Students’ generated e-learning content – an interdisciplinary approach to enhancing professional competences

Abstract

A way to implement experiential learning (learning by doing) in higher education is to involve students in the preparation of teaching materials. Student participation in content development increases engagement, supports higher-order thinking and skills, develops creativity and collaboration skills, increases motivation to learn, and can lead to the creation of a product of lasting value. In this article, we present a case study of the creation of an e-lesson by students. The experiment is interdisciplinary and includes activities from the study disciplines „Working with software products“ and „Radiation protection“ from the curriculum of the degree „Professional Bachelor“, specialty „X-ray Laboratory Technician“ at the Medical College of the Medical University of Plovdiv. The purpose of the study is to find out how well students can cope with the design, preparation and publication of an e-lesson on a special subject, what is the quality and usability of the content created, and to investigate the satisfaction and experience of students – authors. The team was formed at the request of the students. The topic they chose was „Radiation protection in imaging departments. ALARA“ from the course „Radiation protection“. The lesson was prepared and published on the Moodle e-learning system. Preliminary preparation included a brief tutorial on creating activities and resources in Moodle, guidelines for setting lesson objectives, familiarization with good practices for producing text resources, presentations and video content, discussion of software choices for producing course content, instructions and guidelines regarding lesson elements and their structuring. Students did research, collected data and information, created the content and published it in appropriate file formats. The team received constant support from the teachers, including didactic guidance, technical assistance, advice on content selection from experts in the relevant subject area, and this motivated them to work with desire and interest. The results of the conducted surveys show that the product created has the necessary characteristics and qualities to be used for teaching, both in terms of content and layout. The benefits for engaged students are enriching the experience, deepening the understanding of the studied material, training higher cognitive abilities, improving teamwork skills with fellow students and teachers. They rate the work as requiring effort and time, as one of the most engaging assignments of the semester. The remaining students received a quality e-lesson designed according to the students’ understanding of learning organization. Despite the challenges, the benefits of involving students in instructional design are many, and such practices should be encouraged and more widely adopted to improve educational outcomes and better prepare students for work in a professional environment.