ISRRT_COVID-19_book

Due to severe COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in the 2020 academic year (AY2020), students
were not able to enter the clinical platforms. This resulted in T, L & A of clinical outcomes
being changed to written assignments such as worksheets, case studies and questions on
journal articles instead of the simulated and actual patient clinical assessments. In the
AY2021, we were able to improve the alignment between T, L&A as we made use of several
online software packages (RadCrit, ‘Primal pictures’ anatomy). Virtual environment (e.g. VERT
software) programmes were used and well as ultrasound imaging phantoms. When lockdown
restrictions eased, we were able to offer small group tutorials, applying strict COVID-19 rules
for small gatherings.
We have had our share of challenges regarding issue of integrity of online assessments and
have learnt to ask questions in a much more applied way in order to minimize the student’s
chances of finding ‘model’ answers through an online search. For assignments, we saw an
increase in plagiarism, when students ‘misunderstood’ instructions for group work and what
constitutes submitting individual work. In an attempt to clarify any ‘misunderstandings’ we
wrote very specific guidelines for groupwork which was then included in the students study
guides.
Conclusion
We suggest that it should be mandatory for all students entering our undergraduate
programmes to have access to a computer. A large proportion of our students receive
bursaries from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), a portion of which could
be allocated to the purchase of a computer. Another option would be to issue students with
computers, the cost of which could be debited to their account and paid off over the duration
of their studies. Furthermore, to circumvent students behaving unethically in assessments,
we have instituted the use of an ‘honour pledge’ in which students commit to ethical
behaviour during assessments.
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