Developing a Blended

Learning Course on

Psychiatric Diagnosis

Shelley Levin, Ph.D. Clinical Associate Professor

slevin@usc.edu

Anthony Fulginiti, M.S.W. Doctoral Candidate

fulginit@usc.edu

School of Social Work University of Southern California

Social Work Distance Education Conference

April 16, 2015

Introduction

VAC@USC Learning Preferences 3 Steps to Course Design Course Philosophy Diagnostic Process Identifying a Learning Model VARK Student and Instructor Learning Preferences Matching versus Stretching Course Design

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Welcome!

Learning Preferences

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“Individual

preferences for

acquiring,

organizing and

thinking about

information.”

(Fleming, 2005)

3 Steps to Course Design

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Identify a suitable learning model for an online learning environment

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2

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Define the course philosophy

Design a course consistent with the philosophy and learning model

Course Philosophy: Process, Not Content

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Can lead to the memorization of facts without developing a deep understanding of them

Lack of understanding makes it impossible to apply and transfer the knowledge to other areas

Enables the user to deal with the complexity of human beings

Doesn’t depend on the latest diagnostic standards or code numbers

Rote Learning Process

Diagnostic Process

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Starting with a written or video vignette: List signs and symptoms Give differential diagnoses Give final diagnosis

Identifying a Learning Model

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Increasingly being used to build and assess online courses

Free Easily availableVARK-learn.com Quick to use16 questions

M a n y P o s s i b i l i t i e s

Speech TherapyVARK is increasingly

being used in similar

applied disciplines

V A R K i s

Medicine

Physical Therapy

Occupational Therapy

Nursing

VARK

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Lectures

Group discussions

Online chat

Aural

Concrete examples

Demonstrations

Kinesthetic

Diagrams

Graphs

Visual

Flow charts

Colors

Lists

PowerPoints

Read/Write

Handouts

Quotes

Student and Instructor Learning Preferences

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Visual 2% Aural 7%Read/

Write 15%

Kines-thetic 12%

Bimodal 15%

Trimodal 13%

All Modes 36%

Visual 4% Aural7%

Read/Write21%

Kines-thetic13%

Bimodal14%

Tri-modal12%

All Modes

29%

Instructor Preferences

Student Preferences

Most education is mono- or bimodal

Most courses reflect the Instructor’s learning preferences

Shelley’s Learning Preference Profile

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Visual Aural Read/Write

Kinesthetic

8 5 7 2

• Trimodal Preference (VAR)

• Trimodal Type One (total score 16-25)• Look at information to be learned and conveyed and choose

the mode they believe is the best one for each situation.• Switch easily from mode to mode.

• Trimodal Type Two (total score > 30)• Use all three modes in combination.• Sometimes criticized for taking a long time because they

carefully gather information.

Matching versus Stretching

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Preferences don’t necessarily mean strengths

No evidence that

presentation

outside of learning

preference is

detrimental

Matching

Stretching

Research is mixed

Students will learn better when using the preferences in which they are successful

When teaching accommodates various preferences, more students will be successful

Course Design

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Course DesignAsynchronous Overview

Course starts with an introduction to the DSM-5

Second Unit is theMental Status Exam

Subsequent units cover 1-3 chapters in the DSM-5 each week

Every diagnosis in the chapter is discussed

Additional material in the chapter such as Prevalence and Culture-Related Diagnostic Issues is also covered

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Students complete a diagnostic process for at least 1 video and 1 written vignette each week

Vignettes are submitted to the instructor at least 24 hours before the synchronous session begins

Course DesignSynchronous Overview

Begins with the instructor answering questions on the asynchronous content

Based on a review of the vignette submissions, the instructor may provide a brief discussion of material from the asynchronous session

Majority of time is spent discussing the vignettes

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Course DesignActivities

Sought to provide

experiences of all 4

learning types in both

synchronous and

asynchronous content

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Course DesignActivities

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Course DesignActivities

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Course DesignActivities

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Course DesignActivities

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Course DesignActivities

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Course DesignActivities

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Course DesignActivities

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Course DesignActivities

Content Development Comparisons

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  Asynchronous Synchronous

Visual Medium Difficulty Medium Difficulty

Aural Low Difficulty Low Difficulty

Reading/writing Low Difficulty Medium Difficulty

Kinesthetic High Difficulty High Difficulty

Medium Difficulty Medium Difficulty

Medium Difficulty

Medium Difficulty: Easy to develop content; Dependent on platform capability

High Difficulty: Hard to develop content; Independent of platform capability

Low Difficulty: Easy to develop content; Independent of platform capability

Medium Difficulty:

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Questions?