The Doctor is In! Using medical dramas as bonus opportunities to enhance engagement and applied learning by Sarah Gaughan, Ph.D.
Many students are finding it difficult to engage in coursework with the multitude of stressors that the COVID pandemic has brought upon us. As a result, grades may be lower than in previous terms and morale is lower overall. Finding ways to re-engage students in coursework and offer them additional opportunities to earn points are becoming more important for students to find success in the classroom right now. Medical dramas have been a popular source of entertainment and often present real-life clinical studies with dramatic overtones. Students are often already invested in one (or more) of these popular dramas so using them as bonus opportunities provides good opportunities to re-engage students with course material, provide an opportunity for them to earn back some missed points, and most importantly encourages them to practice applied learning techniques. This session will provide an overview of some of the medical dramas that are appropriate to some of the courses at Bellevue University and offers strategies about how to employ medical dramas in a way that facilitates applied learning.