Deliverable T1.5 Approaches for Developing the Curricula ...

This project has been funded with the support of the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union Copyright by the HEAL+ Consortium

.

Education, Audiovisual

and Culture Executive

Agency

T1.5 Approaches for developing the curricula

components and teaching materials

Deliverable T1.5

Approaches for Developing the Curricula Components

and Teaching Material

Author(s): Nagwa Badr (ASH)

Sherine Rady (ASH)

Mohamed Hamdy (ASH)

Editor(s): Shahenaz Najjar (UAH)

Salvador Sanchez-Alonso (UAH)

Responsible Organisation: ASH

Version-Status: V0.4

Submission date: 4/11/2016

Dissemination level: RE


components and teaching material

of 29

Deliverable factsheet Project Number: 561818-EPP-1-2015-1-ES-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP

Project Acronym: HEAL+

Project Title: Master in Health Informatics

Title of Deliverable: T1.5 Approaches for developing the curricula components and

teaching materials

Work package: WP1: Thematic Search of Health Informatics Education

Due date according to contract: 15/10/2016

Editor(s): Shahenaz Najjar (UAH)

Salvador Sanchez-Alonso(UAH)

Contributor(s): ASH

Reviewer(s): All Partners

Approved by: All Partners

Abstract: This document defines the European standards used for

developing academic programs and surveys different approaches

and strategies that can be employed for the development of

Health Informatics (HI) master program curricula components

and teaching materials.

Keyword List: ECTS, EQF, curriculum development, educational strategies, EU

alignment.



of 29

Consortium

Role Name Short Name Country

1. Coordinator, academic

partner

University of Alcalá UAH Spain

2. Academic partner to

establish master

program of health

informatics

Al-Quds university AQU Palestine


establish master

program of health

informatics

Birzeit University BZU Palestine

4. IT and health

informatics software

developer partner

Dimensions Consulting DC Palestine


establish master

program of health

informatics

Jordan University of Science and Technology JUST Jordan


establish master

program of health

informatics

The University of Jordan JU Jordan


establish master

program of health

informatics

Ain Shams University ASU Egypt

8. Partner country to

establish the master

program of health

informatics, academic

partner

Cairo University CU Egypt

9. Health Informatics

Education expert,

academic partner

Universiteit van Amsterdam (Academisch

Medisch Centrum)

UvA Amsterdam

10. Health Informatics

Education expert,

academic partner

Stockholm University SU Sweden



of 29

Revision History

Version Date Revised by Reason

v0.1 25/10/2016 Nagwa Badr, Sherine Rady,

M. Hamdy

First draft

v0.2 1/11/2016 M. Elshazly Provision of (internal) feedback

3/11/2016 Sherine Rady, M. Hamdy Consolidation of feedback and editing

v0.3 10/1/2017

12/1/2017

Salvador Sanchez,

Iyad Tumar

Circulation for first draft feedback

27/1/2017 Nagwa Badr, Sherine Rady,

M. Hamdy, M. Elshazly

Consolidation of feedback and editing

Second draft

27/3/2017 Ali Rodan, Muhannad

Quwaider, Rehab Duwairi

Circulation for first draft feedback

v0.4 31/3/2017 Sherine Rady Consolidation of feedback and editing

V1

Statement of originality:

This deliverable contains original unpublished work except where clearly indicated otherwise. Acknowledgement of previously published material and work of others has been made through appropriate citation, quotation or both.

Disclaimer:

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained in this report.



of 29

Table of Contents

DELIVERABLE FACTSHEET ........................................................................................................2

CONSORTIUM ................................................................................................................................3

REVISION HISTORY......................................................................................................................4

TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................................................5

LIST OF FIGURES ..........................................................................................................................5

LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................................7

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ...........................................................................................................8

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...............................................................................................................9

1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 10

1.1 SCOPE ............................................................................................................................................. …….10 1.2 AUDIENCE .............................................................................................................................................10 1.3 DEFINITIONS ..........................................................................................................................................10

1.4 STRUCTURE ...........................................................................................................................................10

2 ECTS ...................................................................................................................................................... 11

2.1 ECTS KEY FEATURES .................................................................................................................. …….101 2.2 DEGREES AND QUALIFICATIONS ...........................................................................................................11

2.3 QUALITY ASSURANCE ...........................................................................................................................12

2.4 THE ECTS GRADE INTERPRETATION SCHEME (EGIA) .........................................................................12

3 CIRRICULUM DEVELOPMENT: ELEMENTS AND PROCESSING STEPS ........................... 14

3.1 ELEMENTS OF CIRRICULUM .......................................................................................................... …….104 3.2 CIRRICULUM DEVLLOPMENT PROCESS .................................................................................................15

4 APPROACHES ADOPTED IN CIRRICULUM DEVELOPMENT................................................ 16

4.1 PROBLEM AND GENERAL NEEDS DEFINITION AND EVALUATION .................................................. ……. 106 4.2 EVALUATION REQUIREMENTS IN THE TARGETED LEARNERS .................................................................16

