Electrifying a medical school course: a case study.

Background: At Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, the Dean charged the curriculum office to "electrify the curriculum." An instructional development team chose a 2nd-year course to serve as a model e-course and to provide evaluation data for a 2-year study.

Description: The instructional development process used instructional and Web design principles. An evaluation plan included a number of data collection methods: e-mail surveys, a focus group, student diaries, and comprehensive end-of-course student assessments. The e-course allowed students to take advantage of learning opportunities that traditional face-to-face instruction normally does not.

Evaluation: Students found access to multiple images; interactivity; and meaningful, efficient navigation within the site to be useful. Web-based instruction shows promise to aid students in the transition from concept acquisition to complex "doctor thinking." It does not replace the need for human teachers.

Conclusion: The authors conclude with instructional design suggestions to exploit the power of Web-based teaching for the enhancement of complex learning.