RCSI Bahrain adopts new teaching and learning strategy

TDT |Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland–Medical University of Bahrain (RCSI Bahrain) began its 2020-21 academic year with the goal of ensuring that all students are informed of the updates regarding the operations of the campus under the Ministry of Education’s (MoE) COVID-19 regulations and familiarise themselves with the new blended learning system.

With 55.8% of the School of Medicine students being international students and more than 300 new students joining the RCSI Bahrain student community for this academic year, the entire faculty and operational staff members dedicated the summer months to prepare for the return to campus of both newly joining and returning students.

To start off the academic year, new students received a series of engaging online introductions from the Students Services and Events Department along with the Student Development and Wellbeing unit during their orientation periods. They were provided with support on transitioning to university life, how to make the best use of university resources and where to obtain assistance when required.

New students were also assigned ‘Buddies’ who are older students acting as a friendly guide for the first academic year, to help them get involved in online academic and non-academic social engagement activities. Another initiative rolled out this year was the introduction of ‘Learning Communities’, whereby all classes are split into small groups and each group has dedicated on-campus hours each week.

This allows the University to control the number of students on campus at any one time and to comply with social distancing regulations in all campus facilities.

More importantly, the Learning Communities provide all students with an important sense of connection and support them in successfully navigating the transition to a blended learning experience. This year, RCSI Bahrain adopted a blended learning approach for its programme delivery, which includes using onsite face-to-face small group teaching sessions, laboratory and practical sessions, as well as live online interactive sessions, delivered by our academic faculty members.

To enhance the learning and teaching process, RCSI Bahrain applied the ‘flipped classroom’ blended learning approach, which focuses on student participation through active learning and engagement. To do so, the on-campus lecture theatres and tutorial rooms were rearranged to include a ‘Specktron’ screen, which is a large touchscreen computer that acts as a presentation tool for faculty members.

Additional TV screens were installed to ensure visibility to students in the back rows. The lectures are also live-streamed to the students attending the lectures from their homes. In addition, the University has acquired a license to ‘Turning Point’, a live polling system, which promotes greater interactivity.

Students attending a class either face-to-face or online can answer polls and questions posed by the instructor and receive live results through their laptop or mobile device. The President of RCSI Bahrain, Professor Sameer Otoom, commented: “There is no doubt that the current academic year is challenging.

However, our staff and faculty team have set out extensive plans to ensure that we have a comprehensive strategy to support our students through this period and provide them with the highest quality of teaching. “With the blended learning approach that the university has adopted, the combination of group classes and online teaching provides flexibility, while maintaining social distancing guidelines.

“As a focused health sciences university, we at RCSI Bahrain are immensely aware of our responsibility to support the delivery of healthcare around the world, and to prepare our students for the realities of professional practice in healthcare, whilst ensuring their safety and following the national protocol and guidance on public health.”