Does Online Interprofessional Case-Based Learning Facilitate Collaborative Knowledge Construction?

Abstract

Introduction: COVID-19 pandemic has caused an impact on various sectors of life, including the education sector. During the COVID-19 pandemic, education from various levels could only be carried out online by utilizing various on-line media. In Health professional education context, one of the learning activities that must be shifted in online format was interprofessional education (IPE) program. This study aimed to evaluate students’ collaborative knowledge construction to evaluate the effectiveness of online interprofessional case-based learning (CBL) activities. Methods: This interventional study using quantitative and qualitative method involved a total of 476 students; consisted of 204 medical students, 39 midwifery students and 233 nursing students; who took part online interprofessional CBL. All students were divided into 34 mixed profession groups with 14 students each. To evaluate students’ collaborative knowledge construction during CBL, data were collected using the Maastricht Peer Activity Rating Scale (MPARS). Qualitative data exploring students’ perception regarding online IPE activity and their online CBL process were collected using Focus Group Discussion (FGD). Quantitative data were analysed using statistical tests, and the qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis. Results: Students’ scores for constructive, collaborative, and motivational activities evaluated using MPARS were considered as average to high. However, nursing students scored the lowest compared to the other two fellow professions: medical and midwifery students, on all items of the MPARS. Medical students had the highest MPARS scores. Several themes could be explored during the FGD. Discussion: This study revealed that students could engage in collaborative knowledge construction in interprofessional education implementing online interprofessional CBL. However, students thought that offline collaborative practice will better improve team bonding which is considered as prominent aspect for collaboration. This thought gives idea to the implementation of hybrid online offline learning for IPE.