Learning in the Laboratory: online CPD courses in Quality Management and Training for Biomedical Scientists Damien McConville Academic e-Learning Consultant Access and Distributed Learning University of Ulster Belfast UK Alan Wainwright Executive Head of Education Institute of Biomedical Science London UK

Continuing Professional Development (CPD): a definition ‘ … the systematic maintenance, improvement, and broadening of knowledge and skills and the development of personal qualities necessary for the execution of professional and technical duties throughout the practitioner’s working life’ UK Construction Industry Council, 1986 ‘a mechanism for in-service professional education’

CPD for the Biomedical Scientist ‘… a process of lifelong learning, which enables you to meet the prerequisite knowledge and skill levels that relate to your evolving scope of practice, thereby maintaining competence in your scope of practice as a practitioner in biomedical science’ Institute of Biomedical Science ‘… a range of learning activities through which health professionals maintain and develop throughout their career to ensure they retain their capacity to practice safely, effectively, and legally within their evolving scope of practice’ Health Professions Council

CPD: recent trends  Increasing delivery in distance education and e- learning formats  Increased collaboration between academia and professional bodies to delivery continuing professional education  CPD as a means of regulating professional practice Mandatory for the vast majority of professions, mechanism for maintaining professional competence and ‘licensed practitioner’ status

University of Ulster  Strong reputation in e-learning delivery via its virtual campus, CampusOne  Specialist production and development team Academic e-Learning Consultants Multimedia specialists Graphic Designers Systems Administrators  Hardware and network infrastructure  Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) – Blackboard Vista

Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS)  U.K. Professional Body for Biomedical Scientists (formerly Medical Laboratory Scientists) – international membership  Well established Continuing Professional Development programme/framework  CPD activities assist members to maintain licensed professional status with the regulatory authority in the U.K., the Health Professions Council

The University of Ulster/IBMS Partnership  Long standing relationship between both institutions  Ulster’s established track record in online course development, delivery and management  IBMS identified need for specialist support for members involved in Quality Management and Training roles  Partnership established in 2003 to develop fully online CPD courses in both areas; courses launched in 2004, heavily oversubscribed

Course Design and Development  Informed by two key learning theories/epistemologies - Social Constructivism - knowledge creation and dissipation through active discourse Experiential Learning Cycle -embedded reflective tasks  Iterative prototyping

Course structure  Six units of content (modules) released sequentially in 2 week ‘blocks’  Subject specialist acting as e-tutor for each unit practicing quality, training managers recruited from IBMS education sub- committees  Dedicated discussion forum for each unit of study focus on knowledge creation and dissipation through active discourse participation strongly encouraged

Course ethos  Exchange of skills, expertise, knowledge through active discourse  E-tutors all domain experts with specialist expertise in each study unit  Heavy reliance on participation in discussions, seeded and managed by e-tutors  Broad spectrum of participant experience discuss problems/challenges with experienced colleagues provide help and advice to novices

Assessment  Balance between academic rigor and practicality  Summative assessment – 60 question online examination (70%) reflective practice submission (30%)  Formative assessment – end of unit self tests same interface as endpoint examination familiarization with question styles and formats

Tutor training and orientation  Three week online e-moderating course mandatory for Ulster associate staff recruited as e-tutors based on Salmon’s 5 step model of e- moderating skills acquisition (Salmon, G E-moderating: the Key to Teaching and Learning Online. 2 nd Edition. London, RoutledgeFalmer. ISBN )  Blackboard Vista orientation training technical skills required for instructor role

Participant training and orientation  2 week orientation period before start of course  Access to Blackboard Vista orientation course developed for Ulster online students  Access to ‘Course Information’ section in each course area (course team profiles, how to study online, assessment information)  ‘Introduce yourself’ discussion forum available to post participant short profiles

Feedback and course evaluation  Online anonymous evaluation questionnaire  26 questions, mostly standard closed format (sa – sd) gathering general data on participant’s course experiences  Last six open response (unlimited text field) format for detailed feedback on each study unit  Evaluation information fed back to e-tutors and used to develop and enhance subsequent iterations of each programme

Sample Breaker Slide

Future developments  Graded discussions – mandatory participation  Validation process to elevate both courses to full postgraduate credit bearing modules 30 points in Credit Accumulation and Transfer System (CATS) scheme review of content and assessment scheme to bring both courses up to credit bearing standard delivered as stand-alone modules or module options in Ulster’s fully online Masters degree in Biomedical Science

Conclusion  Development and delivery model joint course development by academic institution and professional body expert led courses with emphasis on contextualized, deep learning through sharing and dissemination of expertise potential for validation to credit bearing status via academic partner  Further Ulster/IBMS collaboration using this model is under discussion