Abstract
The development of graduate attributes through health professional courses requires the opportunity to engage with learning and teaching activities that reflect the work-based role to which the student aspires. Such activities allow the contextualisation of discipline-specific knowledge, forging a critical understanding of the underpinning theory, and providing a firm foundation for the development of lifelong learning skills. A blended learning approach can be particularly valuable in supporting achievement of the learning outcomes in modules where performance is measured in terms of competency in work-based scenarios. An action research approach was taken to develop and evaluate a cardiovascular risk assessment as the basis for clinically and professionally relevant problem-based learning. Support for this was provided by means of blended learning including a number of online activities. Talking wall focus groups were used to evaluate the student experience, and this was combined with quantitative data regarding student examination performance. Student performance in the cardiovascular section of the examination paper was significantly higher than in other sections. Students reported very favorably on the use of this approach to support not only examination preparation, but also in terms of developing professional identity and enhancing employability skills.
Highlights
Quality learning experiences require a curriculum which promotes the development of attributes that underpin wider society [1] in terms of equipping students with relevant employability skills
Robert Gordon University (RGU) is committed to supporting students in this way by working with both employers and professional, statutory and regulatory bodies to develop educational programmes which meet the needs of the economy and society [2]
Undergraduate Master of Pharmacy course (MPharm), the profession is represented by the General
Summary
Quality learning experiences require a curriculum which promotes the development of attributes that underpin wider society [1] in terms of equipping students with relevant employability skills. Teaching and learning activities need to support students in demonstrating achievement at the appropriate level and the ways in which this is done must be clear within the course documentation. Fundamental to such an approach is an awareness that each piece of the undergraduate curriculum exists as part of a much larger whole. This paper describes an attempt to use such an approach in a second year module with limited success, which led to an extensive review of practice, completely changing the Biomedical Sciences component of the curriculum This change can be summarised as “an integrated approach to biomedical science teaching and learning informed by the clinical competencies required of a practicing pharmacist”
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