4.3 GOALS AND OBJECTIVES .............................................................................................................. …….107 4.4 EDUCATIONAL PLANS ...........................................................................................................................18

4.5 PROGRAM CONSTRUCTION ............................................................................................................. …….20 4.6 EVALUATION PROCESS ..........................................................................................................................21

5 HEALTH INFORMATICS EDUCATIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS ....................................... 22

6 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................... 26

7 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................... 28



of 29

List of Figures

Figure 3.1: Key Aspects of Curriculum 15

Figure 4.1: Contextual Filters that Influence Curriculum Decisions 17

Figure 5.1: IMIA’s Framework for HI Program Design 23

Figure 5.2: Program suggestions for HI Related Fields 24



of 29

List of Tables

Table 2.1: ESG Parts 13

Table 4.1: Health Education Models 20

Table 5.1: Recommended Workload distribution per domain for a HI Master Program in terms of

ECTS credits.

25



of 29

List of Abbreviations The following table presents the acronyms used in the deliverable in alphabetical order.

Abbreviation Description

IMIA International Medical Informatics Association

ECTS European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System

EQF European Qualification Framework

HI Health Informatics

EU European Union

EHEA European Higher Education Area

ILOs Intended Learning Outcomes

http://www.ehea.info/



of 29

Executive Summary This report represents a documentation for the deliverable of project task T1.5. The report consists of

five main parts which are mentioned as sections. ECTS as a European standard with its key features,

grades and qualifications are mentioned in Section 2. The ETCS Quality assurance as a process is also

introduced. Section 3 focuses on the assumed elements of any proposed curricula and several

requirements for the curricula development process. Section 4 introduces the different approaches that

should be followed by HEAL+ in developing the proposed masters’ program curricula. This section

focuses on how to formulate learning objectives and assessment strategies for the educational process.

Moreover, it highlights the implementation issues of the proposed program curricula. In Section 5, a

general set of recommendations are introduced for HI education processes based on IMIA and

Bologna Process objectives with a grounding to the proposed education process of HEAL+.

Projections for the report sections are concluded in the final section 6. In this section, the conclusion

for this deliverable is given and recommendations for HEAL+ design are outlined. Different

customizing schemes have been introduced in this regard. Specific curricula development approaches

for HEAL+ is laid out and argumentations are given which conforms with project meeting

agreements, prior project deliverables, as well as the accordance with the partner universities

circumstances.



of 29

1 Introduction

1.1 Scope

This deliverable identifies:

▪ The EU standards and recommendations for an HI master program

▪ Some curriculum design/planning issues and recommendations

▪ Curriculum development processing

▪ Approaches/strategies for developing the curricula components and teaching materials

The use of this document is to:

▪ Introduce and discuss EU-related master program design standards

▪ Outline a selected body plan for the HI master program and curriculum

▪ Provide insights steps of curriculum development process

▪ Survey appropriate strategies for developing curriculum components

▪ Provide input to HEAL+ WP2: Curriculum Development

1.2 Audience

This deliverable is intended to internal use by the HEAL+ consortium.

1.3 Definitions

1.4 Structure

The structure of this document is as follows:

▪ Section 1: Introduction

▪ Section 2: ECTS

▪ Section 3: Curriculum Development: Elements and Processing Steps

▪ Section 4: Approaches Adopted in Curriculum Development

▪ Section 5: HI Educational Recommendations

▪ Section 6: Conclusion

▪ Section 7: References



of 29

2 ECTS

In 1989, ECTS as a credit hours system with a pilot scheme has been introduced, with an objective of

unifying the workload/evaluation methods of the European under- and postgraduates in order to

enable a flexible mobility of European students in the different European states. Therefore, Bologna

process identifies ECTS as a student mobility infrastructure.

ECTS signatory main contributions are in:

a. Facilitating international student mobility and curriculum development.

b. Establishing a basic standard for international accreditation and accumulation.

c. Quality assurance for the different educational processes.

ECTS is a learner-centred system which was developed with certain key features to emphasize the

strong link that should exist between credits, workload and learning outcomes. The system was

created to facilitate credit accumulation and transfer. One important aspect of this system is the

transparency of the whole education system including learning, teaching and assessment. To pursue

such goal, efficient planning, information delivery, and strict quality control protocols were

developed. ECTS facilitates students’ mobility and the transfer between European Union member

states by establishing clear rules for recognizing learning achievements, students’ qualifications, and

previous learning periods.

2.1 ECTS Key Features

▪ ECTS-credits: numerical value (between 1 and 60), the indicator is to be used to

describe the workload in an academic year.

▪ ECTS-credits = workload NOT the level or difficulty.

▪ Student workload in ECTS credits is proportional to the required time to achieve all

the learning objectives in a specific program through the different learning activities.

▪ Credits are gained based on the successful achievements of the different educational

components of a program based on a clear set of evaluation plans.

