnaire. Students are able to see what the
cohort thought of the module and can read the tutor’s response to the points
raised, thereby closing the quality loop and making the exercise more meaningful
to the students.
Virtual learning environments
Course delivery software packages (also called virtual learning environments)
provide the ability to incorporate all these learning approaches into a single
learning environment. Learners log on to the system, using their unique ID and
password, and can then visit different areas to
An example of such a package that has been adopted in many universities throughout the world is WebCT.
| Glossary of terms | |
|
Benefits for learners
First and foremost, web-based learning provides flexibility. With access to
the internet or a university intranet, learners can study anywhere, any time
and at their own pace without being reliant on software being installed on a
particular computer. As an extreme example of this flexibility of access, the
website for this module was accessed several times in the small hours of Christmas
morning.
While sitting at the computer, either on- or off-campus, the learner has access
to a mind-boggling amount of information all in one place. For example, free
on-line versions of The Pharmaceutical Journal, the British National Formulary,
the Electronic Medicines Compendium or the Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy
are but a mouse click away for students using the author’s website. The
world wide web can be likened to a massive library with an unlimited supply
of books, which is open 24-hours a day.
Active engagement
The interactive nature of good quality web-based learning material can actively
engage the learner and is perceived by students to enhance their learning experience.
Students in two cohorts were asked to respond anonymously to six statements,
using a five-point Likert scale: strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, strongly
disagree
| Table 1: Percentage of students agreeing or strongly agreeing with statements on web-based learning | ||
| Percentage of students | ||
| Statement | 1998-89 (n=81) |
1999-2000 (n=89) |
| A. It enhanced my learning experience B. It was clear and easy to use C. It was of the appropriate intellectual standard D. I liked learning in this way E. It increased my interest in microbiology F. It increased my confidence in using computers |
95 96 89 56 47 63 |
86 95 90 44 44 44 |
(Table 1). This indicates that some students are less enthusiastic
than others to adopt this technology (see statement D), but this is not an uncommon
finding.5
Certainly, these two cohorts of students performed better in their summative
assessments than previous cohorts where web-based learning was not employed
to augment the delivery of this module. For example, in the unseen spot test
that followed students using the microbiological calculations tutor (Figure
3), 95 per cent of students in both cohorts scored a mark of 50 per cent or
above, with 34 per cent and 28 per cent, respectively, achieving full marks.
Greater success has also been achieved in the end-of-module unseen written examination.
Benefits for tutors
Unlike archival media, such as CD-ROMs or printed material, web pages can be
corrected and updated conveniently, speedily and cheaply from the tutor’s
desk. This avoids the embarrassment all academics will have experienced of getting
their student handouts back from the university printing unit only to find that
there is a glaring mistake on the first page or that the information has recently
been superseded. Updating can be performed in a minute or two by simply altering
the web page on the tutor’s computer, as one would alter a word-processed
document, then uploading it onto the web server containing the website. Provided
the network protocols allow it, this can even be done if the tutor’s computer
is remote from the university.
Consumables reduced
Web-based material reduces or obviates the need for the tutor to generate printed
material or to provide the learner with CD-ROMs or other consumable learning
media. It is consumable-free. Furthermore, unlike consumable media, web-based
learning material is difficult to deface or steal and is all in one place. This
means that students do not arrive on the doorstep at inopportune moments claiming
that they have lost their schedule or cannot find the reference.
Web pages give students access to high quality, full-colour images at low cost,
relative to such provision as paper handouts. The creation of such images, using
a digital camera and picture-editing software, is well within the capability
of many academics after a little training.
Pre-course information
Web-based material is also a convenient way of delivering pre-course information
to students. For example, we strongly advise our new students to work through
our Pharmscape website before they arrive for enrolment. This site describes
our pharmacy course and puts their learning into the context of a practising
pharmacist.
This technology can be used to deliver a course in a stepwise fashion at a pace
determined by the tutor and tailored to the needs of individual students. In
addition, using a course management system, such as
WebCT, the tutor can monitor how much time individual students have spent on
the material and how they have performed in their assessments.
What are the disadvantages?
The production of high quality web-based learning material is very time-consuming
for the tutor. It has been estimated that it can take up to 200 hours to produce
enough material for one hour of student study time.2 However,
once the material has been produced, it can be used for an infinite number of
learners without incurring consumable costs.
The learner must have access to a computer and to the internet . While many
institutions, including De Montfort university, have fulfilled a Dearing report
recommendation to give all students open access to a networked desktop computer
by 2000-01,2 not all students have this access off-campus.
Furthermore, some students have their computer time on-campus rationed.
An unregulated medium
Since the internet is largely unregulated, the possibility exists that some
of the material derived from it may be of dubious quality and inaccurate. If
students are required to use the internet on their own initiative as a searchable
source of information, they need tuition on how to evaluate websites. There
are websites, such as Internet Detective, that provide this.
Students find it difficult to shed the hard copy habit. They feel a need to
print out all the web-page material largely because, like many of us, they find
material easier to assimilate in printed form. This can put a strain on printers,
may incur costs for the student and can be tedious, thereby antagonising the
learner.
Screen fatigue
Too much computer-aided learning leads to “screen fatigue” so the
total amount of such work that students are required to undertake throughout
the course should be monitored. Furthermore, not all students like using computers
— although it could be argued that most of them will be required to use
one when they become pharmacists.
The computer that never crashes has yet to be invented and computer downtime
can lead to frustration among learners. Good system support is required to maximise
the chances of providing uninterrupted service.
Delivering learning solely via the web can create a sense of isolation in the
learner and, while lack of student contact might seem attractive to some academics,
nothing can replace the face-to-face tuition that students studying on-campus
rightly expect.
Conclusions
For those academics contemplating using this technology, there are a number
of points to consider:
Notwithstanding these caveats, I have found producing web-based learning material and using it to be very rewarding, particularly because of the extent to which it has been used by students and the high levels of attainment they have achieved.
| Useful links | |
|
Dr Andrew is a teacher fellow at De Montfort university, Leicester, and principal lecturer in pharmaceutical microbiology in the school of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences. He can be contacted at mhea@dmu.ac.uk