The Context
I have just started as the Learning Technologist in the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland in the Health Professions Education Centre (HPEC). This department provides consultancy, training and formal teaching qualifications.
The Course
The main qualification we offer is the Postgraduate Diploma in Health Professions Education. This is a two semester long course which gives participants a NFQ Level 9 degree. For several years, this qualification has been run internally however this year we are taking in our first cohort of external candidates. The course is run over 8 months, starting in August. Previously we took in 30 students a year but we will be increasing by 10 each year until we get to 80.
WHO
Personas
In order to create personas, I drew inspiration from previous student work, analytics and feedback from our VLE. Using this research I created four personas to best identify the various identities, goals and needs of our candidates.
WHAT
This is a four module course ran over 2 semesters. Each module is 8 weeks long and is topic based. At the end of each module there is an assignment, which is essay based. However the content of these essays are usually reflections on formative work done each week such a reflective journals, teaching demos, etc.
The course is run entirely online with one workshop each week on a Tuesday. Attendance to the Tuesday session is mandatory and participants are asked to keep protected time towards this.
HOW
The course is delivered online through mostly asynchronous content. There is one live session a week, that takes the format of a workshop. This is delivered through Blackboard Collaborate and pre recorded video sessions on Panopto.
The following principles guide the design of the course:
ADDIE – We gain feedback and update the course in a cycle Community of Inquiry – We create means of dialogue and expression UDL – We create accessible learning materials
SOLO – We use meaningful self assessment rubrics and checklists
CONCLUSION
The analysis and scoping activity was especially beneficial to me as I started my new job as a Learning Technologist in RCSI. The process helped me ask more meaningful questions and really try to understand students and the institution. The process was so good in fact, that I think I will update the document each year to keep making it more relevant for the course.