2.2 Degrees and Qualifications

Globally, many countries developed and implemented in higher education integrated programs which

prepare students for regulated professions. One of the examples of the highly sophisticated and

developed system is the European system. The EU system on the legislative level mandates 5-6 years

of studies in several higher education programs including: medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, architecture

and veterinary medicine. Other higher education programs are completed in fewer numbers of years

such as such as engineering, law, theology, psychology and teacher training [1].



of 29

Two European Qualifications Frameworks were developed to organize and address the learning

process for higher education. Framework for Qualifications of the European Higher Education Area

(QF-EHEA) and the European Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning of the EU (EQF-

LLL) are a sample set of the previously mentioned frameworks [2]. All are learning-outcome-based

frameworks that use generally recognizable degrees such as Bachelor, Masters, PhD to describe

students’ qualifications. For example, in QF-EHEA, it is divided into cycles including a short cycle,

two cycles cover the undergraduate and graduate studies, and the third cycle which covers the

doctoral study. Certain credit ranges were developed for each cycle including [3] like the following:

• 120 ECTS credits for the short cycle qualifications

• 180 or 240 ECTS credits for the first cycle qualifications

Student-centred systems represented the objective of Bologna Process reformation. ECTS is one of

the enabling tools for the important reformation process.

2.3 Quality Assurance

External quality assurance system plays a very significant role in any quality assurance management.

The majority of EHEA systems invite external governmental and non-governmental quality and

accreditation agencies to judge running programs [4].

The main objective here is to create a ‘culture of quality’ based on accountability and enhancement of

provision. The standards of quality assurance are separated into three parts (internal, external and

quality assurance agencies) as illustrated in table 2.1.

2.4 The ECTS Grade Interpretation Scheme (EGIS)

Evaluation and grading are very significant aspects in developing educational programs. They play an

important role in any educational process. More transparent evaluation and grading schemes are vital

and required to enable flexible understanding of students’ levels, especially in case of mobility, and

joint and international programs. Interactive evaluation procedures that allow students be

continuously aware of their performance are based on a set of clear criteria and are considered very

important part in the ECTS evaluation guidance.

In the framework of ECTS, enabling an easy way to understand and compare different students’

performance and their evaluation through a clear set of rules of interpretation system has been

developed taken into consideration the national, international and institutional differences in grades

and grading cultures.



of 29

Table 2.1: ESG Quality Assurance Modules (Parts)

Source: The European higher education area in 2012: Bologna process

implantation report, Eurydice, Ministerio de Educación, 2012 [5]

ESG Quality Assurance

Module (part) Roles

Internal

Assurance policy developing,

Program construction, teaching-

learning approach assessments,

Educational process and resource

evaluation, publicity and dissemination management

External

Assessing the internal quality

process, expert revision, outcome

analysis, reporting

Agencies

Official entity status, Context

relation analytics, and resource

assurance and management



of 29

3 Curriculum Development: Elements and Processing Steps

The word curriculum involves several important meanings in the direction of operating a specific

education process [6]. Curriculum is defined as a plan of educational experience and activities

description offered to a learner under the guidance of an educational institution [7].

This is surely an outcome of the pre-steps of needs assessment and design/plan phase.

The term ‘curriculum development’ is a process that employs a systematic approach for successfully achieving the educational goals of the academic program [8]. Other definitions highlight the role of

systematic developing of purposeful, integrated and progressive educational process that creates

contribution to the specific educational system. High quality educational processes can be ensured

based on the presence of curricula developing well-known and systematic approaches.

In HI education, this process should definitely respect several aspects to satisfy patients’ needs,

society, students and teaching staff. For achieving maximal efficiency and effectiveness, final goals

play important role. Therefore, achieving specific mechanisms is vital, which should include all of the

required steps in order to achieve and dynamically maintain these goals in a curriculum.

The curriculum is also a reflection of an integrated set of several courses, teaching, learning strategies

and methods which shapes any proposed institutional program [8].

3.1 Elements of Curriculum

A well-designed curriculum should have several important elements or components. In the very

narrow view this should include: content and examination. However, in the more accurate and broader

view, this should included: course specifications, intended learning outcomes, educational strategies,

teaching methods, and evaluation methods [9].

Figure 3.1 highlights the key aspects of the HI master curriculum, most of which will be encountered

later in this document. These aspects will serve as the key elements in the development of WP2.



of 29

Figure 3.1: Key Aspects of Curriculum,

Source: Curriculum and course design, British Journal of Hospital Medicine, December 2009, Vol 70,

No 12

3.2 Curriculum Development Process

Based on the literature of Curricula developing process, several systematic approaches have been

proposed. According to Ljuca et al. [10], which is one of the main sources with a high number of

citations, the curriculum development processing goes into six main steps. These steps will be

discussed in more details in the next section.

Key aspects for HEAL+ curriculum

▪ Aims

▪ Learning outcomes/objectives (knowledge, skills and attitudes)

▪ Content

▪ Teaching and learning methods

▪ Assessment methods

Supporting elements:

o Learning resources (teachers, staff, funding, books/journals, IT support, teaching rooms)

o Monitoring and evaluation procedures

o Clinical placement activities

o Recruitment and selection procedures, including promotional materials

o Student support and guidance mechanisms



of 29

4 Approaches Adopted in Curriculum Development

This section reviews curriculum development steps in detail. Surveys over the possible approaches to

deploy in the HI master program are highlighted within the subsections.

