Emergency Medicine Virtual Conference Participants’ Engagement with Competing Activities
Introduction: Residency didactic conferences transitioned to a virtual format during the COVID-19 pandemic. This format creates questions about effective educational practices, which depend on learner engagement. In this study we sought to characterize the competitive demands for learner attention d...
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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eScholarship Publishing, University of California
2022-01-01
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Series: | Western Journal of Emergency Medicine |
Online Access: | https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5881050p |
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author | Deena Khamees Charles William Kropf Sarah Tomlinson James A. Cranford Michele Carney Carrie Harvey Meg Wolff Mary R.C. Haas Laura R. Hopson |
author_facet | Deena Khamees Charles William Kropf Sarah Tomlinson James A. Cranford Michele Carney Carrie Harvey Meg Wolff Mary R.C. Haas Laura R. Hopson |
author_sort | Deena Khamees |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Introduction: Residency didactic conferences transitioned to a virtual format during the COVID-19 pandemic. This format creates questions about effective educational practices, which depend on learner engagement. In this study we sought to characterize the competitive demands for learner attention during virtual didactics and to pilot methodology for future studies. Methods: This was a prospective, observational, cohort study of attendees at virtual didactics from a single emergency medicine residency, which employed a self-report strategy informed by validated classroom assessments of student engagement. We deployed an online, two-question survey polling across six conference days using random signaled sampling. Participants reported all activities during the preceding five minutes. Results: There were 1303 responses over 40 survey deployments across six nonadjacent days. Respondents were residents (63.4%); faculty (27.5%); fellows (2.3%); students (2%); and others (4.8%). Across all responses, about 85% indicated engagement in the virtual conference within the last five minutes of the polls. The average number of activities engaged in was 2.0 (standard deviation = 1.1). Additional activities included education-related (34.2%), work-related (21.1%), social (18.8%), personal (14.6%), self-care (13.4%), and entertainment (4.4%). Conclusion: Learners engage in a variety of activities during virtual didactics. Engagement appears to fluctuate temporally, which may inform teaching strategies. This information may also provide unique instructor feedback. This pilot study demonstrates methodology for future studies of conference engagement and learning outcomes. |
first_indexed | 2024-04-11T15:22:51Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-d19f6719dfda4c918700d273f6c692be |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 1936-9018 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-04-11T15:22:51Z |
publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
publisher | eScholarship Publishing, University of California |
record_format | Article |
series | Western Journal of Emergency Medicine |
spelling | doaj.art-d19f6719dfda4c918700d273f6c692be2022-12-22T04:16:20ZengeScholarship Publishing, University of CaliforniaWestern Journal of Emergency Medicine1936-90182022-01-0123110.5811/westjem.2021.11.54001wjem-23-103Emergency Medicine Virtual Conference Participants’ Engagement with Competing ActivitiesDeena Khamees0Charles William Kropf1Sarah Tomlinson2James A. Cranford3Michele Carney4Carrie Harvey5Meg Wolff6Mary R.C. Haas7Laura R. Hopson8University of Texas, Department of Emergency Medicine, Houston, TexasUniversity of Michigan, Department of Emergency Medicine, Ann Arbor, MichiganUniversity of Michigan, Department of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics, Ann Arbor, MichiganUniversity of Michigan, Department of Emergency Medicine, Ann Arbor, MichiganUniversity of Michigan, Department of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics, Ann Arbor, MichiganUniversity of Michigan, Department of Emergency Medicine, Ann Arbor, MichiganUniversity of Michigan, Department of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics, Ann Arbor, MichiganUniversity of Michigan, Department of Emergency Medicine, Ann Arbor, MichiganUniversity of Michigan, Department of Emergency Medicine, Ann Arbor, MichiganIntroduction: Residency didactic conferences transitioned to a virtual format during the COVID-19 pandemic. This format creates questions about effective educational practices, which depend on learner engagement. In this study we sought to characterize the competitive demands for learner attention during virtual didactics and to pilot methodology for future studies. Methods: This was a prospective, observational, cohort study of attendees at virtual didactics from a single emergency medicine residency, which employed a self-report strategy informed by validated classroom assessments of student engagement. We deployed an online, two-question survey polling across six conference days using random signaled sampling. Participants reported all activities during the preceding five minutes. Results: There were 1303 responses over 40 survey deployments across six nonadjacent days. Respondents were residents (63.4%); faculty (27.5%); fellows (2.3%); students (2%); and others (4.8%). Across all responses, about 85% indicated engagement in the virtual conference within the last five minutes of the polls. The average number of activities engaged in was 2.0 (standard deviation = 1.1). Additional activities included education-related (34.2%), work-related (21.1%), social (18.8%), personal (14.6%), self-care (13.4%), and entertainment (4.4%). Conclusion: Learners engage in a variety of activities during virtual didactics. Engagement appears to fluctuate temporally, which may inform teaching strategies. This information may also provide unique instructor feedback. This pilot study demonstrates methodology for future studies of conference engagement and learning outcomes.https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5881050p |
spellingShingle | Deena Khamees Charles William Kropf Sarah Tomlinson James A. Cranford Michele Carney Carrie Harvey Meg Wolff Mary R.C. Haas Laura R. Hopson Emergency Medicine Virtual Conference Participants’ Engagement with Competing Activities Western Journal of Emergency Medicine |
title | Emergency Medicine Virtual Conference Participants’ Engagement with Competing Activities |
title_full | Emergency Medicine Virtual Conference Participants’ Engagement with Competing Activities |
title_fullStr | Emergency Medicine Virtual Conference Participants’ Engagement with Competing Activities |
title_full_unstemmed | Emergency Medicine Virtual Conference Participants’ Engagement with Competing Activities |
title_short | Emergency Medicine Virtual Conference Participants’ Engagement with Competing Activities |
title_sort | emergency medicine virtual conference participants engagement with competing activities |
url | https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5881050p |
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