Biomedical subjects

Francis Y Lau

Publications and source records attributed to Francis Y Lau.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Collaborative technology use by healthcare teams.

This paper reviews the literature on the use of collaborative technologies by healthcare teams between 1980 and 2003. Multiple databases were searched with explicit inclusion criteria that yielded 17 conceptual and empirical papers. The discussions of these literatures centered on the individual, team, and technological dimensions of collaborative technology use within healthcare teams. Results show that collaborative healthcare technologies can have positive effects on team work processes at both the individual and group level. The limited number of research studies accentuates the need for additional research in this area. Future research should focus on defining team tasks; determining which type of groupware works for a particular health setting; and exploring the effects of groupware on patient care delivery and the organization. Without research in these areas, it will be difficult to harness the full advantages of using groupware technologies by collaborative healthcare teams.

Communication↗

PubMed2004

Introducing a technology-enabled problem-based learning approach into a health informatics curriculum.

PURPOSE: To investigate the effect on learner satisfaction of introducing a technology-enabled problem-based learning (PBL) approach into a health informatics curriculum. Course redesign was undertaken to prepare students for three 4-month work terms and a rapidly changing professional environment upon graduation. METHODS: Twenty-six Canadian undergraduate students of a redesigned course in biomedical fundamentals completed a midterm questionnaire in 2002. Eight of these students participated in a focus group. RESULTS: Students agreed that seven of nine functions provided by the web-based online course management system enhanced their learning: private email (92.3%), calendaring (88.5%), course notes (88.5%), discussion forums (84.5%), online grades (84.5%) assignment descriptions (80.8%) and online quizzes (80.8%). Although students agreed that two PBL activities enhanced learning (learning to present information) (84.5%) and learning to identify information needed (73.1%), the majority of students (69.2%) expressed a preference for the traditional lecture approach over the PBL approach. Students reported feeling uncertain of what was required of them and related anxiety accounted for most of the negative feedback. CONCLUSION: These findings give us clear goals for improvement in the course beginning with a comprehensive, carefully guided introduction to the processes of PBL. The positive trends are encouraging for the use of web-enabled courseware and for the further development of the PBL approach.

Computer-Assisted Instruction↗

PubMed2004

Project based experiential distance education: an oxymoron?

In the context of a program in Health Information Science at the University of Victoria in Victoria, BC, Canada, we have over the past 20 years made progress and gained experience in delivering a number of courses in a project-based experiential learning mode which links professionals and students in real world projects. As we are moving towards distance education, we are facing the challenge of translating these achievements into distance mode. The paper reviews the principles which make project-based educational mode involving collaboration with professionals desirable. We then review the experience with two specific courses, in which local students work with distant and local representatives of health institutions, respectively, on projects defined in the professional environment. This experience showed that the approach is of mutual interest and benefit to both the students and the professionals involved, but that a long lead time, and considerable detail in the preparation are required to lead such endeavors to success. We then discuss three alternatives to translating the principles of these approaches into distance mode. Among the alternatives, conducting a local project, closely affiliated with the teaching institution, or relying on a mock project which is based on recorded examples from previous projects, seem to be the most promising options. The alternative of having every student pursuing a different project, which may be local for the student but distant for the educational institution, is less attractive if faculty are expected to assume responsibility for successful project completion. It may, however, be the preferred solution if students are health professionals residing at distant health care institutions. All three alternatives have drawbacks that may limit the feasibility of project-based experiential learning in distance mode.

British Columbia↗