4.1 Problem and general needs definition and evaluation

In this step, the following items are identified:

i) Potential educational research questions;

ii) The general missing knowledge and skills by the practitioners;

iii) Different Stakeholders/beneficiaries identification.

Identifying these items have a direct impact on focusing the curriculum elements and the program

approaches in developing the program’s processes, expected and required resources for sustainability,

institution resource management, and dissemination plans.

4.2 Evaluation requirements in the targeted learners

In this step, several issues are needed to be discussed. Requirements of assessments to the learners

with the related specification and criteria are investigated. The criteria of the admitted graduate

students in the proposed program should be specified. Society demands and needs in the program

graduates including the job opportunities and the business environments are investigated as well. It is

required to find out a compromise between the requirements and needs verses the available resources

of the educational process.

In the process of curriculum planning, and due to pre-mentioned challenges, contextual filters are

often used to decide what to be included and specified in a curriculum like course specifications and

graduate preferences.

The contextual filters model is organized around the idea that teachers’ disciplinary views and

assumptions underlie and affect their planning process. The model is in three parts:

i) Content (which encompasses institutional culture, objectives, and disciplines for a course planning);

ii) Context (with respect to the graduate specifications); iii) Form (which forms the interrelation between the available contents in a course and the applied

teaching methods).

The course planning (i.e. content part) which is an outcome-based learning approach is delineated as

selecting and arranging content by establishing goals, objectives, and selecting learning activities.

More details will be in the next two steps.

In addition to graduate specifications or characteristics, a program-course specification may involve

additional goals that may express college goals in terms of evaluation factors and contextual filters.



of 29

Figure 4.1 shows the nine key contextual filters (identified by Stark, 2000) that can influence staff

decisions towards a curriculum.

Student characteristics

Student goals

External influences

Program goals

College goals

Pragmatic factors

Pedagogical literature

Advice available on campus

Facilities and opportunities

Figure 4.1: Additional Evaluation Factors and Contextual Filters that Influence Curriculum Decisions

Source: Curricula Design in Higher Education: Theory and Practice, G. O’Neill, 1st Ed., (2015) [11]

The context-based model has been very influential in recent conceptualizations of program course

planning [12]. While the contextual filters model focuses on how planning affects the course form; the

ideas it presents are useful in exploring influences on program planning processes generally.

4.3 Goals and objectives

The curriculum development adopts an “outcome-based” education approach, which is considered

one of the most successful and dominating approaches because it pivots on the target (i.e. graduate)

rather than on the content. At this step of the curriculum development processing, the overall goals

and aims of the curriculum should be defined as being compatible with the mission stated in previous

steps. Quantified measures for knowledge transfer, skill building, performance key indicators,

behaviour developing should be clearly specified with a maintaining process [10].

In each course module, aims and purpose of the course should be clearly introduced with its relations

to the whole program goals. The required specifications should be quantified taken into consideration

presenting detailed impacts to the teaching, learning, and evaluation processes. The Intended Learning

Outcomes (ILOs) should be formally and clearly categorized and expressed. Moreover, the course

module should present the knowledge and skills which will be gained or demonstrated by students

upon a successful end of the course [13].

Teaching process and the learning outcomes are tightly coupled and determine together how the

course will be presented to students. Presence of several intended learning outcomes, per each, course

components will be allocated to serve building the required outcomes with several impacts on the

learning processes.

Nevertheless, development of a program catalogue is a vital and required document. The catalogue

states the graduate attributes which will be directly related to the proposed program learning

objectives. In this document, lists of knowledge, practical, and behavioural skills which will be

transferred to students during the program period based on the proposed curricula should be

constructed.



of 29

4.4 Educational Plans

Educational or instructional strategies form an important element of the curriculum. An educational

strategy would broadly encompass the methods, procedures and techniques the teacher uses for

presenting the subject content to students and to achieve the desired Learning Outcomes. Studying the

possible educational strategies and models helps to systematically figure out the inter-relationships

behind the selection of the particular teaching, learning and evaluation methods.

Common teaching and learning strategies are: lecture, small-group discussion, independent study,

library search, mediated instruction, repetitive drilling, and laboratory work. The teacher must decide

how many days he /she will devote to the topic, whether to use any or all of the approaches

considered, which approach to use first, and how to put the selected approaches together. The goal is

maximizing the impact and governance of the curriculum to the proposed program. The suitable

instructional strategies per course should be derived from a number of sources: course objectives,

subject content, student, community, teacher, and with additional consideration of HEAL+ proposal

objectives.

On the other hand, the available teaching tools especially in the field of heath like clinical devices

may become a critical issue. Simulation may provide an alternative way for providing the required

health tools and devices to enable the required teaching process in a course.

