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 elearning 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 http://campusone.ulster.ac.uk
 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 subcommittees
 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 emoderating skills acquisition (Salmon, G. 2003.
E-moderating: the Key to Teaching and
Learning Online. 2nd Edition. London,
RoutledgeFalmer. ISBN 0-415-33544-2)
 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
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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