This 90 minute workshop described how Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) has virtually replaced lectures in Human Biochemistry at the University of Nevada School of Medicine. The method for reducing of scheduled classroom lectures from 112 hrs to approximate 16 hrs was described. The workshop focused on the methods used to video tape, digitize, edit and save actual medical school lectures as video clips, and how these clips can be easily linked in web-browser format to an extensive course outline. Computer drawn diagrams keyed to each video were distributed to demonstrate how student note talking could be facilitated. Multiple choice quizzes (graded online with WebCT) were described as aids to instructor or student self-evaluation. The final product of the CAI program was demonstrated and its use in the medical school curriculum was described. Also discussed was the student and faculty response to this method of teaching. A CD-ROM sample version of the browser-accessed video clips and the associated syllabus was distributed. Participants were encouraged to consider similar projects in their disciplines at their institutions. A portion of the workshop was devoted to demonstrating the ease with which captured raw video can be edited and saved as *.avi files. Issues raised by participants were related to diminished faculty-student contact, concerns over faculty-time released, and student performance. Participants also were interested in the (dis)advantages of a trend toward virtual medical schools. Addressing these concerns, the results of using CAI at the University of Nevada were described. The CAI project has been used as the sole textbook for first year medical students taking Human Biochemistry at the University of Nevada for the past 4 years. Student, peer and administrative evaluations or the program have been overwhelmingly positive. The advantages described were: 1) the program's portability, 2) emphasis on self study, 3) fewer required lectures, 4) lecture content shifts from delivery of new material to discussion and updates, and 5) students claim they can "master" the content of a two hours lecture material within three hours of total study time. Student performance on in house exams and on the U.S.Medical Licensing Exam have improved significantly with the use of this program. Workshop attendees appeared more interested in the utility and benefits
of using CAI in the lecture format than on the technology required to develop
this or similar programs. Very little time was devoted to descriptions
of similar projects at other institutions. Future workshops on this
topic might include greater variety of examples of the use of CAI within
the lecture format.
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