Several classifications of the educational or instructional strategies and models exist. Here, we survey

the ones that match with the HI master program course design. They fall into the following [6,14,15]:

a. *Student centred versus ** Teacher centred

* An active students’ role is manifested in the

process of curriculum definition, learning

methodologies, what and when will be studied.

** The teacher provides teaching decisions

like the course components vs. time in a

course study plan.

b. *Problem solving versus **Informative

* The student acquires knowledge through the

process of (clinical) problem solving.

** Decisions on how Information and

knowledge will be transferred to students.

c. *Elective versus **Standard

* Upon student background and preferences,

students may select a set of course to study out

of the core curriculum.

** There is no possibility for students to

choose elective courses out of the core

curriculum.

d. *Community based versus **Hospital based

* Studying exists in community health centres. ** Hospitals represent the teaching base.



of 29

e. *Systematic planned versus **Opportunistic

* Teaching and learning activities are structured

and well organized and ordered. They are done

per a systematic or established procedure.

** The student follows the experience of

departmental instructor as it is.

f. Integrated multidisciplinary

Multiple disciplinarians are required to be integrated by in the teaching/learning process by a

structured strategy that serves the program objectives and outcomes. The required integration in to

be based on the intersecting clear issues among Basic, Computing and clinical sciences.

g. Outcome-based education

Management by objectives and Outcome based education is easy to conceptualize but may be

difficult to define. It is an educational approach in which decisions about the curriculum are

driven by the students’ outcomes at the end of the course or program.

The curriculum in this strategy is built on a series of outcome statements – statements of what a

learner will possess after having successfully completed a learning task. Those outcomes are

created at the level of the program, the level of a course or even the level of an individual lesson

or teaching event. The advantage of this educational strategy is the emphasis on the graduates

taking into consideration enhancing the educational process as well.

h. *Subject-centred versus** Learner-centred design (in-depth strategies)

* This strategy focuses on modelling the

subject design. The subject design and

educational/ learning strategies are planned

based on in-depth subject levels, such as:

- Discipline-Based.

- Broad Fields; Merge several disciplines

- Theme-Based; highlights a merge of the

different fields to serve common issues.

** This design strategy focuses on the learner

by integrating several strategies such as:

- Negotiated; Students can negotiate topic to be

learned.

- Process-based; Focuses on the learning

process. Critical thinking and reflective writing

are examples of this design strategy.

The challenges facing the learner-based design

strategies are scarcity of resources and

difficulty of getting general consent from

students on all aspects of the learning process.

Significant changes have been made to the HI curriculum design in the last few years in terms of

learning strategies. Until recently [6,16], the Harden model overshadowed the Flexner model in terms

of better HI education (see Table 4.2). The SPICES model by Harden encourages the learner-centred

strategies, problem-based analysis, integration and elective courses’ design. Some recent features

have been added to the Harden model; in what is called the PRISMS model (see Table 4.2). It

highlights certain practices involving inter-professional and interdisciplinary concepts. It also opens

new avenues to the advanced IT applications in education.



of 29

Table 4.2: Health Education Models

Source: Samoa Medical Journal, vol. (1.2), page 40-48, 2010.

(a) Flexner (1911) (b) SPICES Model (Harden,

1984)

(c) PRISMS Model (Bligh,

Prideaux, Parsell, 2001)

Teacher-centred Student centred Practice-based

Knowledge giving Problem-based Relevant to students and

communities

Discipline led Integrated Inter professional and

interdisciplinary

Hospital oriented Community oriented Shorter courses in small units

Standard program Electives ( + core) Multisite locations

Opportunistic Systematic Symbiotic

4.5 Program Construction

A development plan should be made to assure consistent implementation of the curriculum. This plan

should include issues related to the management of curriculum implementation and teaching

environment. Timelines and required resources should be created. Clear responsibility of bodies, as

well as students’ roles in the different educational processes should be clearly stated.

The organization of a course is an important process in the curriculum implementation step. In

Bologna declaration, it is stated that each course should consist of 60% practical work, and 40 %

theoretical work [10].

The courses’ integration should be precisely defined. Course-program Integration means courses are

finely positioned to serve the curricula objectives. Positions of the different courses present a

sequence which is delivered to students based on their previous knowledge. Such integration should

enable students to proceed smoothly through the learning process over the academic year and

therefore, attention should be paid to the curriculum coherency of the courses.

A course specification in a specific curriculum includes:

▪ Presentation for the importance of the course in the proposed curricula

▪ The different components and contents of the course with a relevant and convenient time

plan which should include:

o ILOs,

o Contents and their relevancy and matching to the course objectives,

o Evaluation methods and Assessment plans,

o List Text books and other required teaching-learning material.

▪ The proposed learning and teaching strategies and the evaluation plan.

▪ A detailed plan of the course workload distribution, assessment, and evaluation including

the different tests and exams.



of 29

Selection of the teaching methodologies must be defined. Verifications for these selections in terms of

flexibility and progression should be regarded with care to provide an effective learning processes. As

stated before, the selection of the teaching method should consider two important factors; student

groups’ formation and the required/available teaching tool to be allocated.

