Re-imagining science education in 21st century – The art of engaging digital native learners

Dr Sathana Dushyanthen
Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences

The cancer sciences are a complex field of study that have conventionally been taught in a highly didactic and two-dimensional manner. The newly developed wholly online Master of Cancer Sciences program challenges traditional pedagogical perspectives of adult learning in graduate education. In developing this degree, the cancer science team has catered specifically to ‘modern era’ learners who have been conditioned through exposure to the swipe and scroll culture and the bitesize #learnonTikTok arena to need shorter, higher yield and more engaging materials to hold increasingly volatile attention spans.

This presentation explores the educational perspectives of learning design in the online environment, challenging the pedagogy of traditional teaching practices. It will discuss challenges involved and the approaches taken to develop a contemporary and dynamic program, particularly through the use of short, animated videos as a replacement for the traditional ‘one-hour lecture’

This Zoom presentation was part of the Melbourne CSHE Teaching and Learning Conference 2021 held on Wednesday 2 June 2021.