Flipped online teaching of histology and embryology with design thinking: Design, practice and reflection

Abstract

Abstract Background Flexible hybrid teaching has become the new normal of basic medical education in the postepidemic era. Identifying ways to improve the quality of curriculum teaching and achieve high-level talent training is a complex problem that urgently needs to be solved. Over the course of the past several semesters, the research team has integrated design thinking (DT) into undergraduate teaching to identify, redesign and solve complex problems in achieving curriculum teaching and professional talent training objectives. Methods After attempting online and offline hybrid traditional teaching, the aim of the research is to study the positive attempt of online flipped teaching using two selected course chapters. The research team redesigned the curriculum and evaluation method involved in teaching these chapters and implemented them in accordance with this new curriculum, aiming at the problems uncovered in the initial attempts. Thus, the curriculum and questionnaire should have shown improvement, and iterative products should have been applied in a timelier manner in the later attempts at flipped teaching. The selected sample comprised the Jining Medical College (JNMC) undergraduate oral (112 students) and nursing (44 students) classes. Student performance was measured according to the questionnaire results, student feedback and course grades. GraphPad Prism software was used for data analysis, and the statistical method was conducted by multiple or unpaired t test. Results Most students report a positive attitude towards the teaching model, and nearly 80% of students reported exercising multiple abilities while learning the material. This further iteration of the design scheme improves the teaching effect of online flipped classrooms. The exam scores for flipped teaching chapters increase markedly in flipped classrooms, and the difference is statistically significant. Conclusion Online flipped teaching is an effective means of integrating DT into the flexible and mixed teaching of Health Education (HE), and it can effectively enhance students' learning input and cultivate students' autonomous learning ability. This research reshapes the approach to classroom teaching through the deep integration of modern information technology into educational philosophy. Future work should explore the optimal proportion by which to appropriately expand the scope of flipped teaching content.