Some of the course goals will be only achieved in small size groups like the transferring practical

skills, so taking into consideration student group size is very important. The other important impact is

figuring out the required teaching personnel number if there are large student groups.

4.6 Evaluation Process

One of the major and important stage of curriculum development is Evaluation. An evidence based

evaluation plays the major role of judging if the program is correctly proceeding in a right way in

terms of achieving goals.

Building a feedback collection and revision mechanisms is vital in any proposed evaluation process.

These mechanisms are integrating in time-basis evaluation.

Nevertheless, developing planned actions to adapt weaknesses that may appear based on the

evaluation processes should be taken as a basic requirement to complement the proposed evaluation

procedures. Several aspects to be evaluated periodically should be taken into consideration while

developing any sufficient evaluation strategy like: (a) Inter-personal differences and skills of the

students, (b) Satisfaction of the different stakeholders, (c) Transferred knowledges and skills in order

to quantify the educational process performance, (d) Examination processes, (e) Program-course

grading, and (f) Cost efficiency using suitable indicators to measure optimality of important figures

like the program running cost and student fees.



of 29

5 HI Educational Recommendations One of the promising HI-related educational international frameworks to follow is the IMIA [14,17].

IMIA is an independent association that promotes the application of information science and

technology in health-related fields. In 1967, IMIA was established as a subdivision of the

International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP). In 1987, it became a separate entity and

was established officially under Swiss law in 1989. Currently, IMIA is a global network the

membership of the major societies and academic institutions in several Heath related fields. It is a

NGO recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO). The organization has important goals

aiming to the development of HI, these goals include:

- Promotion of informatics in health sciences

- Promotion of Intra-coordination

- Building capacities in the different fields of Health Informatics Education and Research

- Promotion of informatics from theory to practice till the full implementation in all

settings of health care

- Dissemination and exchange of recent findings and knowledge

- Promotion of life long education

- Development and maintenance of formal channels of communication within private and

governmental organizations.

IMIA gaols are planned to be achieved by coordinating efforts of scientists and globally sharing

experience and recent findings. It organizes one of the most important HI conferences, world

congresses, and publishes IMIA Yearbook of Medical Informatics [18].

IMIA issues general recommendation every couple of year to improve HI education on the

undergraduate and postgraduate levels as well as lifelong learning [19].

Regarding master degree in HI, IMIA recommends that programs should provide education that

covers general theoretical basis of the field as well as specialized knowledge. Master programs in HI

should also develop analytical thinking and practical skills in students to allow them to pursue a

successful career. HI master graduates should be able to establish themselves as true leaders in the

field driving changes and encouraging future developments. A master program in HI is not only a

continuation of an undergraduate study but it should strengthen the in-depth understanding of the field

that produces independent researchers and practitioners able to make a true change in the field.

Recommendations given to this framework should be taken in consideration; especially those that

show close compliance to AMC masters’ programs [20]. The framework introduces standards and

recommendations for the health/medical informatics education [21]. Guidance to develop complete

programs in HI field is given including course modules and other structures.

An outcome-based strategy for a standard education process in healthcare including knowledge and

different skills to be acquired in ICT are described in detail as well. The following directions describe

the educational needs in such programs. These directions can be categorized as follows: (1) Needs in

professionals in healthcare (e.g. HI professionals), (2) Needs based on the graduate role in HI (IT

users, HI specialists), and (3) career path establishing and roles.



of 29

According to IMIA framework, ILOs that describes mainly the required knowledge and skills to be

transferred to students during the educational process are defined based on their roles. Therefore, in

the previously mentioned framework, roles like IT user and HI specialist have been taken in focus to

extract programs’ ILOs. Moreover, for courses and curricula recommendations are given to develop

HI programs as part of in medical and healthcare management, computing and ICT science

educational programs (see figure 5.1).

Figure 5.1: IMIA’s Framework for HI Program Design

Multidisciplinary is dominating developing of the modern curricula. Integration of the relevant

courses of different background is an important demand for HI proposed programs which are always a

merge of several disciplines like medical devices, ICT, Healthcare, …etc. Thus, a set of basic

knowledge and skills form several disciplines should be acquired by students and demonstrated by the

program graduates.

Figure 5.2 shows HI related disciplines and how they may interact in the overlapping areas like

Clinical Sciences, Public Health, Bioinformatics, Medical Information Systems. Other contribution of

other fields can be sources for elective courses upon proper investigation to the practical need.



of 29

Figure 5.2: Program Suggestions for HI Related Fields

Source: IMIA Educational Recommendations, vol. 49, 2010, and [14]

Based on the previously mentioned HI disciplines’ interaction, a categorization for the interacting can

establish the following domain of knowledges and skills [14]:

1. Health Informatics (HI) Domain.

2. Medical and Health Domain.

3. Informatics and Technology Domain

4. Elective Domains with relevancy to HI.

Two full academic years can provide a sufficient time for students to acquire the previously

mentioned mandatory knowledge and skills form several domains. The equivalent ECTS credits

should not be less than 120 credits which are an international recommendation for masters’ program

in HI [14,22]. Table 5.1 presents the recommended (mandatory) workload distribution (in terms of

ECTS credits) per each of the previously mentioned domains of knowledge and skills based on IMIA

guidance in this regard [14]. As presented, the elective domains workload is not limited to the

mandatory required workload.



of 29

Table 5.1: Recommended Workload distribution per domain for a HI Master Program in terms of

ECTS credits.

