Case Study: Maastricht University

Here, Bas de Leng outlines how VPs have been used at this institution.

Background

Cases at the Faculty of Health, Medical and Life sciences at Maastricht University are developed with an English version of the CAMPUS authoring system. The cases are delivered with the CAMPUS thin-player module embedded in the experimental learning management system Dokeos.

This way of producing VPs enables us to incorporate prompts and feedback within a VP and with the complexity and sequencing of its components. The way of delivering VPs enables us to plan belnded-learning activities with VPs and to monitor the actual use of the VPs at a distance.

Pre-clinical medical students use VPs in internal medicine (cardiology, oncology) and clinical undergraduate medical students use VPs in paediatrics.

Our VPs use images (sometimes interactive), interactive lab forms, sounds (heart and lung) and sometimes videos.
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Educational Scenarios

At the moment VPs are predominantly used for knowledge acquisition/application and clinical reasoning in a mono-disciplinary setting. It is voluntary learning material for individual preparation and follow-up of lectures, tutorial groups and exams (i.e., familiarisation and review VPs).
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Curricula Integration

Our VPs are planned for briefing prior to team-training with simulators in acute care. Our VPs are also embedded with interactive presentations/seminars (in-session VPs). Finally, our VPs are used as a preparation tool in ‘triads’ for tutorial groups (familiarisation VPs).
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Integration with Other e-Learning Opportunities

Our planned VPs are combined with audience response systems (electronic polling), simulators (mannequins), and computer supported collaboration learning (by means of asynchoronous communication).
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Technical Integration

Our VPs are embedded in a separate learning management system (Dokeos), which facilitates planning and monitoring of blended learning activities. Maastricht University uses Blackboard as its main institutional learning management system (LMS), but this LMS wasn’t suitable for the delivery of the VPs.
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Any Advice?

Think of acting learning situations with VPs, try to link the results of this learning with other learning activities in the curriculum, and use them for topcs where VPs actually ‘add value’.
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