Ottawa-Shanghai Joint School of Medicine (OSJSM) provides the Pre-medicine Programme for students in the first academic year based on the North American Medical Education System. The Pre-medicine Programme focuses on the internationalization of curriculum provision and the development of English language skills, and outstanding teachers from around the world are employed to give lectures. Organismal Biology is a distinctive Pre-medicine Programme jointly developed by OSJSM and Oxford Prospects and Global Development Institute (OPGDI) at Regent’s College, University of Oxford. It is designed and taught online by a team of professors and post-doctors from relevant departments and specialties at University of Oxford.
Organismal Biology aims to inspire students’ curiosity about scientific issues and the evolutionary history of life on Earth. It covers scientific methodology, evolution theory, ecology, conservation biology, and the history of life on Earth. These topics are introduced from multiple perspectives, such as unpacking the contributions of Charles Darwin and other scientists to the science, examining the morphological and genetic basis of plant and animal variability, and discussing how species form, adapt to the environment, and become extinct. The Programme also includes ecology, conservation biology and others topics.
The 5-week online programme was carried out with Chaoxing for pre-recording and ZOOM for live stream. The lectures were pre-recorded by lecturers and were available online according to the teaching schedule, and live seminars were held twice a week on average. The seminar was conducted in small groups to discuss the weekly lecture topic. After completing each pre-recorded lecture, students were required to read relevant materials, pose at least one to two questions related to the course contents, and actively participate in group discussions. The seminars helped students better comprehend the course contents by discussing with their peers, and gave students a chance to practice their oral presentation and teamwork.The 5-week online programme was carried out with Chaoxing for pre-recording and ZOOM for live stream. The lectures were pre-recorded by lecturers and were available online according to the teaching schedule, and live seminars were held twice a week on average. The seminar was conducted in small groups to discuss the weekly lecture topic. After completing each pre-recorded lecture, students were required to read relevant materials, pose at least one to two questions related to the course contents, and actively participate in group discussions. The seminars helped students better comprehend the course contents by discussing with their peers, and gave students a chance to practice their oral presentation and teamwork.
Pre-recorded lectures are available in Chaoxing
Teachers and students discuss questions in weekly seminar
The Programme applied diverse online teaching and resource tools to ensure the full function of online teaching activities. In addition to Chaoxing and ZOOM, students can access to courseware and supplemental reading materials through the network disc. Besides, a WeChat group was started for discussion before class. The WeChat group contained students, OPGDI’s teaching assistant team members, technical support staff, and Chinese teaching affairs staff. It served as a platform for updating and providing information, and for members to answer questions from students, which builds a pathway for communicating effectively during cloud-based learning.
Multiple forms of course assessment were used to assess students by course attendance, midterm open-book test, group report on individual performance, and final test.
Student Testimonials
From the carefully-detailed Course Outline to the Professor's meticulous explanation and interesting interaction, every step of the course made me feel the unique charm of Organism Biology. Before each Lecture, the Professor will prepare some additional literature materials for us to enlarge our knowledge and have a better understanding of the background. In the Seminar, the Professor will throw out thought-provoking questions for us to think and provide a platform for us to debate. After the discussion we all gain a deeper insight into the topic as well as broaden our horizon. The course experience was relaxing and interesting, helpful and fruitful!
- Wu Yilin, Class 5, Grade 2021
The course was well organized, which was not only connected with medicine, but also enlightened me to do research in the future. The teachers explained the concepts and some details clearly. In the seminar class, the teachers patiently answered our questions, and inspired us to think critically. Overall great experience!
- Shi Jiaying, Class 5, Grade 2021
In organismal biology course, professors not only cast light on the knowledge of organism evolution, but navigate us to contemplate how the theories were established based on experiment data and strict logic. Under the pattern of seminar where we feel closed to professors, we learn to think about problems critically and prospectively through discussion and reflection.
- Zhou Jiajie, Class 5, Grade 2021
In this course, the professors request us to think and ask questions from the content of the class. Different from the traditional teaching mode, professors will help our further understanding through seminars, class discussions, etc. With the help of the mode, we gain deeper understanding of what we have learnt in class, and the expansion of the cutting-edge theory really open our eyes. This teaching method allows us to have a deeper grasp of knowledge and I believe this kind of method is also beneficial in our scientific research in the future.
- Chen Qinyi, Class 5, Grade 2021
