MSc in International Health and Tropical Medicine

• Group size: 30
• Teaching type: Postgraduate
• Division: Medical Sciences
• Subject: MSc in International Health and Tropical Medicine
• Tools: Canvas, Zoom, PowerPoint, Replay/Panopto, specialist camera, microphones and speakers

Delivery

The session was hosted by lecturer Roger Nascimento in a seminar room in Medical Sciences Division. There were approximately 20 students in the room, who were joined by around 6 students on Zoom. The session lasted three hours and consisted of a series of guest presentations followed by student questions. Two of the teachers were on Zoom while the third was in the classroom.  Students in the room were able to see the presentations on a projection screen, and the Zoom interactions on a large flat-screen display. The audio – both microphone and speakers – was delivered via specialist Nureva 'Mist' microphones.  There was also a moving camera to zoom in on and capture the speaker and students asking questions in the classroom.

The department employs DPhil students to work as Teaching Assistants (TAs) on the course. The TAs liaise closely with presenters about planning the hybrid sessions, for example, facilitating Zoom breakout rooms where needed. Before the live session, the admin team posts the Zoom links and loads pre-recorded videos and other materials onto Canvas. They also post the recordings after each session. During the session that we observed, one TA handled the audio-visual support, by managing communications within Zoom, such as allowing presenters into the session. They also operated the camera, focusing in on students asking questions in the room. 

Strengths

The sessions run well, benefitting from the specialist equipment, careful planning and support from TAs.

Limitations

The cost of specialist equipment needs to be considered and budgeted for. Additional cameras would improve the experience by ensuring that all students can be seen (in the example mentioned above, there were some video blind spots). A better remote control for the camera would make moving it around easier. Note that the speaker/microphone system is not compatible with other sound systems (which would be a problem if speakers needed microphones to be heard in the room). The course director felt that it would be difficult to run the session without the help of the TAs, particularly in terms of operating the audio-visual equipment.

Audio interview

For more pictures and to hear Proochista talk about the process of planning and delivering the session, see the audio interview (22mins 55sec).

Lecturer Roger Nascimento presenting one of the sessions

• Contributed by: Professor Proochista Ariana, course director for the MSc in International Health and Tropical Medicine, Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nuffield Department of Medicine, Medical Sciences Division.