Domain Weight in ECTS credits

Per Academic year Total

1. Health Informatics (HI) Domain 40 80

2. Medical and Health Domain 10 20

3. Informatics and Technology Domain 20 40

Total 60 120

It is important to notice that the plan and design of the program curricula should comply with and

relate to the levels of practice, generic examples are shown in Table 5.1.



of 29

6 Conclusion

This document researches international (EU-based) standards, strategies, styles, models and

approaches necessary for curriculum components’ development of the proposed HEAL+ master

program. The document sections provide detailed knowledge laying down a good ground for the

master program design. However, points of attention and considerations should be regarded since

HEAL+ is designed to address different partner countries with different faculty and university

regulations. Mapping the EU development standards into the MENA region universities have specific

conditions that need to be addressed. Moreover, the broadness of the provided academic standards and

HI-related scientific fields in this delivered report should be defined with convergence and projected into a tight profile. Therefore, explicit and conclusive recommendations will be given in this section.

It is noted that all stated conclusions and recommendations are profoundly based on the second

preliminary project meeting discussions in Amsterdam between 28-30 September 2016 (PM_AMS16)

and MENA region universities standards.

HEAL+ master program will clearly follow the ECTS standard and the Outcome-based education

approaches. Credit-based and Outcome-based educational systems have proven a great on-going

success not only in Europe, but also in most of the MENA partners’ universities. Following those

educational approaches, a 120 CH system forms the basis of the HEAL+ master program. This CH

design conforms to the ECTS master education, and adheres as well to collected statistics from master

programs in Partner country universities. The student workload should follow three knowledge and

skills Domains, namely: (1) Health Informatics (HI) Domain, (2) Medical and Health Domain, and (3)

Informatics and ICT Domain. Information about possible topics, as well as the relative study duration

for each area (represented by student workload in ECTS credits, is indicated in section 5 and table 5.1

of this report (IMIA and Bologna recommendations for Master Program). IMIA and Bologna

recommend such credit workload to be run by master students in two years. This is quite adequate in

MENA region countries too, since it is obligatory to include a thesis for acquiring the master degree.

Since the IMIA framework forms a very good realised experience for an HI master program, it has

been referenced as a cornerstone standard in PM_AMS16 after project meeting discussions, especially

when revealed to be a common output for the thematic search regarding HI design frameworks.

PM_AMS16 has cut down broadness of the wide range, and combinations, of scientific fields for the

HEAL+ profile to achieve the maximum scientific and academic benefits for the master program.

According to project consortium decision in PM_AMS16, HEAL+ master program will follow basic

and applied researches and practices representing a common program suiting different student

backgrounds, hence several student learning paths (tracks) exist. The recommended profile for

HEAL+ will basically follow the two disciplinary fields: Clinical Informatics and Public Health

Informatics. Profile decision is based on project evidences: (1) Identification as major and key

application domains comprising HI by expert partners (D1.1), (2) Results of need assessment in

deliverable D1.2 that indicated background knowledge for target learners in clinical and public health

sciences, as well as competences in industry for the clinical and public health sectors, (3) Partner

countries’ extended interest for those specific fields, reflected by their currently existing teaching

expertise (PM_AMS16), and finally (4) Expertise of EU HEAL+ partner running specific similar

programs in Clinical and Public Health Informatics.

The program will be eligible for students who are successfully qualified from programs in: (a)

Medicine, Nursing, Biology, and Health background, or (b) Computer Science, and Information



of 29

Technology. By considering the regulations of the different Higher Ministries of Education at the

partner countries regarding accreditation purposes, a set of complementary courses will be prepared

for group (a) in Computer Science and Information Technology as per partner country regulations for

acquiring HEAL+ master degree without any violations. The development of the complementary

courses is outside the scope of HEAL+ project, and will be handled individually by the partner

universities where it is necessary.

The curriculum development should provide the program’s complete structure design that will enable

learning and program run to take place. The curriculum development process will include defining the

program goals, program objectives, career profile and graduate attributes, course titles, course

descriptions, assessment methods, training modules, with the breakdown of the ILOs for the different

knowledge, intellectual, practical and transferrable skills. The linking between the career profiles to

courses will be assessed through a set of main and elective course set, which links to IMIA and all EU

international standards. It has been agreed by most the project partners in PM_AMS16 that 4-6

courses will be fully developed in WP2, whereas for the rest courses, exact names and short

descriptions will be given. Training modules for 6 courses are also expected to be delivered.

