Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Background: Blended learning programs (BLPs) are being increasingly implemented in the field of medical education. Research indicates that BLPs are effective in strengthening learner achievement. However, few studies that systematically evaluate the usability of these programs currently exist, thus, potentially stagnating further advancement and use of BLPs in this field. Objective: To develop a questionnaire that measures the usability of faculty development BLPs for family doctors. Methods: This is a two-part study. Part 1 consists of a Rapid Review which will be completed to synthesize current evidence about existing usability evaluation instruments for BLPs and to inform the development of a new questionnaire for the current educational context. Part 2 adopts a Mixed Methods Sequential Exploratory Design with two consecutive phases: (1) Qualitative - Individual interviews will be conducted with 6 to 8 international experts in usability identified through snowball sampling, to develop initial face and content validity; (2) Quantitative - Bayesian confirmatory factor analysis will be used to further validate and refine the questionnaire. Bayesian prior estimates of item-domain correlations will be obtained through email questionnaires sent to interviewed usability experts. Bayesian posterior estimates will be acquired through applying the questionnaire on 35 family doctors participating in an ongoing BLP in the following setting. Setting: A 1-year long faculty development BLP given by the McGill Department of Family Medicine to family physicians that are clinical teachers at the Hospital Santa Marcelina, Sao Paulo, Brazil Anticipated Results: The questionnaire developed from this study will assist in finding issues regarding, and methods to improve, the usability of both the technological and face-to-face teaching components of faculty development BLPs. Ethics: Institutional Review Board, McGill University, Registration: A06-E42-18A.