Advancing E-Learning in Interprofessional Preceptor Education: Quality Improvement in an On-Line Open Access Education Program

Background: A team of Health Sciences faculty at a Canadian University representing the disciplines of Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Speech-Language Pathology, Audiology and Nursing, as well as experts in instructional... [ view full abstract ]

Background: A team of Health Sciences faculty at a Canadian University representing the disciplines of Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Speech-Language Pathology, Audiology and Nursing, as well as experts in instructional design and evaluation, has updated an open access, online interprofessional education program: ‘Preceptor Education Program for Health Professionals and Students’ (PEP). This program, originally developed and launched in 2007, is designed to prepare both students and preceptors for on-site clinical experiences. The 9 modules are interactive with downloadable resources, learning exercises, video case scenarios and references.

Educational Philosophy or theory: In this second edition of the program (January 2016 launch) contemporary technological updates have been made to content and learning activities based on constructivist, experiential and reflective learning theory (Mezirow, 1991; Moon, 2009; Schön,1987) as well as theories of e-learning (Butcher et al, 2014; Underhill, 2006).

Pedagogy / educational approach(es) used: This presentation will discuss the experience of an interprofessional team in the redesign process aimed at increasing interactivity of material using a variety of technology and software options, to improve accessibility, learnability and memorability of the material. The Quality Matters Rubric (Butcher et al, 2014) was used to guide the redesign with concentration on key quality elements in e-learning.

Evaluation: Formative and summative evaluation strategies embedded in the modules will be showcased. Pilot test results and subsequent modifications will be described.

Application to Education and /or practice: As contemporary educational practice in occupational therapy moves toward interprofessional and on-line formats, the pedagogical and evaluative insights from this project are instructive.