Case 1: Communication and Interview Skills

The Study:

A study conducted by Noordman, Vander Weijden and Van Dulmen (2010) examined the effects of individual video feedback on communication skills, clinical competence (adherence to practice guidelines), and interviewing skills of nurses working in primary care. The study involved 17 nurses and 325 patients in which nurse-patient consultations were video-taped at two sessions with an interval of 3-6 months. Before the recordings, nurses were allocated to a control or video-feedback group. Nurses allocated to the video-feedback group received video-feedback between the two sessions.

Findings:

The results indicated that nurses who received video-feedback appeared to pay significantly more attention to patient’s request for help, to accuracy in their head-to-toe examination,  and gave significantly more understandable information to the patient. Moreover, in regards to interview skills, nurses in the video-feedback group appeared to pay more attention to ‘agenda setting and permission seeking’ during their consultations. Effectively, the study demonstrated that video-feedback may be an effective method to improve the generic communication skills of practicing nurses in the health sector. “Although a single video-feedback session does not seem sufficient to increase all motivational interviewing skills, significant improvement in some specific skills was found.”

A full link to the study may be found here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24588648

Case 2: Working with a Human Patient Simulator

The Study:

A similar study was conducted by Grant, Moss, Epps, and Watts (2010) to evaluate the effect of video-facilitated human patient simulator (HPS) practice and guidance on a student’s clinical performance. Students were given various roles and were evaluated on behaviors related to patient safety, communication, prioritization of care, implementation of appropriate interventions and delegation other health care team members. The study had 20 students from nursing and nursing anesthetist programs who participated in HPS practice and guidance with video feedback compared to a group of 20 students who participated in HPS practice and guidance that used oral feedback alone, in order to identify performance indicators that were sensitive to improvement.

Findings:

The study showed that there was a significant difference between the the intervention group exposed to video feedback and the control group on three of the desired simulation behaviours: patient identification, team communication, and assessing vital signs. The highest number of desired behaviors were exhibited by the intervention group. Although there were no huge differences between the intervention group exposed to video feedback and the control group in total performance scores, the mean scores on the desired simulation behaviors were higher in the former.  This is great evidence that video-recording and feedback provides advantages in exactly the practices and skills that you would expect it to improve. Moreover, the students in the intervention group in this study expressed great satisfaction with the idea of viewing their performance on video and receiving feedback. We note that this was 2010, and the video recordings were not made available to the students on the internet and the feedback was not pinpointed to times on the videos, except by reference to the minute where it occurred.

A link to the full study may be found here: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876139909005325

Case 3: Emergency Care

Method

A study was conducted by Anita Nystrom in 2014 on 44 undergraduate nursing students. The primary aim was to examine the experiences of nursing students being video-recorded during an examination and of receiving feedback on their performance. The examination involved providing proper and effective emergency care for a simulated patient. Descriptive in design, the study tested the effectiveness using a qualitative approach with written answers and open ended questions.

Findings

The study revealed a great deal about the usage of video-recordings and feedback. While some students reported feeling tension knowing that their examination would be recorded, many of the subjects felt the dialogue with and responses from the teacher in connection with visualized feedback were beneficial the process was an excellent learning opportunity for the process of emergency care. As reported by Nystrom

“The students described how this opened their eyes to their own actions, and that visualization provided an opportunity to increase self-knowledge, both as a person and regarding their role as a nurse. The video-recording allowed them to see clearly and reconnect to what they had done and what they had neglected to do, which enabled the students to prepare for their future professional role.”

