Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33621366›Full record

ArticleMedical education2021

Practical guidelines to build Sense of Community in online medical education.

Gerben H van der Meer, Megan Milota, Rosalein R de Jonge, Renée S Jansen

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Medical education, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Gerben H van der MeerJulius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0001-6415-2669
Megan MilotaJulius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-2144-4175
Rosalein R de JongeCenter for Research and Development of Education, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0003-2160-9395
Renée S JansenCenter for Research and Development of Education, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-8385-8322

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesSense of Community (SoC) refers to the cognitive or emotional connections established between physically separated learners; it is essential for study success. The recent COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for practical guidelines to facilitate building a SoC in online medical preclerkship education in the Netherlands. Therefore, this qualitative study aims to (a) examine perceptions of SoC from both students' and teachers' perspectives in an online elective course during the COVID-19 pandemic in order to (b) provide a conceptual framework with practical guidelines to medical educators on how to build SoC in online education.

methodsThe study had an exploratory qualitative design. Semi-structured focus groups with student (n = 15) and teacher (n = 5) volunteers were conducted. Participants discussed their experienced SoC using the storyline method. In addition, course developers (n = 2) were interviewed and lecturers (n = 5) wrote an experience story. Audio- and video-recordings were transcribed verbatim and both the ensuing transcripts and experience stories were analysed using an inductive thematic analysis.

resultsAll students experienced an increase of SoC during the eight-week course. Five themes were identified: 'social contacts made possible by a physical campus', 'group dynamics', 'teacher influence', 'education format' and 'teachers' Sense of Community'. The authors formulated challenges and practical guidelines on how to build SoC based on these themes.

conclusionsThis exploratory qualitative study provides a conceptual framework with practical guidelines for medical educators on how to build SoC in online medical preclerkship education. These guidelines provide a valuable starting point to build SoC in online education for medical educators and students alike.

Indexed as

COVID-19Education, DistanceEducation, MedicalCurriculumHumansNetherlandsPandemicsSARS-CoV-2basic science educationcommunity based educationcurriculum development/evaluationqualitative research methods

Identifiers

PMID33621366
PMCPMC8359221

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.