Students’ perceptions of interprofessional learning through facilitated online learning modules

Figures & data

Table

Practice points

Asynchronous online learning can overcome timetable barriers, a significant barrier to IPE. Students are able to engage in collaborative problem-solving and learn about each other's roles in an online learning environment. Online faculty facilitators are important to role model interprofessionalism and make collaboration more explicit.

Table 1.  Institute of interprofessional health sciences education: student modules

Communication 1: Establishing and understanding groups	McMaster University
Communication 2: Making the most of groups and teams	McMaster University
Interprofessional health care ethics	McMaster University
Interprofessional stroke care: An evidence based approach	McMaster University
Culturally informed aboriginal health care	Laurentian University
Promoting the health of the community	University of Western Ontario
Palliative care/total pain	University of Ottawa
Interprofessional health care in rural areas	University of Ottawa

Table 2.  Demographic characteristics of students

	n	%		n	%
Gender			Health profession program
Male	10	13.0	Occupational therapy	23	29.9
Female	67	87.0	Medicine	15	19.5
Age			Nursing	14	18.2
≤20	5	6.5	Physiotherapy	7	9.1
21–30	47	61.0	Social work	5	6.5
31–40	5	6.5	Spiritual care	4	5.2
≥41	4	5.2	Speech language pathology	3	3.9
Missing	15	20.8	Health promotion	3	3.9
			Dietetics	2	2.6
			Pharmacy	1	1.3
University attending			Year within program
University of Western Ontario	24	31.2	First year	29	37.7
University of Ottawa	24	31.2	Second year	17	22.1
McMaster University	21	27.3	Third year	12	15.6
Laurentian University	4	5.2	Fourth year	11	14.3
St. Paul University	2	2.6	Missing	8	10.4
Other	2	2.6

Note: n = 77.

Table 3.  Student module feedback form results

tems related to educational content	Percentage of students who agreed/strongly agreed with statement*
Shared learning with students from different health professions will help me better understand clinical problems	100%
Interprofessional learning will help me become a better health care professional	98.5
I was able to learn about other students’ perspectives on the subject matter of the module	95.6
I was able to learn about other students’ roles and responsibilities	92.5
This module provided me with opportunities to work with students from other professions on identifying and defining problems	91.1
Compared to the beginning of the module, I have a better knowledge of other students’ perspectives on the content of this course	91.1
Shared learning with students from other health professions will increase my ability to manage clinical problems	91.1
This module taught me about working collaboratively within a team for better patient outcomes	86.6
Compared to the beginning of this module, I am better able to identify shared tasks that require joint solutions	83.6
This module provided me with opportunities to work with students from other health professions on finding solutions to joint problems	82.1
The course content was directly related to the learning objectives	80.6
This module taught me about IPE	78.7
Compared to the beginning of this module, I have a better knowledge of the specific tasks of professionals from other disciplines	74.7
Compared to the beginning of this module, I have better skills in coordinating actions with other health care professionals in pursuing joint solutions to problems	67.1
Because of this module, I now have better skills in joint planning and decision making with other health professionals	62.7
Items related to online discussions and team work
Team based assignments were relevant to learning	77.6
Guidelines for online discussion (such as netiquettique) were provided and were helpful	76.1
Expectations were clearly specified for participation in team-based activities	74.6
I enjoyed online discussions	74.3
After completing this module, I am confident about working as part of a collaborative team	71.6
The guidelines for forming groups were clearly provided	49.2
Deadlines were specified and the consequences of missing deadlines were clearly stated	35.9
Items related to online facilitation
The availability of the instructor was clearly specified	83.6
The facilitator provided excellent guidance on assignments or content	67.2
I was often confused about where to submit assignments that were due	27.3
The facilitator took a long time to answer questions or get back to me	22.7
Items related to online support	*
The availability of technical support was stated	59.7
Deadlines were specified and the consequences of missing deadlines were clearly stated	35.9
The technical support for the web-modules was great	32.3
It took a long time for me to get technical support or for someone to answer my technical questions	18.4