Whole report - Anglo-European College of Chiropractic

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Master’s Degree in Education Networked Collaborative Teaching and Learning Ian Brown BSc, PhD, MEd Senior Lecturer in Physiology All healthcare professionals now recognise the need for CPD to ensure that they maintain the necessary skills and competencies throughout professional life. The chiropractic profession is now on the verge of introducing mandatory CPD in order for practitioners to retain their registration with the national regulatory bodies. It is generally viewed within the profession that on one hand, time away from practice, travel and cost are negative aspects of engaging in venue-based CPD events but on the other hand, social and professional interaction on a personal level is a very positive aspect. In addition, previous studies have identified a potential requirement for alternative modes of delivery of CPD learning activities such as distance learning and use of the Internet (Bolton 2002). As part of the staff development initiative at AECC, Dr. Ian Brown undertook a Masters degree in education specialising in teaching and learning on the Internet. This brought knowledge and expertise into the college that would allow future development of on-line courses for both distance learning for CPD and in-house undergraduate computer-assisted learning. The Master’s course was undertaken at the Department of Education, University of Sheffield, a leading school in the implementation of technology in education. The course itself was a distance learning exercise with all modules carried out on-line including the project viva- voce and graduation! The four modules making up the course consisted mainly of practical action research relevant to the students’ individual professional practice, and developing the relevant skills to both develop on-line courses and to implement their delivery through virtual learning environments (Brown 2003). The final module consisted of a short research project (shorter in scope and duration than a typical science or medical Master’s project). ○ ○ ○ ○ Feature Reports Screen shots from the on-line learning website in Clinical Radiology developed by Ian Brown as part of the requirement for his Masters in on-line teaching and learning. This website is available to view at http://www.biomedvle.com 6
Feature Reports Ian Brown’s dissertation was entitled ‘A survey of chiropractors’ and final year chiropractic students’ attitudes to on-line learning before and after participating in an on-line learning event, either as independent learners or collaborative learners’. The study’s aims and objectives were to investigate and compare chiropractors’ attitudes to learning on-line before and after taking part in a short on-line course relevant to their clinical practice, having worked either as independent learners or as part of a collaborative group of learners. In particular, the study set out to identify the perceived positive or negative aspects of chiropractors’ respective experiences and whether or not these were relevant to views held about the delivery of CPD in general. Two cohorts of volunteers were recruited for the study. Thirty senior intern undergraduate students from the Anglo-European College of Chiropractic, who were about to enter practice and 30 qualified practitioners currently attending voluntary weekend CPD events at the same institution. All participants were sent an initial questionnaire to provide data about their previous experiences of and attitudes to, using the Internet or other on-line resources as part of their learning and practice. A second questionnaire was sent to all participants after they had all completed a short on-line course within a web-based virtual learning environment specifically authored for the study. Fifteen of the undergraduates and fifteen qualified practitioners undertook the course as independent learners and the remainder engaged with identical course material but with the freedom to collaborate with their peers within that group through a text based chat room and discussion forum. The data from the first questionnaire showed that undergraduate students used the Internet more as a part of their learning compared to the qualified chiropractors. Although the frequency of use was greater in the undergraduate cohort, the type of resources used was similar for both groups. Both groups identified that convenience, lower cost and flexibility of learning were advantages to learning on-line and that isolation and lack of contact with colleagues, peers and tutors, lack of technical support and feedback were a disadvantage. Overall, undergraduate interns expressed less negative concerns than did the qualified practitioners. Data from the second questionnaire showed that most respondents generally thought that the learning event had been a positive or very positive experience, with no significant difference between the individual or collaborative learning sets. A greater number of qualified chiropractors remained neutral, saying it had been neither a positive nor negative experience. No respondents claimed it had been a negative experience. All groups indicated that they thought the level of support received during the learning event was satisfactory. There were however, significant differences as to the level of support that different groups thought that they had received. The highest level of satisfaction was shown by the undergraduate and practitioner collaborative learning groups. The lowest was shown by the undergraduate and practitioner independent learning groups. This difference in perception within the collaborative learning groups may be due to peer interactions within the learning sets. In conclusion, the results of this study show an overall positive attitude by chiropractors to learning on-line. Collaboration and cooperation with peers and tutors when learning on-line may partially satisfy some of the concerns shown about the perceived fear of isolation and lack of support associated with distance learning. Attention should be paid to the less computer-competent learners so as not to exclude or disadvantage them in any future on-line CPD distance learning events. Bolton JE. Chiropractors’ attitudes to and perceptions of, the impact of continuing professional education on clinical practice, Medical Education 2002; 36:317-324. Brown ID. A virtual learning environment for healthcare professionals. 2003; Available on-line: www.biomedvle.com ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ 7
Page 2 and 3: Anglo-European College of Chiroprac
Page 4 and 5: Anglo-European College of Chiroprac
Page 6 and 7: Message Research and Continuing Pro
Page 8 and 9: Texas Visit In 2001, Dr. Jeff Bagus
Page 12 and 13: Cervical Functional Parameters in S
Page 14 and 15: Number Figure 1 50 40 30 20 10 0 Sp
Page 16 and 17: Chiropractic History: A New Focus f
Page 18 and 19: Feature Reports Presentations at Re
Page 20 and 21: Publications and Presentations Bagu
Page 22 and 23: Publications and Presentations Bagu
Page 24 and 25: Publications and Presentations Aust
Page 26 and 27: Publications and Presentations Mill
Page 28 and 29: Publications and Presentations Supe
Page 30 and 31: Postgraduate Dissertations (MSc Cli
Page 32 and 33: Undergraduate Projects R Fowler Inc
Page 34 and 35: R Abrey R Phantom limb pain: A lite
Page 36 and 37: Y Moritz* Effects of spinal manipul
Page 39 and 40: Research Grants Awards & Membership
Page 41 and 42: Grants, Awards and Memberships Memb
Page 43 and 44: Continuing Professional Development
Page 49 and 50: NOTES 45
Page 51: Anglo-European College of Chiroprac

Whole report - Anglo-European College of Chiropractic

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?