“TONIGHT, I'LL BE EATING ...” - DEMYSTIFY THERMAL MODALITIES USING ONLINE DISCUSSION BOARDS

W. Ge¹, M. Coalmer¹

¹Youngstown State University, Youngstown, United States

Background: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, physical therapist education programs had to abruptly move from face-to-face to fully online or hybrid/blended learning. Continuing to value face-to-face learning, physical therapy students might present heightened negative feelings about the transition and reduced motivation to study. One way to improve student learning experiences during the pandemic is to integrate meaningful, thought-provoking, and fun activities that link to pop culture to demystify content such as biophysical agents (therapeutic modalities) in the online environment. Discussion boards allow students to communicate with each other and their professors within the Learning Management System (LMS) and are commonly used to promote participation, collaboration, and deeper learning.

Purpose: The purpose of this research project was to develop, implement, and assess the integration of an innovative discussion board activity in a module of biophysical agents in a Doctor of Physical Therapy program.

Methods: Convenience sampling was used to recruit physical therapy students enrolled in the class. The research design was a cross-sectional nonexperimental survey. Inspired by the popular Uber Eats commercial “Tonight, I'll be Eating ...” featuring Mark Hamill, Patrick Stewart, and many other celebrities, an asynchronized online discussion board activity was developed on Blackboard LMS to demystify thermal modalities. After the module on thermal modalities, each student was required to post a picture of their dinner and discuss the mechanisms of heat transfer needed to prepare the meal. The activity was implemented during the module on biophysical agents in the Fall semester of 2020. An online survey with 6 questions using the Likert scale was conducted at the end of the assignment for assessment. The survey was administered to all 42 students in the class using the Alchemer survey platform.

Results: Out of the 42 students, 41 (97.6%) students aged 23.1 (SD 1.4) years old, completed the survey. There were 30 Females, 10 Males, and one preferred not to answer. For the understanding of the topic, most students (63.4%) agreed that the discussion board activity improved their understanding of the topic. For engagement, most students (82.9%) agreed that the discussion board activity helped them engage in the course. For peer learning, most students (70.8%) agreed that the discussion board activity provided them the opportunity to learn from their peers. For diversity, most students (63.4%) agreed that the discussion board activity helped them appreciate the diversity in their class. For privacy, most students (87.8%) disagreed that posting their photos for the discussion board activity was an invasion of their privacy. Lastly, most students (73.2%) agreed that a similar discussion board activity would be helpful to their learning in future courses.

Conclusions: The asynchronized discussion board activity can be used in improving student learning and engagement and promoting diversity and peer learning among students.

Implications: The results provide insights for online or hybrid/blended learning in physical therapist education during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Funding acknowledgements: None.

Keywords:
Discussion boards
Biophysical agents
Education

Topics:
Education

Did this work require ethics approval? Yes

Institution: Youngstown State University

Committee: Institutional Review Board

Ethics number: 071-21