Reflections on Course design

Reflect on your design decisions by providing responses (approx. 150- 200 words each, excluding references) to the following statements. If you have doubts or questions about your decisions to date or the role of learning theory, express them as part of your response so that you are aware of gaps in your understanding and/or design. Wherever possible, cite a source (from the course readings, others' discussion forum postings, or elsewhere, using APA format) to support your response:

1. The learning activities I intend to use to enable my students to achieve the learning outcomes specified in the Needs Analysis Document will actively engage them in problem-solving, and reflect the way that the learning outcomes will be applied in real world settings.

The activities are based on student clinical activity, therefore are based on actual, real-life student work. Students are engaged in active problem-solving: attempting to understand the reasons behind a child or adolescent’s presentation to a mental health service and working with that child/whanau to develop a plan for management. This follows one of the basic tenets of clinical education: that active involvement in realistic tasks promotes student engagement and therefore deeper learning (Newble and Cannon 2001), p9.

2. The learning activities I intend to use will require my students to articulate and justify their understandings, and to collaborate to create meaningful products..Students will be required to record their management plans and formulations and share these with other students, thereby articulating their understandings of the processes involved. Since they are using their own clinical work, which is constantly changing, they are required to develop new formulations and management plans, rather than using a pre-selected case example. Since students are required to collaborate and give each other feedback on their structures, this will encourage justification and articulation. (It will be important to include some assessment for this process to emphasise its importance.)
Furthermore, students who work in Kaupapa Maori services will provide their view on processes of formulation and management as they apply to their clients(Anon 2003), thereby providing a broader perspective on the student tasks than can be provided by one teacher and helping address one of the learning objectives.
Students are more likely to develop deeper understanding of their topics when there are ample opportunities for collaboration with other students(Newble and Cannon 2001)p 9, and when learning tasks are active (ie require students to engage in a meaningful process) and also when there is “ample time on task” (Chickering and Ehrmann 1996).

3. The resources I intend to offer my students to help them of the complete the learning activities represent a variety of perspectives and use a medium that is engaging and well-suited to their message.
The process of teaching clinical reasoning behind formulation and management plans is complex (Peile 2004), and requires that students find a structure which works for them but also encompasses safe practice.
Students will be offered access to course texts and an on-line lecture using Articulate Presenter as well as Powerpoints of relevant models. In these a range of perspectives will be offered. This is in keeping with learning theory which emphasises student choice as an important factor in promoting deeper learning(Newble and Cannon 2001).
However, I continue to wonder whether teaching these issues by e-learning is feasible, largely because the informal elements of discussion are not as accessible/immediate. It is also difficult to know whether the medium is likely to be well-suited to the task because I am not very familiar to the media under discussion as yet. Basically, I think that most learners would far rather learn this stuff in a face-to-face situation but they can’t because they live all around the country!!

4.The technologies I intend to use to facilitate my students' learning activities are appropriate when considered in light of the SECTIONS model (Bates and Poole 2003)and the technology principles I helped to formulate during Module 3.
Regarding the students: in my NAD I have alluded to the issue of less computer-experienced students and their need for support and contact with instructors to promote learning (Chickering and Ehrmann 1996). This is especially true if students are from Maori or Pacific backgrounds(Hawke, Cowley et al. 2002)
On the other hand, learners in these courses are often older and have a wide experience of life and clinical situations: it is therefore important to tap into their experiences so that these can deepen and extend learning.
These students come from all around NZ and are not able to attend frequently for face to face teaching: access to learning depends at present on some electronic strategies and this is likely to increase. There will have to be a firm focus on contact: with instructors and with each other for these strategies to be helpful.
The students will also need access to support and training for use of these technologies, which need to be as easy to use as possible. As noted, they are designed to promote interactivity.
I continue to have concerns about my ability to spend the time to develop these strategies (Costs) in the Sections model and about the speed with which they can be applied.

5. The strategy underlying the learning activities I have chosen reflects the view of teaching and learning evidenced by my Teaching Perspectives Inventory results, but also reflects new insights I have gained into learning theory and e-learning.
I continue to doubt the validity of the Teaching Perspectives Inventory, and don’t consider that it assists me in clarifying my strategies for teaching. I have been unable to find any research which demonstrates that responses on the TPI are related to how instructors teach rather than how they say that they teach. Self-report measures are not necessarily reliable measures of behaviour: it all depends on how they have been benchmarked. It is possible that the TPI is no more valid that a magazine survey.
The only advantage that I can see in completing it is that it made me consider my teaching style and think more deeply about teaching strategies that are most effective for learning.
I don’t think that I have developed new insights into learning theory as a result of this course: I have some training in neuropsychiatry which I think covers many of the issues involved in learning and skills acquisition.
The principles of e-learning seem to me to be extremely similar to basic learning principles. However engagement and support become much more relevant when there is no face to face contact with instructors. I think I am experiencing this first hand!!

Submit your reflection on completion of columns 1-4 of the Course Development Document to your blog for others to read by the end of week 6.

References
Anon. (2003). "Maori Tertiary Education Framework
A Report by the Maori Tertiary Reference Group." Retrieved 19/05/06, 2006, from http://www.minedu.govt.nz/web/downloadable/dl9565_v1/maori-tertiary-education-framework.doc.
Bates, A. W. and G. Poole (2003). Effective teaching with technology in higher education. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass. .
Chickering, A. and S. Ehrmann. (1996, September 6, 2006). "Implementing the Seven Principles: Technology as Lever." TLT Group, from http://www.tltgroup.org/programs/seven.html.
Hawke, K., E. Cowley, et al. (2002). "The importance of the teacher/student relationship for Maori and Pasifika students." SET Research Information for Teachers 3: 44-49.
Newble, D. and R. Cannon (2001). A Handbook for medical teachers. Adelaide, Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Peile, E. (2004). "Clinical reasoning
10.1136/bmj.326.7389.591." BMJ 328(7445): 946-8.