On Friday the 9th of May Dr Stephanie Dowdell, our BEST Network Research Officer, represented the BEST Network Community at the UNSW Learning and Teaching Forum.

Thirty authors entered the forum displaying posters from a variety of backgrounds all focusing on how feedback can improve learning and teaching. The BEST Network Poster entitled “Slice- A tool to provide interactive histopathology feedback within Moodle: a BEST Network initiative” described the successful results of a deployment trial of Slice technology to advanced medical students.

Over 140 attendees were able to view the poster and interact with the BEST Network, increasing awareness of how the resources on offer could be used in their own classes. The day was a great success for all members of the BEST community and we look forward to more events displaying the diverse technology Slice and BEST offers. For more information about the Forum: http://teaching.unsw.edu.au/forum.

Nirmani, Diane, Betty, Jo and Steph with their poster.

Abstract:Slice; a new tool for providing interactive histopathology feedback within Moodle: a BEST Network initiative.

Johanna Elms, Simone Van Es, Betty Kan, Stephanie Dowdell, Baghya Nirmani Wijenayake, Diane Vukelic and Nicholas Hawkins, BEST Network Project, School of Medical Sciences.

Histopathology, the study of the microscopic appearance of disease, can be challenging to teach because of difficulties in providing individual feedback to students regarding their interpretation of features on microscope slides. While “virtual microscopy” based on digital imaging image repositories has allowed increased access to teaching slides for students both in and outside the classroom, the provision of effective feedback regarding identification and interpretation of microscopic features remains problematic. This is a key issue in teaching senior medical students at UNSW within a course on Rational Use of Investigations (RUI). The Biomedical Skills and Education (BEST) Network, led by UNSW and including several Australian universities, has developed an annotation tool for their image repository, Slice. The tool enables instantaneous teacher-student feedback regarding slides by sharing annotations on the course Moodle page. Fifteen students enrolled in the RUI course used Slice to annotate slides during practical classes, and shared their annotations in an embedded Moodle database. The database allowed students to instantly access, review and provide feedback on the work of their colleagues. It also allowed the teacher to access and review student conceptions in real-time, and to facilitate individual and class discussion. Students captured individual and group feedback through further annotation of their images. The use of Slice in conjunction with Moodle supports instantaneous feedback within the class environment, both amongst students and the demonstrator, thereby enhancing the learning and teaching experience.

The poster displayed at the event.