Connecting the Classroom to the Real World

A Fall Webinar summary report, by Heather J. Hoffman, PhD, George Washington University

Dr. Amanda Ellis of the University of Kentucky College of Public Health presented the development and design of a fully online synchronous data analysis course in this webinar: Methods for Introducing the Future Public Health Workforce to Data Analysis.

Motivation and Approach

Dr. Ellis began with the motivation for the redesign of the fully online introductory data analysis course for Master of Public Health students. Specifically, the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) changed their evidence-based approaches to public health competencies, so Dr. Ellis modified her course to meet the following competencies.

- Select quantitative data collection methods appropriate for given public health context.

- Analyze quantitative data using biostatistics, informatics, computer-based programming, and software.

Dr. Ellis sought to incorporate feedback from both employers and students. To learn more about what employers are looking for, Dr. Ellis collaborated with the Kentucky Department of Public Health. They identified their training needs to be related to:

- statistical software,

- study and survey design,

- interviewing techniques,

- strong understanding of descriptive measures, and

- ability to effectively disseminate analyses in written communication.

Dr. Ellis also noticed that current students demand even more value from higher education institutions, where they want to gain practical skills that align with future employment prospects and make connections to how they will use content when they enter the workforce.

Course Development Goals

Dr. Ellis focused on what is needed for an Epidemiologic Profile/Report. The course development goals included:

- helping students connect course content to their future work,

- exposing students to software applications,

- providing an opportunity for collaborative work, and

- focusing on descriptive measures and communication.

Content Delivery and Assessment

Dr. Ellis exhibited how she uses the Canvas LMS to deliver the course content and assess the students. She provided more details on the types of materials given to students including objectives, lecture videos, customized notes with fill in the blanks for students to insert answers as they watch videos, optional readings, discussion boards, quizzes, and worksheets.

To assist students in writing their Epidemiologic Profile/Report, Dr. Ellis partnered with public health departments and structured the course around building one of these reports using data from the Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System. Dr. Ellis explained that students can work in groups on their reports, but they must complete worksheets individually so that everyone would have prework to contribute to the group. Dr. Ellis explained that this is a great way for students to learn from one another and to view tasks from different perspectives.

Dr. Ellis then shared examples of student work, revealing how much time and effort students invested to develop high quality products. Overall, student feedback was positive. Students:

- identified this as the most applicable course in their public health education,

- recognized assignments all had a purpose and the information was presented clearly,

- acknowledged the method of instruction prepares them for the workforce,

- expressed 8-10 hours per week on assignments was a heavy workload, and

- did not favor the unbalanced weighting of worksheets.

Lessons Learned

From the three times she has taught this course, Dr. Ellis learned that students:

- need help navigating an online course,

- need help with computing,

- prefer consistent due dates, and

- need individual work before group work but this can be time consuming.

Finally, Dr. Ellis shared that a student who enrolled in the course during the first iteration recently became second author on a report much like the one they completed in this course. That student was especially grateful to Dr. Ellis for the course and all it taught them about report writing in the real world.

Share Your Thoughts and Experiences

During the webinar, Dr. Ellis posed the following questions to the audience:

- What have you heard students want in the classroom?

- How can you help students connect the course content to their future work?

- What are some ways content delivery can mirror how students will interact with the content in their future work (e.g., blogs, training videos)?

- What are some deliverables that students could build while learning content?

We encourage you to think about how you would reply to each of these questions and consider leaving your response(s) in the comments below.