Dear all,
Firstly, I would like to thank you for your
patience, kindness and calmness during these times of change and I hope this
email finds you and your loved ones well and healthy.
Over the last 6 months the College has been working
on 2 very exciting projects – (1) Introduction of the Blended Learning pedagogy
and (2) Clinic Block model:
1.
Blended Learning:
What is it? – Blended Learning is an evidence-based pedagogy that allows the integration of on campus face-to-face content delivery with autonomous learning delivered through a learning platform (such as the LMS) and using appropriate educational technology. This type of learning captures the best of both face-to-face and online worlds as the content you are required to know is delivered in a classroom and autonomous learning allows you to consolidate or prepare in your own time and in your own way.
What will that look like at the College? - At Endeavour this will involve 66% on campus sessions and 33% of autonomous learning per week that may require you to revise something you have already learned in other subjects, complete an activity to test your previous knowledge or to consolidate content after the lecture using an interactive tutorial. This combination of learning delivery allows for a stronger linking of knowledge across subjects and a systematic consolidation of newly acquired knowledge that will drive integration of your own knowledge across multiple topics needed for applied and clinical work required within your degrees.
Will all subjects move to the blended learning? – Not at the moment. Across all degrees we have 13 subjects that are currently being developed for blended learning and they range from 2CP to 6CP subjects: BIOH122, BIOC211, BIOS222, SOCH311, WHMF121, WHMC311, NMDF121, NMDS311, NMDD221, NMDW221, NMDC221, NMDE211 and NMDF211.
How do I study in the blended learning subject? – Studying in blended learning mode is very much the same as you have always done. The main difference is that a portion of your study is done out of the classroom. For this part of your study, you will be given specific activities to do that will help you develop a deep understanding of the subject matter. You won’t need any special skills that you don’t already have and use every day. The most important thing to consider is to be sure to set aside the time for your online study every week and be sure to dedicate this time to working through the activities in preparation for your class, or to deepen your understanding of a topic after class. Throughout the semester we will be conducting a number of information sessions and workshops to ensure you are ready for your blended learning studies in semester 2.
Overall, blended learning will allow students
greater flexibility and individual control of their learning while supporting
simultaneous new knowledge acquisition and all knowledge consolidation.
2.
Clinic Block Model:
What is it? – The clinic block model represents a new way of delivering the clinical subjects at the College. Each block will be 12 weeks in length (no mid-semester breaks) with 4 back-to-back blocks delivered across the whole year. Each block will have the same timetable across the year so students can plan their clinic subject enrolment(s) and clients can plan their visits week to week. This model allows students to select one or multiple blocks for their individual clinic subject enrolments as aligned to their course progression.
Why the change in clinic subject delivery? – over the last few years we have received extensive feedback from our students and clients on the inconsistent way we operate our student clinics. This inconsistency has more impact on ADL, GC and PER campuses where we usually don’t offer clinic subjects and services over the Summer School. Unfortunately, this leads to inconsistent client engagement and impacts on the student experience and learning of their clinical skills. As the new model allows for each student clinic to be open 48 weeks of the year (closed across Christmas and New Year holiday period) the client inconsistency will decrease with increased focused marketing and set clinic hours across the year.
Will this impact the clinical subjects themselves? - only 2 major impacts will be observed as part of this change – one 8CP ACU clinic will be split into 2 x 4CP subjects and all assessments will be revised to ensure alignment to the learning outcomes for each subject and alignment to a 12-week delivery. Clinic workshops will be scheduled in parallel to ensure consolidation of knowledge, working through the cases, peer support and mentoring. The subjects will retain the pre-requisite and co-requisite requirements as applicable to ensure progression of skill and knowledge acquisition and ensure that a high standard of clinical education remains the pinnacle of Bachelor of Health Science degrees delivered at Endeavour.
Overall, this change will allow students greater
flexibility in clinic subject completion, enrolment planning across the year
and greater consistency in client numbers while retaining the learning outcomes
for each clinical subject and obtain a high quality clinical education.
In a few days I will update you on how each of the
new models will actually be delivered from Semester 2, 2020 and into 2021 so
stay tuned :)
Kind regards,
Andrea