Authors: Catherine Porter, Catherine Collin, Janna Ajmal, Samra Syed

Team members: Arij Dar, Fateema Gani, Amy Le, Natasha Qader

TBL (Team Based Learning) is a pedagogical strategy designed to foster collaboration, critical thinking, and the application of knowledge. It is particularly effective in healthcare education, promoting teamwork and problem solving, essential skills for optometrists. Our new integrated Optometry master’s programme at Manchester, launched in September 2024, embeds TBL from the first year to enhance student engagement and learning.

Our co-creation journey began with a two-week pause from the traditional TBL sessions. One staff member, Catherine Collin (CC), asked the student teams to identify a tricky topic and devise an application exercise (complete with facilitation notes and debrief plans) that could consolidate learning for the entire year group. The students used Padlet to design their sessions, and their creativity and engagement were remarkable, providing valuable insights into their TBL needs and a wealth of ideas for further development.

An example –

Catherine Collin – One group had chosen the anatomy of the tissues around the eye including the muscles and created a paper model which they had uploaded to the Padlet. Binocular vision and how the muscles move the eye was a topic that Catherine Porter was delivering lectures on and so I forwarded her the Padlet.

Catherine Porter – Previously had very little interaction with the first and second years, which has been frustrating because binocular vision has been poorly understood and disliked by students in the past. They have struggled to make the link between the theoretical and the clinical aspects and found binocular vision a “difficult” topic and struggled to visualise the muscles and their actions while moving the eye.

Co-creation involves students in the design and development of learning activities, empowering them as active participants rather than as passive recipients of knowledge. This approach offers several advantages.

• Increased Engagement: Students feel a sense of ownership, which makes them more motivated to participate.
• Enhanced Relevance: The content is aligned with students’ learning needs and perspectives.
• Development of Higher-Order Thinking: Encourages analytical and critical thinking through problem-solving.
• Improved Retention: Active involvement leads to deeper information processing.
• Collaboration and Teamwork Skills: Reflects real-world scenarios in which healthcare professionals work in teams.

I built on group eleven’s initial idea and created a model from items around the house; it didn’t work as a tennis ball was too heavy and the “muscles’ wouldn’t stick. Therefore, I bought the materials from a craft shop. The session consisted of a model-building exercise, a quiz on the muscles and the directions of gaze. Students were given materials to build a model eye using plastic balls, ribbons, gauze, and large egg boxes. They were then able to visualize the action of each muscle and how they moved the eye, which was an opportunity to help students gain valuable insight into how the eye moved.

The year group reported that their confidence in knowing eye muscle actions and innervation increased. The word cloud shown asked for the three words that they used to describe the session.

As the session was well-received, we interviewed the students who were delighted that their exercise had been selected. Thematic analysis of their responses revealed the following insights:

• Students found it challenging to visualize anatomical structures. Creating a model helped them understand how different parts interact and where everything is located.
• The exercise aided revision and consolidated their knowledge by asking questions on the topic. It helped the students understand complex areas like muscle interactions better.
• Students appreciated the interactive and fun nature of the group activity, which made learning more effective.
• One student believed the co-creating of teaching materials was beneficial as students know what learning techniques work best for them and helps make exercises more interactive and engaging.

Student quotes

“I got to see how everything came together and it was really nice because like, it really made everything clearer, like making the model was really fun to do as a group. And then, I think the best part for me was the quiz at the end, because that was really putting your knowledge together and making everything really clear. “

“I’ve realised that it takes a lot of effort and work, like you guys put in so much time to make the sessions for us and it’s really and I think we really appreciate that more now seeing how hard it is because you have to think about so many different things. It is not just like oh, try, and go over a topic. So yeah, it made me more appreciative of everything. “

Conclusions

Our co-creation journey in developing TBL sessions has been a rewarding experience it was as much fun for the staff as the students, providing new approaches to collaborative revision strategies, and enhancing student engagement. As staff, this co-creation process has also provided valuable insights that help identify areas where students struggle and preferences for gamification and team competition

We look forward to continuing this journey and exploring new ways of promoting active learning and student involvement.

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