Table 5 Themes and subthemes of what participants liked about the lectures

Method of instruction

Systematic / stepwise approach

14

19

“Breakdown of ECGs such that there is a step by step approach”

“Teaching was delivered in a systematic way that is easy to reproduce and most of the time leads you to the correct diagnosis”

Interactive

12

9

“Able to ask questions and receive an answer”

“I was also afforded an opportunity to ask questions if I didn’t understand”

Supervised practice

3

2

“We got to participate in interpreting ECG with the supervision of a skilled clinician”

Well-paced delivery

2

3

“Taught at a pace that I could follow”

Simplifying concepts

13

10

“They made hard concepts more simple”

Taught to understand mechanisms instead of memorising patterns

1

6

“The explanations of why patterns/ changes arise in certain conditions helped me to remember them”

“If I understand how the condition works, I find that I am able to retain the information”

Visual orientation

0

3

“I liked that it was very visual”

Contextualised

3

3

“Use of real life ECGs as examples”

Scaffolded learning

4

0

“It allowed me to build on my previous knowledge of ECG’s”

Blended learning

N/A

18

“I enjoyed the combination of the online component to the ECG lecture teaching as I got to apply my knowledg.”

Lecturer attributes

Insight to level of student understanding

4

4

“It seemed like he understood what we could possibly misunderstand and catered for it in his explanations”

Enthusiasm

2

3

“It was enthusiastically taught”

Skilled teacher

3

1

“Great presenting and explanation”

Engagement

0

2

“I enjoyed the way … teaches and his willingness to explain to students”

Learning environment

Safe learning space

1

1

“The lecturers were conducted in a student friendly manner and created a safe learning space”

Clinical application

0

1

“I enjoyed being able to actually interpret ECGs and use them as a tool to diagnose patients”