{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.025011165698972757, 'fraction_numerical': 0.0026797677534613666, 'mean_word_length': 5.568914956011731, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 1, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Integrating programme evaluation and strategy: a promising practice

innovation is perceived as superior to alternatives. The relative advantage of online learning for geographically dispersed, busy trainees is easy to see. However, not all our faculty members are equally convinced that online educational experiences could promote meaningful learning. To address these doubts, we shared research on online learning outcomes and grounded our course design recommendations in the science of learning. 2 Compatibility: adoption is higher when the innovation is consistent with adopters’ values. Our faculty members were deeply committed to diversifying the biomedical workforce and working with a new trainee population, so project goals were intrinsically motivating. Department leaders also attended meetings regularly and developed modules themselves, sending a powerful message of institutional commitment and shared values. 3 Complexity: adoption is higher when complexity is reduced. Developing online courses can be difficult and time consuming. We reduced the complexity by providing course design templates (we’re happy to share them!), just-in-time technology training and ample instructional design support. Particularly helpful: we used a consistent structure for all modules; this gave faculty members a replicable model and eliminated potentially overwhelming choices. 4 Trialability: adoption is higher when adopters have opportunities to test out the innovation. To give faculty members the opportunity to try online teaching without a major time commitment, we kept each module short (2–4 weeks). We also encouraged faculty members to use freely available media (e.g. videos from NIH and TedMed, podcasts and blogs) for course content, thus minimising time-consuming recording of video lectures. 5 Observability: adoption is higher when the results are visible to others. Faculty members met regularly as a group, which gave them the opportunity to discuss discipline-specific content, brainstorm ideas, and follow the progress of one another’s modules. We also held periodic meetings after the modules launched, which allowed faculty members to relay their ‘boots on the ground’ experiences and advice to their colleagues.