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. 2021 Nov 15;38(7):Doc117.
doi: 10.3205/zma001513. eCollection 2021.

Teaching alcohol and smoking counselling in times of COVID-19 to 6th-semester medical students: experiences with a digital-only and a blended learning teaching approach using role-play and feedback

Elena Tiedemann  1 , Anne Simmenroth  1
Affiliations

Teaching alcohol and smoking counselling in times of COVID-19 to 6th-semester medical students: experiences with a digital-only and a blended learning teaching approach using role-play and feedback

Elena Tiedemann et al. GMS J Med Educ. .

Abstract
in English, German

Objectives: Digital teaching formats have seen increased use, and not just since the beginning of the pandemic. They can also be used to teach cognitive, practical and communicative learning objectives effectively. We describe the implementation of an online-only course on alcohol/smoking counselling in the COVID-19 summer semester (SS) 2020 and an inverted classroom (IC) concept in the winter semester (WS) 2020/21 at the University Hospital of Würzburg. Methodology: The interdisciplinary subject of "prevention" teaches students about high-risk alcohol consumption/smoking and how to conduct a brief verbal intervention. All 143 (SS) and 131 (WS) 6th-semester medical students completed a 90-minute course: module 1 included a Prezi® presentation on alcohol/smoking basics. Module 2 introduced a counselling concept (alcohol or smoking) online or classroom-based (WS only), depending on the participants' choice. In the online practical component, each student created a counselling video and reflections at home, and later received written feedback from lecturers/tutors. Supervised role-playing was used in the classroom-based format in the WS. There were 2 exam questions on module 1 at the end of each semester. Results: The students surveyed (11%) were satisfied with module 1. Practical exercises and feedback received praise in the evaluation of the classroom-based format (response: 97%). It was not possible for all students to perform counselling due to time constraints. A majority of participants filmed live role-playing in the online practical component. The exam questions were answered correctly by 31% (SS) and 36% (WS) respectively. Conclusions: Counselling can also be taught digitally: creating one's own videos with delayed written feedback is an innovative form of teaching. We are now aiming for a mix of both aspects as an IC with 90 minutes of classroom-based practical exercises.

Zielsetzung: Nicht erst seit Beginn der Pandemie werden digitale Lehrformate verstärkt eingesetzt. Kognitive, praktische und kommunikative Lernziele können auch so effektiv vermittelt werden. Wir beschreiben die Umsetzung eines reinen Online-Kurses zur Alkohol-/Raucherberatung im COVID-19-Sommersemester (SS) 2020 und ein Inverted Classroom (IC)-Konzept im Wintersemester (WS) 2020/21 am Universitätsklinikum Würzburg. Methodik: Im Querschnittsfach „Prävention“ wird Wissen zum riskanten Alkoholkonsum/Rauchen und das Durchführen einer verbalen Kurzintervention unterrichtet. Alle 143 (SS) bzw. 131 (WS) Medizinstudierenden des 6. Semesters durchliefen einen auf 90 Minuten angelegten Kurs: Modul 1 umfasste eine Prezi®-Präsentation über Grundlagen zu Alkohol/Rauchen. In Modul 2 wurde je nach Wahl ein Beratungskonzept (Alkohol oder Rauchen) online oder in Präsenz (nur WS) vorgestellt. Im Online-Praxisteil erstellte jeder Studierende zu Hause ein Beratungsvideo und eine Reflexion, später gab es schriftliches Feedback von Dozierenden/Tutor*innen. In der Präsenzform im WS wurden Rollenspiele unter Supervision durchgeführt. Jeweils am Semesterende folgten 2 Klausurfragen zu Modul 1.Ergebnisse: Die befragten Studierenden (11%) zeigten sich zufrieden mit Modul 1. In der Evaluation der Präsenzform (Response: 97%) wurden praktisches Üben und Feedback gelobt. Aus Zeitgründen führten nicht alle eine Beratung durch. Im Online-Praxisteil drehte die Mehrheit ein Rollenspiel live. Die Klausurfragen lösten 31% (SS) bzw. 36% (WS) richtig.Schlussfolgerung: Beratung kann auch digital gelehrt werden: Das Drehen eigener Videos mit zeitlich versetztem schriftlichem Feedback ist eine innovative Lehrform. Wir streben nun einen Mix beider Themen als IC mit 90 Minuten praktischen Übungen in Präsenz an.

Keywords: alcohol consumption; counselling; e-learning; prevention; reflection; role-play; smoking.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Table 1
Table 1. Learning objectives (L) of Modules 1 and 2 based on the concept of constructive alignment [13]
Table 2
Table 2. Questions for the reflection report
Table 3
Table 3. Results from Module 2 in the summer semester (SS; online) and winter semester (WS; online and classroom-based)
Figure 1
Figure 1. Course schedule (SW: semester week)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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