Specification details for the thesis at the program’s second year will be developed too. The full

curriculum components (course catalogue and program catalogue) are a critical requirement and the

real challenge towards the program national accreditation.

Another recommendation regarding the educational strategy should be addressed for more

professional HI program. In practice, HEAL+ should focus on developing practical skills through

offering technical and scientific courses in the early study plan (i.e. during the first year). Following

suggestions and recommendations of EU Bologna declaration, it is recommended to offer courses

with 60% of the workload as practical work and 40% as theoretical work.

The recommended teaching and learning strategies of HEAL+ program with respect to several

practices should be considered, taking into account the impact of maximizing the learning outcomes

of the curriculum and successfully fulfilling instructional goals and objectives of the courses. Lectures

and practical labs form the fundamental teaching method, but still small-group discussions, critical

thinking, independent studies and course projects should be integrated where fit.

The project partners have come into satisfaction with those recommendations for the instruction

strategies after consulting several informational sources including: program and course(s) objectives,

course(s) content, expected infrastructures at program running universities, SPICES and PRISMS

successful and stable HI implementation models, target learners, community, current teachers, and the

HEAL+ proposal objectives and consortium discussions in PM_AMS16.



of 29

7 References

[1] The European higher education area in 2012: Bologna process implantation report, Eurydice,

Ministerio de Educación, 2012, ISBN 9292012568, 9789292012564.

[2] A Framework for Qualifications for the European Higher Education Area; Bologna Working

Group on Qualifications Frameworks, published by the Ministry of Science, Technology and

Innovation, Copenhagen, February 2005:

http://www.ond.vlaanderen.be/hogeronderwijs/bologna/documents/050218_QF_EHEA.pdf.

[3] Developing Qualifications Frameworks in EU Partner Countries: Modernising Education and

Training, Jean-Marc Castejon, Anthem Press, 2011, ISBN 0857289845, 9780857289841.


Ministerio de Educación, 2012, ISBN 9292012568, 9789292012564.


Ministerio de Educación, 2012, ISBN 9292012568, 9789292012564

[6] Judy McKimm , Curriculum design and development, 2003

[7] Vocational Education: Purposes, Traditions and Prospects, Stephen Billett, Springer Science &

Business Media, 2011, ISBN 940071954X, 9789400719545.

[8] Farid Ljuca, Srdjan Lozo, Vladimir Simunovic, Hans-Martin Bosse, Martina Kadmon. Chapter

11: Curriculum Development. http://www.bhmed-emanual.org/book/export/html/93

[9] The Curriculum: Theory and Practice, A V Kelly, SAGE, 2009, ISBN 1446245543,

9781446245545.

[10] Ljuca et al., Curriculum Development, ch. 11, 2009.

[11] G. O'Neill, Curriculum Design in Higher Education: Theory to Practice, Dublin: UCD

Teaching & Learning, 2015.

[12] Harper, B. J. Tightening curricular cohesion: The influence of faculty continuous improvement

activities on student learning. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, The Pennsylvania State

University, University Park, 2008.

[13] Using learning outcomes: European Qualifications Framework Series: Note 4:

http://www.cedefop.europa.eu/EN/Files/Using_learning_outcomes.pdf], 2011.

[14] Mantas J et al., Recommendations of the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA)

on Education in Biomedical and Health Informatics, Acta Informatica Medica 18.1: 4, 2010.

[15] Joyce, Bruce R., Marsha Weil, and Emily Calhoun. Models of teaching. Vol. 499. Englewood

Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1986.

[16] Barrow, Strategies for planning and designing medical curricula and clinical teaching, South

East Asian Journal of Medical Education, 4, 2010.

[17] https://www.tcd.ie/teaching-learning/academic-development/bologna-objectives.php

[18] Medical informatics: Past, present, future, Reinhold Haux, international journal of medical

informatics 79 (2010) 599–610.

http://www.ond.vlaanderen.be/hogeronderwijs/bologna/

http://www.bhmed-emanual.org/book/export/html/93

http://www.cedefop.europa.eu/EN/Files/Using_learning_outcomes.pdf

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Mantas%20J%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=20054502

https://www.tcd.ie/teaching-learning/academic-development/bologna-objectives.php



of 29

[19] J. Mantas, E. Ammenwerth, G. Demiris, A. Hasman, et al., IMIA Recommendations on

Education Task Force. Recommendations of the International Medical Informatics Association

(IMIA) on education in biomedical and health informatics. First revision, Methods Inf. Med. 49

(2010) 105–120.

[20] Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2008 on the

establishment of the European Qualifications Framework for lifelong learning: http://eur-

lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32008H0506(01)&from=EN.

[21] Outcome-based education. AMEE Medical Education Guide, No. 14, 1999.

[22] ECTS Users' Guide - Europa.eu.

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32008H0506(01)&from=EN

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32008H0506(01)&from=EN

Deliverable T1.5 Approaches for Developing the Curricula ...

Documents

Transcript of Deliverable T1.5 Approaches for Developing the Curricula ...