My educational design follows a consistent cycle: identify a learning need, develop an authentic, evidence-informed response, evaluate effectiveness, and embed it sustainably. This is exemplified in three examples.

When I became co-convenor of PATH3206 Cancer Pathology in 2017, its practical classes were dominated by histology. Most students were completing Science or Medical Science degrees and progressing towards graduate-entry medicine, research, clinical trials or the pharmaceutical industry. Entry-level work in these pathways was unlikely to involve histological diagnosis, while students entering medicine would revisit histology. Student feedback accordingly identified limited relevance of class content to their career aspirations. I redesigned all six practicals as a linked sequence following three patients with cancer from diagnosis through treatment to cure or death. Students now learnt content on clinical diagnosis, biostatistics, screening, treatment, research ethics and end-of-life care, providing authentic exposure to knowledge and skills relevant across diverse career pathways. An ethics-approved custom survey, separate from myExperience, found that most students preferred narrative-based learning and more than 90% reported perceived improvement in learning and retention (Rodrigo et al., 2019). Course satisfaction following redesign increased from 79.2% in 2017 to 93.5% in 2018 and 100% in 2019, remaining above the School average during 2020–2026. The effect therefore was sustained beyond my period as co-convenor.

I applied the same evidence-responsive approach to PATH3205 Molecular Basis of Disease as co-convenor. myExperience student satisfaction of PATH3205 reached a record high during COVID-19 restrictions in 2020 but declined as restrictions eased. I hypothesised that this online-ready course was especially valued when remote learning was unavoidable, but that predominantly online activities became less acceptable as face-to-face learning resumed. Rather than attributing the decline directly to course quality, I tested this hypothesis by comparing results by calendar year and prevailing restrictions. Ratings across all five myExperience domains were significantly more favourable during increasing than relaxing restrictions (Rodrigo et al., 2022). Converting research to action, I restored face-to-face practicals and tutorials (with the number incresaed from 5 to 8),  thematically reorganised course content to four modules, and aligned case-based assessments with learning outcomes. At formal feedback meetings, student representatives reported on behalf of the cohort that students particularly valued the restored practicals and tutorials. Following implementation in 2023, the myExprience course rating increased from 4.69/6 to 5.00/6, comparable with the School mean, while grade distributions remained stable and student failures were nil or rare.

Technology allowed me to extend authentic learning beyond conventional classes. I led an innovation for Phase 1 Medicine: an interactive liver pathology module integrating three-dimensional animations, videos, reconstructed CT images and clinical cases focussing on anatomical, radiological and pathological changes in alcohol-related, viral and metabolic chronic liver disease. Customised feedback at the end of completion captured students’ self-rated knowledge improvement from 3.93 to 7.04/10 on a Likert scale. Embedded within the Health Maintenance course from 2019–2026 for approximately 300 medical undergraduates each year, the module was subsequently adapted for PATH3205, demonstrating  transferable design.

Together, these examples demonstrate learner-responsive design followed by systematic evaluation, for sustainable implementation.

References

Rodrigo, C., Tedla, N., Thomas, S., Polly, P., Herbert, C., Velan, G., & Saunders, D. N. (2019). Using narratives to teach students enrolled in Science and Medical Science bachelor’s degree programs. Medical Science Educator, 29(2), 357–361. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-019-00698-1

Rodrigo, C., Herbert, C., Saunders, D., Thomas, S., & Polly, P. (2022). Influence of COVID-19 restrictions on student satisfaction with undergraduate pathology teaching in an Australian university. Frontiers in Education, 7, 1014906. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2022.1014906