Survey feedback indicated that students enjoyed the Pre-Matriculation program and found it helpful despite the move to an online-only curriculum. Students state that it helped with time management, familiarity with medical school demands, mastery of technology, and adjusting to the predominantly online curriculum during Year 1. We surmise that COVID restrictions and the online-only contributed to an increase in study time in the 2020 cohort, as seen in Figure C. However, the formation of learning communities was not affected, as Figure E indicates no statistical difference between the 2020 and 2019 cohorts’ response. The facilitator-lead social activities via Zoom and check- were ranked as less important to the 2020 cohort; the data suggests that socialization was negatively impacted. At this juncture in our data analysis, it appears that online only delivery of a pre-matriculation program can be effective at preparing students to succeed in medical school. The increase in CBCL/small-group discussions were beneficial, however additional work may need to be done to increase the ability to form learning communities given a strictly virtual platform.

A Pre-Matriculation Program in the Time of COVID-19: A Case Study on Virtual Learning Community Formation as a Metric of Success

Ben Franco*, Victoria Johnston*, Loza Kebret*, Linzy Kirkpatrick*, Cayla Teal, PhDUniversity of Kansas School of Medicine , Kansas City, KS and Office of Medical Education

*Authors contributed equally

PURPOSETo survey and interview participants of the 2020 University of Kansas School of Medicine’s Pre-matriculation Program, to explore the impact of active learning and virtual content delivery on learning community formation. Previous iterations of the KU SOM PM Program have been conducted completely in-person.

• Online content delivery can be an effective alternative to the traditional, in-person structure of Pre-matriculation programs.

• The formation of learning communities was not hindered by sole online interaction between students.

• The structure of the Pre-matriculation program and efforts put forth by the program’s facilitators proved effective in fostering the development of learning communities.

• Students spent more hours studying than the previous year’s cohort, and did not utilize group studying, which we hypothesize to be an impact of online learning and/or COVID-19 restrictions.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

ANALYSIS OME post program survey data from 2019 and 2020 was analyzed using an independent samples t-test, with non-parametric tests for sensitivity testing. Regardless of statistical method, there were no differences between the students’ responses in the items 1-2, 3-4, and 6-34 for the years 2019 and 2020.

Data from the Phase 1 survey was analyzed with descriptive statistics. Group comparisons were made using independent samples t tests with nonparametric tests for sensitivity testing.

As of 10/17/2020, we have received 14 Survey 2 responses, and conducted 6 interviews. Data collection is still ongoing, and we expect this data to be analyzed by the end of 2020.

RESULTS

A learning community is defined as a group of people who share common academic goals and meet regularly to collaborate. Due to SARS-CoV-2, the 2020 KU SOM PM Program was held entirely online. We used innovative approaches to aid in virtual content delivery, online interactions and to foster the growth of virtual learning communities. These included: a PM Primer on Zoom©, a PM Facebook© page discussion board, a GroupMe©, Kahoot!© review sessions, Case Based Collaborative Learning (CBCL), and virtual extracurricular social events. We suggest that by conducting PM programs virtually, supplemented with community building activities, an effectual learning community can be created.

BACKGROUND

L

DEMOGRAPHICS Figure BFigure A

Figure A. Nearly all Pre-Matric participants had a positive experience with the online mode of delivery of the program, and many developed their learning communities through Pre-Matric.

Figure B. Our students mostly utilized self-study; only a few students occasionally studied with other groups. This could be due in part to inaccessibility of their peers, or lack of interest in group study via online methods.

Figures D and E. Most aspects of Pre-Matric were important to our students, except for the facilitator check-ins and the social activities. Figure E shows that both this year’s and last year’s cohort found Pre-Matric important and that it

established their support system and learning community.

Figure C

Figure C. The 2020 online Pre-Matric cohort had more students studying for a greater number of hours compared to the 2019 in-person cohort. This could be explained by the shift to an online-only curriculum and COVID limiting the ability of

students to socialize during the months of the program.

OME Survey Question2019 Mean

2020 Mean

I have a group of peers with whom I plan to study with during the academic year. 3.53/5 3.33/5

I have established a support network of peers that I can rely on and trust for

support and help4.18/5 4.05/5

I am likely to use a study group as an additional resource for my studying 3.94/5 3.86/5

I believe that if I had not participated in Pre-Matriculation, I would have likely

struggled during Year 14.0/5 4.0/5

Figure D Figure E

CONCLUSION

METHODS

The KU SOM Pre-matriculation Program is a diversity-based program, which includes students from an array of racial, ethnic, socio-economic, educational, and rural and urban settings. Figure (left) shows demographics represented in the 2020 Survey 1 responses.