Instructional Guides - Learning Object

A link to an instructor and student guide are included with the learning object. These guides are offered as a complement to the Pharmacology learning object and are intended to provide information that can enhance instruction. The strategies included are not meant to be prescriptive and instructors are not required to employ these methods when using the learning object.

The decision to create a link to external guides was a conscious one. This makes the learning object more reusable because the strategies described in the guides are not embedded within the learning object itself. Instructors are able download the word attachments, revise them in order to meet their specific learning objectives.

The guides include a description of the LO, learning objectives, target audience, pre-requisite knowledge and information on how the design of the LO supports the learning of pharmacokinetics. Specific strategies for acquiring principles as outlined by Smith & Ragan, (1999) were also provided. In addition, some possible instructional approaches were suggested (ie. Case studies). A case study would require students to integrate learning from other courses such as pharmaceutics, physiology/ pathophysiology, pharmacology/medicinal chemistry and Pharmacotherapy I and II. Students would be engaged in thinking critically about the causes of the problems and could use the learning object to make decisions about the administration of drugs referenced in the case.

The purpose of including learning strategies in the student guide was two-fold. First, a set of effective strategies was provided to help them use the learning object to encode information so that it could be retrieved accurately. Weinstein (1978) found that students who received direct instruction in strategy use outperformed students who were merely informed that the strategies would be helpful. This involves teaching learners the procedures of the strategy and when and where to apply it. The strategies and process outlined in the student guide were designed to help instructors providing this type of training.

Second, by explaining the steps involved in processing the information, the student can be made aware of how this helps improve learning. Nkanginieme (1997) asserts that making a clinical diagnosis is the pivotal cognitive activity of a practicing physician. However, this process tends to remain a sub-conscious activity. By raising this type of activity to the level of consciousness one can be taught how to improve performance as well as acquire new knowledge.

References

Nkanginieme, K.EO. (1997). Clinical diagnosis as a dynamic cognitive process: Application of Bloom’s taxonomy for educational objectives in the cognitive domain. Med Educ Online, 2(1), 1-6.

Smith, P.L., & Ragan, T.J. (1999). Instructional design. (2nd ed.). Toronto: John Wiley & Sons. Inc.

Weinstein, C. E. (1978). Elaboration skills as a learning strategy. In H. F. O’Neil (Ed.), Learning Strategies (pp. 31-55). New York: Academic Press.