1. Taping the Show
The show was taped by a staff member in the audiovisual department. Since certain segments from the tape are copied during the process of editing, sharp images were essential.
One necessary feature; a TV set used for either editing or viewing the show was "closed-captioning", which not only made note-taking much easier, but also allowed the class to "see" what medical terminology and jargons Dr. Green or Dr. Carter were shouting out at such fast pace.
2. Editing the Video
Two students were normally assigned to present an 'ER' patient case from the episode of the week. They first watched the entire taped show and decided which patient they planed to study. Then they edited and copyed on a second tape pertinent footage on the particular patient. The finished video clip could only be 3 to 5 minutes long. The editing set-up could be done by two VCRs connected together, or a more professional device appropriate for easy editing. A teaching assistant was sometimes assigned the responsibility of helping students do the editing.
3. Preparing the Presentation
The students then tried to learn more about the disease of their selected 'ER' patient and prepare for the class a one to two page summary of the case. A short paragraph describing the scenario was followed by a list of medical terminology and/or jargons under subheadings such as symptoms, clinical tests, diagnosis, treatment/surgery, etc. These terms & jargons were easily copied from the screen by reading the "closed-captioning".
The most important learning experience occurred when the students go to the library or the Web to research the disease and find brief definitions for every item on the list.
4. References & Websites
The following is a list of library resources as well as world wide web sites which the students could have used to find the necessary information for their presentation:
5. Presenting the Case
During the first ten to fifteen minutes in lab each week, the team of students first briefly went over the summary of the particular 'ER' patient after distributing copies to the class. Then they showed the video clip they prepared, which was followed by a short discussion.
Evaluation
To evaluate the effectiveness of the program on the students, a set of questionnaires could have been prepared and answered by the class at the end of the semester (see Tong, 1999). While some questions could have been used to ask for a general evaluation of the experience, some questions could have been used to provide quantifiable and specific information on the learning of particular aspects of anatomy and physiology.
Reference
Tong, E.Y. Learning Physiology through Service, Am. J. Physiol. (Adv. Physiol. Educ.) (in press , December, 1999).