MONASH PUBLIC HEALTH PREVENTIVE MEDICINE How do students

MONASH PUBLIC HEALTH & PREVENTIVE MEDICINE How do students perform when completing an accelerated, online Masters program? Professor Dragan Ilic, Dr Nazmul Karim, A/Prof Basia Diug Director of Teaching & Learning, Head, Medical Education Research & Quality (MERQ) unit School of Public Health & Preventive Medicine, Monash University Monash Centre for Scholarship in Health Education

Courses at SPHPM § Multimodal – Master of Public Health (MPH) – Master of Health Management (MHM) 2

Courses at SPHPM § Online – Master of Public Health – Master of Health Administration § Carousel approach 3

Research opportunities § Is there a difference in student performance across the two types of courses? – 6 week versus 12 week duration § Is there a difference in student satisfaction across the two types of courses? – Student Evaluation of Teaching Units (SETU) § Does performance differ between domestic and international students? 4

Performance and SETU: online vs on-campus Mode Code Unit title Numbers Pass rate Grade median SETU Online – TP 4 MPH 5301 Health systems and policy 136 91. 11% C 3. 60 Multimodal MPH 5269 Foundations of health policy 67 92. 54% C 3. 56 Online – TP 5 MPH 5302 Biostatistics: Concepts and applications 137 93. 50% D 4. 55 Multimodal MPH 5041 Introductory biostatistics 143 94. 51% D 4. 77 Online – TP 6 MPH 5303 Epidemiology of infectious diseases 75 100% D 4. 71 Multimodal MPH 5218 Infectious diseases: Epidemiology and prevention 15 100. 00% D 4. 72 Online – TP 1 MPH 5304 Leading and managing in public health and health care 40 92. 50% C 3. 97 Multimodal MPH 5266 Clinical leadership and management 89 92. 13% C 4. 08 Online – TP 2 MPH 5305 Epidemiology: Concepts and applications 58 87. 93% C 3. 95 Multimodal MPH 5040 Introductory epidemiology 156 93. 59% C 4. 07 Online – TP 5 MPH 5307 Introduction to health law principles 93 95. 70% C 3. 75 Multimodal MPH 5265 Law for health systems 63 96. 83% D 4. 18 5

Performance and SETU: online vs on-campus Mode Code Unit title Numbers Pass rate Grade median SETU Online - TP 1 MPH 5308 Developing health systems 113 84. 96% C 2. 98 Multimodal MPH 5272 Reform and development of health services 49 95. 92% C 4. 12 Online – TP 2 MPH 5309 Occupational health and safety 67 85. 07% D 4. 57 Multimodal MPH 5241 Introduction to occupational health and safety 19 89. 47% D 3. 67 Online – TP 3 MPH 5310 Introduction to environmental health 39 87. 18% D 4. 04 Multimodal MPH 5203 Environmental influences on health 27 92. 59% C 4. 67 Online – TP 4 MPH 5314 Epidemiology of chronic disease 72 91. 67% D 4. 18 Multimodal MPH 5207 Chronic disease: Epidemiology and prevention 37 94. 59% D 4. 78 Online – TP 4 MPH 5311 Safety and quality in health care 35 91. 43% C 4. 35 Multimodal MPH 5267 Principles of health care quality improvement 89 93. 26% D 4. 12 Online – TP 2 MPH 5312 Advances in managing patient care processes 57 96. 49% C 4. 75 Multimodal MPH 5286 Applying and practicing the principles of patient safety and quality improvement 22 100. 00% D 4. 93 6

Impact of the 6 week teaching period Strongly disagree (1) – Strongly agree (5) The current TP structure was one of the main considerations in choosing the course I am enrolled in. 2. 27% 9. 09% 13. 64% 36. 36% 38. 64% 4. 00 The current TP structure allows me to digest learning material in sufficient time. 4. 55% 13. 64% 6. 81% 56. 82% 18. 18% 3. 70 With the current TP structure, I have sufficient time to complete assessment tasks in a timely manner. 4. 55% 20. 45% 25. 00% 45. 45% 4. 55% 3. 25 With the current TP structure, I can balance my studies with other commitments, such as family and careers. 6. 98% 16. 28% 23. 26% 48. 84% 4. 55% 3. 28 7

Discontinuation N (%) Unit completed # MPH MHA Discontinued Not Discontinued 62 (29. 1) 151 (70. 9%) 56 (29. 3) 135 (70. 7%) 1 -3 44 (71. 0) 5 (3. 3) 28 (50. 0) 7 (5. 2) 4 -6 9 (14. 5) 42 (27. 8) 18 (32. 1) 38 (28. 1) > 6 9 (14. 5) 104 (68. 9) 10 (17. 9) 90 (66. 7) Test statistics 24 (77. 4) 82 (68. 9) 13 (50. 0) 77 (70. 0) Intermission number P < 0. 001 None 1 -2 2 (6. 5) 15 (12. 6) 1 (3. 8) 12 (10. 9) 3 -4 5 (16. 1) 15 (12. 6) 7 (26. 9) 17 (15. 5) >4 0 (0. 0) 7 (5. 9) 5 (19. 2) 4 (3. 6) Reason for discontinued Unable to cope with the load P =0. 373 P = 0. 009 16 (25. 8) - 16 (28. 6) - 4 (7. 1) - Major health/life event 9 (14. 5) - Alternative exit taken 8 (12. 9) - 13 (23. 2) - Financial or failed to re-enroll 11 (17. 7) - 10 (17. 9) - New employment/relocation 03 (4. 8) - 06 (10. 7) - Course expectation not met 7 (11. 3) - 03 (0. 5. 4) - 03 (4. 8) 05 (8. 1) - 03 (5. 4) - - 01 (01. 8) - No reason stated Excluded by Faculty 8

Online students § Students failing 2 or more units were more likely to discontinue – OR-2. 53; 95%CI: 1. 21 -5. 29 § Students completing at least 25% of the course were less likely to discontinue – OR-0. 03; 95%CI: 0. 02 -0. 06 § Intermission in a previous unit did not decrease the odds of discontinuation – OR-2. 53; 95%CI: 1. 43 -4. 89 9

Domestic vs international performance DOM/INT Unit title Mean SE DOM P<0. 05 Clinical leadership and management 64. 8 1. 5 INT Clinical leadership and management 62. 1 2. 7 DOM Introductory epidemiology 68. 7 1. 0 * INT Introductory epidemiology 61. 5 3. 0 * DOM Law for health systems 73. 6 2. 0 INT Law for health systems 76. 2 2. 8 DOM Principles of health care quality improvement 67. 3 1. 6 INT Principles of health care quality improvement 70. 3 2. 1 DOM Reform and development of health services 66. 7 2. 0 INT Reform and development of health services 69. 7 3. 4 DOM Foundations of health policy 62. 7 1. 4 * INT Foundations of health policy 52. 9 6. 1 * DOM Introductory biostatistics 70. 1 1. 4 INT Introductory biostatistics 66. 7 3. 9 DOM Chronic disease: Epidemiology and prevention 66. 2 3. 3 INT Chronic disease: Epidemiology and prevention 66. 6 2. 9 10

Outcomes so far… § Quality and satisfaction between multimodal and online units is equivalent § Predictors of discontinuation – Failing 2+ units – <25% of course completion – Support required for adjustment to 6 week teaching period § International student support – Weekly seminars – Specific online learning materials – Student academic support (inc. peer) 11

Thank you Professor Dragan Ilic dragan. ilic@monash. edu @Dragan. Ilic 99 @MERQMU 12