Will COVID-19 change the way we teach medical physics post pandemic?
- PDF / 313,443 Bytes
- 4 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 16 Downloads / 158 Views
GUEST EDITORIAL
Will COVID‑19 change the way we teach medical physics post pandemic? A. Haworth1 · A. L. Fielding2 · S. Marsh3 · P. Rowshanfarzad4 · A. Santos5,6 · P. Metcalfe7 · R. Franich8
© Australasian College of Physical Scientists and Engineers in Medicine 2020
For many people around the world, COVID-19 brought about a rapid and massive change in the way we work. As we move forward out of the crisis, we now reflect on the way we adapted to working from home and consider if this experience will change the way we live and work in the future. On 4 May 2020, the Australian Institute of Physics (AIP) released a position statement entitled “Temporary replacement of face-to-face classes by online delivery in physics courses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic” [1]. Whilst the report acknowledged an online approach to teaching was necessary during the crisis, it called for wider debate on how the positive outcomes of this approach can be integrated into teaching practices without losing sight of the successful reputation of the largely face-to-face and hands-on physics education. In this editorial, we (the course coordinators for each of Australia and New Zealand’s ACPSEM accredited medical physics programs) review the content of this position statement, reflect on our own experiences as we reach the end of semester one, and consider how we will move forward for the remainder of the year and beyond. Whilst the AIP position statement acknowledges that we still face an uncertain future, it is clear that the AIP’s view is that a predominantly online mode of teaching should only
be viewed as a short-term measure to deal with a temporary emergency. The comments are largely based on highschool and undergraduate teaching. We therefore ask if the arguments against continuing online apply to the ACPSEM accredited postgraduate medical physics courses? The arguments presented by the AIP for returning to predominantly face-to-face teaching are based on preserving the excellent reputation of Australian physics teaching which is based on (a) the predominantly face-to-face teaching methods and the hands-on curriculum (b) high levels of student–student and teacher–student interaction and (c) invigilated examinations. Considering each of these points and how they relate to the pre-COVID-19 teaching we make the following observations:
* A. Haworth [email protected]
1
School of Physics, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
2
A. L. Fielding [email protected]
Science & Engineering Faculty, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia
3
S. Marsh [email protected]
School of Physical and Chemical Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
4
P. Rowshanfarzad [email protected]
Department of Physics, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
5
A. Santos [email protected]
School of Physical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
6
P. Metcalfe [email protected]
Department of Medical Physi
Data Loading...
