The Instructional and Information Technology group offers consultations and training on a wide range of instructional technologies. Our goal is to partner with instructors to develop and implement pedagogically sound solutions to teaching challenges. Please contact Lauren Shawl to discuss your teaching project.
It is important to offer opportunities for Pharmacy students opportunity to practice their clinical skills. However, it is not usually appropriate to allow them to practice on real patients, nor is it practical to regularly bring in actors for this purpose.
Solution: Virtual patient scenarios are used to provide students with additional practice in clinical skills in a no-risk environment.
Technology: Learn@UW or Moodle
As future health-care professionals, it is important that our students gain practice in collaborating and communicating effectively with others.
Solution: Small groups of students meet with a senior partner in the community on a regular basis. Prior to meeting their partner, they participate in an orientation to group work. After each partner visit, group members reflect upon their experiences and team dynamics by answering guided questions in an online discussion area. Group members also work collaboratively on a secure web site to develop a HIPPA compliant eRecord on their partner's health and lifestyle, which aids them in providing and understanding continuity of care. Instructors monitor the online discussion area and portfolio to encourage and intervene as appropriate.
Technology: Learn@UW or Moodle
Experiential courses can make assessment a challenge. Students spend most of their course hours in the community, without their instructors nearby to observe their work.
Solution: Students complete and submit reflective work in an online environment. Partners in the community also help instructors evaluate student performance.
Technology: Learn@UW and Collaborative Sites (built on Drupal)
Timely feedback is critical to the learning process, but do to time constraints, it is very difficult for instructors to quickly provide feedback to all of their students on quizzes and exams.
Solution: Instructors create online quizzes and exams that allow students to see their own answers as well as detailed feedback from the instructor on each question immediately after the quiz or exam period closes.
Technology: Learn@UW Quiz tool
It can be difficult for instructors to actively involve and engage all students in a large class setting. It can be equally stressful for some students to actively participate in a large group setting.
Solution: The instructor adds variety to the class by posing questions on key topics throughout the period. Students are asked to anonymously respond to questions through the use of clickers. The instructor can quickly gauge how many students are understanding the material and can immediately address any misconceptions they may have. Allowing students to answer questions anonymously provides a low-risk opportunity for participation, and interspersing questions throughout the period helps students maintain attention.
Technology: Audience Response System, "Clickers"
Solution: The instructor incorporates active learning techniques such as Think-Pair-Share into the class period to involve all students in a discussion. Allowing adequate time for students to prepare a response before asking them to participate and providing the opportunity to share with a classmate nearby, rather than to the whole class, can make participation in a large group less intimidating to students.
Technology: None