Using authentic patient interactions to teach cervical screening to medical students

This paper examines a multimedia learning design which utilises principles of situated cognition and an authentic learning environment to teach medical students about cervical screening. A situated-learning design was adopted as it provided a means of engaging the medical student with legitimate cases of women who have barriers to cervical screening. The constructivist environment also includes a range of tools including a library, glossary and notebook to allow the user to investigate and examine concepts in further detail. This module aims to improve cervical screening by providing a resource for medical students and practising doctors. Two Australian universities and one New Zealand University collaborated in the design and development of the module. Copyright © 2003 The Association for Advancement of Computing in Education.