Evaluation of the introduction of a synchronous online induction for postgraduate diploma students.

O'Byrne, Rose-Marie; White, Simon

Abstract

Background:

A previous qualitative study identified the need for postgraduate clinical diploma distance-learning students to have a synchronous induction.(O’Byrne,2022) An induction session was created, starting in January 2022 for each new cohort of students, which occurred monthly. Evaluation of inductions has previously been identified as important.(Billing,1997)

Aim:

To evaluate the content and usefulness of a synchronous online induction session.

Methods:

Ethical approval was not required as this was a service evaluation. An online evaluation form was created using Microsoft Teams® which attendees were asked to anonymously complete at the end of each induction session. Respondents rated the content and usefulness of the session using the rating scale 1 (least useful) - 5 (most useful). Responses were collated in an Excel spreadsheet for descriptive analysis of the quantitative data and thematic grouping of points made in free-text responses (Clarke & Braun,2017).

Results:

88 students between January-December 2022, attended an induction session. 31% of session attendees completed the evaluation. Questionnaire rated responses are shown in table 1.

Table 1:Questionnaire responses:


How useful you found: Mean Score

Welcome activity 4.62

Resources information 4.73

Referencing 4.46

Assessment overview 4.74

Communication and support 4.82


Three overarching themes emerged from the qualitative data:

‘‘Positive experience’:

“Please provide for all. Was very important to me to see humans and not just emails”[P1],

‘Problems with advance information and access’ and

‘Wanting more content ’

Discussion:

Although the findings are limited to one University, this evaluation suggested that respondents found the induction useful and supports the view that postgraduate distance learning students should have a synchronous induction to enable them to see peers and staff.(McPherson et al.,2017) Key implications include ensuring advance information is clear on session content for students and recognising that students will likely appreciate having an opportunity for face-to-face interaction with peers and staff.

• Presentation Conference Type: Poster
• Conference Name: Pharmacy Education Conference 2023
• Conference Location: Stopford building, Oxford road, The University of Manchester, UK
• Start Date: Sep 11, 2023
• End Date: Sep 11, 2023
• Deposit Date: Feb 6, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 12, 2024
• Keywords: Pharmacist, Postgraduate education, Induction
• Publisher URL: https://sites.manchester.ac.uk/pharmacy-education-conference/