A link to the full study may be found here: http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:648405/FULLTEXT03

Video-enabled learning is better for mastering skills

Overall, these case studies demonstrate that within the health sector, video-recording and video based feedback are viable valuable educational tools which promote dialogue, increased self-knowledge and professional growth for nursing students. They are very effective in bolstering students’ communication and interview skills, their abilities with HPS, and their ability to handle an emergent situation. However, as with other professions, the effectiveness of the feedback is heavily dependent on the feedback process, and the ability of the instructor to provide timely criticisms.   Giving students clear and constructive feedback on their work in progress is just as important as giving clear instructions for the assignment itself, and platforms like WeVu help provide a nuanced solution to this problem. The software not only allows for students to see what happened and learn from their experiences but also provides an effective outlet for instructors to give students feedback throughout the learning process. The accessibility of the video for student reflection, peer feedback, instructor coaching, and assessment – plus the comments appearing at the right time and place on the video – makes it even more likely that we will see learning gains from the use of video for skills learning.

The WeVu Experiment

To address these issues, the School turned to WeVu, a video platform with easy uploading, organization by classes or by instrument/section for auditions, totally flexible permission for viewing videos, and commenting on the timeline of the video.  Taylor set up his Conducting course so all students could see each other’s practice, but other professors set up their courses so only the instructor, TA, and student can see a given student’s videos. That solved the sharing problem perfectly.

They realized they could record the conducting with any camera or any smartphone. That was a real breakthrough, as students could record themselves privately or help each other to do so – inside or outside class and the school! The school bought a couple of good microphones for phones to lend to students.

Finally, they needed a way to replace paper- or email-based commenting, coaching, and self-reflection. According to Taylor, the software “allowed [instructors] to respond right at the key moments to what they see in the videos rather than watching the whole thing at once and then writing up a reflective statement afterwards. Now that the students write responses on their individually recorded videos on WeVu, right on the timeline of the video, I’ve seen a complete change in the level and quality of reflection that they produce.” WeVu’s time-stamped comments and discussion added more depth and students really do watch their video – it becomes very difficult not to engage in deep self reflection when every second of one’s playing can be addressed and scrutinized. And as much as anything, Taylor could make sure students were reflecting on their practice because he could see the comments they were making, anytime, from anywhere.

Why Use Video Homework?

Athletes are always looking for ways to improve, and one of a coach’s most important jobs is to help them get better. Coaches tend to focus on areas of improvement needed by an entire team. This often leads to neglecting to develop each individual with the individualized practice that they need. This isn’t the fault of the coach. After all, coaches are dealing with 10, 15, 20, even 30 players at a time. It’ll take forever to go player by player and watch them practice and fix what needs to be fixed. With today’s technology however, coaches can find ways to help individuals more easily than they ever could in the past.

When watching film as a team or as an individual, athletes have a tendency to focus on their highlights and gloss over things that could be improved. However, though looking at highlights is necessary sometimes to boost confidence, athletes would be well served to work on areas of their game that they can improve. By taking a coach’s instructions and applying them to their training, an athlete can vastly improve their technical ability. Doing this through video homework is a time-efficient way of making this happen.

In the last decade, teams of researchers worldwide have looked at video feedback in sports. Their results have been unanimously positive in showing the benefits of the use of video to record skills practice. The biggest payoff for coaches and their players is that the coach can make sure the practice actually happens! Players self-record on phones and upload. It’s that easy. The coach only has to watch a fraction of it; just a quick glance to check that the player was doing the skill that was assigned.

How to use Video Skills Homework

Coaches and their players need a private site where video can be uploaded and organized. It’s a lot like video assignments in art schools or for business presentation training. The coach can define an Assignment– like bringing down a high ball in soccer, or bumping a volleyball, or a step-back move in basketball – and then players submit the phone-camera recordings of themselves to that electronic ‘hand-in box’. The coach can go through the videos super-fast, one-by-one, or just get a report that they’ve been submitted.

The next step, if the coach can take the time, is nudging the players to see what they’re not doing properly and gently asking them to try again. With some video platforms like WeVu, but not Hudl, you can be watching an athlete-recorded video, pause it by clicking in a comment box, make a comment that sticks right to that time and place on the video, and the video resumes. (That’s also awesome if you are doing game analysis!).  Players really appreciate this personal touch. Players can join in and ask questions or respond to the coach’s pointers.