As a health science teacher, one of your most important roles is to teach your students hands-on skills.
But how can you teach and assess your students’ understanding of those skills when you’re teaching via distance learning?
As an account manager at AES, I’ve heard these concerns from many health science teachers since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Clinical skills require students to interact with other people in order to practice them. So it can seem somewhat impossible for students to accomplish this outside of your classroom.
However, the technology available today makes it easier than you may think!
I recorded this 2-minute video with three ideas on how your students can demonstrate their healthcare skills knowledge from home.
After you watch it, continue reading below to dig into the details:
Three ways your health science students can demonstrate their knowledge of hands-on skills from home are:
- Record a skills demonstration video
- Create a comic strip
- Analyze an existing demonstration video
In this article, you’ll learn the details of these strategies and which types of healthcare skills they work best for.
You’ll also discover how a digital health science curriculum can support you and your students with distance learning.
1. Record a Skills Demonstration Video
One of the most straightforward ways for your health science students to show how well they can follow a skills checklist is to record themselves doing a demonstration.
Preparation:
In order to do this assignment, your students will need access to a webcam or phone with a camera.
Before assigning this activity, send out a poll to find out if your students have the appropriate technology.
Assigning the Work:
When you’re ready to get started, ask the students to have a family member record a video of them going through the steps of a skill, using a sibling or other family member as the “patient.”
As they demonstrate the skill, your student should explain the steps of the procedure.
After the video is recorded, ask the student to upload and share it with you through your school’s learning management system (LMS).
Recommended Skills:
This type of recorded demonstration works well for clinical skills such as:
- Hand washing
- Measuring radial pulse
- Positioning patients using proper body mechanics
- Passive ROM exercises
2. Create a Comic Strip
If you have students who love being creative, they would appreciate an opportunity to express themselves - especially if it coincides with their pursuit of a healthcare career!
To make that happen, you can ask your students to create a comic strip that walks through the steps of an assigned skills checklist.
Assigning the Work:
Instruct them to draw each step of the skill and write down the explanation at each step.
Whether they draw it on paper and take a picture or use a digital tool, ask them to upload the finished skills checklist comic to your LMS for review.
Recommended Skills:
This strategy works well for skills and procedures that are easy to depict, such as:
- Scheduling appointments
- Greeting and identifying patients
- Opening and closing the medical office
- Making beds
3. Analyze an Existing Demonstration Video
If you recently introduced a new set of clinical skills, your students may not be ready to demonstrate the skills on their own.
In that case, you can assign your students to analyze and critique existing demonstration videos online.
Preparation:
If you have access to skills demonstration videos you would have used in class, you can share them with your students. Otherwise, ask them to look up their own examples from your list of recommended skills.
Assigning the Work:
Ask your students to watch the video, have them reference your skills checklist and note down which steps in the video follow the checklist correctly and which do not.
Then, they should send you the video link along with their analysis of the demonstration.
Along with demonstrating their knowledge, this type of assignment will help reinforce the importance of following the correct process you’re teaching.
Recommended Skills:
This analysis and critique works well for skills that your students can’t practice at home, such as:
Start Distance Learning in Your Health Science Classes with Digital Curriculum
Overall, these ideas can help you measure your students’ knowledge of clinical skills remotely.
However, teaching clinical skills is only one part of your role as a health science instructor.
You also need to plan lessons, assign work, teach concepts, and assess student progress.
If you’re like most health science teachers, you find it tough to fit all of these things into your schedule - especially while implementing distance learning.
If you’re looking for a way to save time in all aspects of your job while better preparing your students for their careers, consider checking out the AES digital curriculum HealthCenter21.
A digital curriculum can make your life easier both in your regular teaching circumstances and when teaching remotely.
It comes with more than 600 hours of curriculum and resources to help you teach CTE health science classes.
Wondering if HealthCenter21 is right for you and your students? Sign up for your free trial to find out:
