Redesigning a face-to-face course to an asynchronous online format: a look at teaching pathophysiology with software...

The COVID-19 pandemic, while disruptive and abrupt, provided instructors opportunities to redesign face-to-face (F2F) lecture courses to an online asynchronous delivery mode. Asynchronous course delivery is often synonymous with recorded lectures, discussion boards, and standardized assessments, yet this mode can be student-centered, include active learning, and engage students. Our undergraduate clinical pathophysiology course was redesigned with Understanding Your Physiology (Lt by ADInstruments) lessons with video case studies in place of a textbook. Most students (72.7%) found the Lt activities effective in helping them learn the material as well as a cost-effective replacement for a traditional textbook (50%). In addition, the course design focused on different types of Lt activities to deliver the course content in an interactive way. Specifically, students (82%) appreciated the opportunity to select an answer without penalty and make another selection if needed. The type of activity that students selected as most effective in helping them learn and understand the content was the ability to determine which statements were correct/incorrect (32%). Students enjoyed the video case studies of patients because they were directly related to course content, were visually engaging, and used real patients who told their personal story. All these factors contributed to the success in achieving the study's goals of redesigning a F2F lecture course to an asynchronous online format. The online course led to verifiable pedagogical outcomes of using the Lt platform to engage students in learning. This course was offered again in 2021, filled quickly, and will continue to be offered each year.