Qstream Helps Charles Darwin University
Innovate its Clinical Sciences Programs
With nearly 99% student satisfaction ratings in postsemester surveys, Qstream’s mobile platform helped one
of Australia’s top research universities to successfully
transform its Anatomy and Physiology curriculum.
As one of seven top research universities in Australia, Charles
Darwin University (CDU) School of Psychological and Clinical
Sciences offers multi-disciplinary courses ranging from basic
laboratory sciences to clinical psychology and pharmacy training.
The School seeks to graduate skilled, critical and reflective scientists
and practitioners, ready to provide high-quality healthcare in the
most diverse and challenging environments.
The Challenge
The Anatomy and Physiology units in the School of Psychological and Clinical Sciences have large student enrollments, and are
required first-year courses for many of the University’s healthcare
degree programs. Given the abundance of critical information
students are required to master, instructors sought more innovative
methods of reinforcing the understanding and retention of core concepts. Instructors also needed a way to quickly identify knowledge
gaps in order to address them proactively during the semester.
The Solution
Professor Timothy Skinner, Head of the School, had successfully
used Qstream’s mobile knowledge reinforcement platform in his own
research and introduced the platform to Dr. Henrik Pallos, Senior
Lecturer and First Year Coordinator of Anatomy and Physiology. Dr.
Pallos enthusiastically adopted Qstream to cater to his students’
learning needs. With an approach that is proven to increase retention of core content in medical settings by up to 170%, Qstream was
identified as an innovative way to boost knowledge and performance
www.QstreamHealthcare.com
in the School. Within a few weeks, The Game of Brains,
as it is known among Anatomy and Physiology students
at CDU, was born.
ture clinical studies. More than 95% of the students rated
Qstream as ‘effective’ or ‘very effective’ in helping them
retain critical course information.
When asked about his decision to implement Qstream,
Dr. Pallos explained, “CDU has a large off-campus
student cohort, and being an external student is often
challenging and can be an isolating experience. I saw the
mobile Qstream platform as an opportunity to help maintain the connection with my students and make them feel
a part of a learning community. They need to feel that
they are not alone in their studies.”
When asked, ‘What did you like about Qstream?’ student
responses included comments such as:
Dr. Pallos deployed Qstream to 518 students in the
Anatomy and Physiology unit, divided into 11 cleverly
named teams representing organ systems. With access
from any mobile device, students responded to scenariobased challenges, followed by robust explanations.
Based on their responses, students competed for points
within the application, which then translated into points
toward their grade for the semester. Qstream’s analytics
engine examined the students’ response data to provide
real-time reports and trends on both group and individual
strengths and weaknesses, allowing Dr. Pallos to identify
and focus on specific knowledge gaps within the student
population.
The Results
Throughout the ten-week program, students engaged
in a fun, motivating competition with their classroom
peers, while benefitting from important reinforcement of
key concepts taught in lectures. After completing their
Qstreams, student evaluations of the experience were
extremely positive. Almost all (98.86%) of the 264 students who responded to the semester-end survey said
they would recommend Qstream to new students, and
98.11% showed interest in using Qstream to support fu-
QstreamHealthcare.com
“Loved it! Acts as a personal tutor to studying anatomy,
constantly focusing on your weaknesses in areas that
need to improve.”
“It was a fun way to learn and absorb information from
the lectures.”
“An innovative way to study.”
“It is easy to access from my mobile phone, anywhere
that I am. And it’s a reminder every night on the topics
covered throughout the week.”
Based on such encouraging responses from students,
Dr. Pallos has plans to extend the use of Qstream in
future semesters with 12 new teams named after the
cranial nerves!
About Charles Darwin University
Charles Darwin University is the only Australian university to offer the full spectrum of education options from
senior secondary, through to VET, undergraduate and
postgraduate degrees. Times Higher Education ranks
CDU in the top two percent of universities in the world
and among the top 100 universities in the world under 50
years old. CDU attracts students from around the world,
with 22,000 students currently enrolled.
Learn more at www.cdu.edu.au.
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