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Digital Education Studio
  1. Digital Education Studio
  2. Our Work
  3. The CARE agenda

The CARE agenda

An extension of the Digital Education Studio’s vision to use digital pedagogies and technologies to increase accessibility to a world class higher education, our work is underpinned by four design principles, collectively called the CARE agenda.

A group of four students standing in front of street art depicting a bird in London


In true partnership with students, educators, the Queen Mary Academy, third space professionals, industry partners and community members, we co-design and co-create digital learning and teaching experiences. It is this multi-disciplinary approach where students are framed as our heart, the core organism that fuels other functions, that transforms digital learning courses and student experiences online. We recognise and value the boundary-crossing of professional practice and expertise in digital education (Kerosuo & Engeström 2003; Markauskaite & Goodyear 2017).

All our digital learning and teaching are active where students become agents in their own learning and knowledge construction to achieve who they need to be in the post-digital, health professional world (Hew et al., 2021; Smith & Baik, 2021). All our digital learning courses, including assessment are therefore authentic to the discipline of Medicine, Dentistry and Allied Health Sciences, equipping our students to be ready for the future world of work (Herrington & Herrington, 2006; Villarroel et al., 2017).

Formal and informal, institutional and personal relationships between students and educators, are vital to fostering our student sense of well-being and belonging to the university, faculty and community (Gravett & Ajjawi, 2021). We respect and infuse QMUL’s well-known emphasis on pastoral care for our students in digital learning experiences. This principle encourages us to design for various types of interaction and feedback opportunities, including peer learning, collaborative learning and community/service learning.

Our design work is based on evidence. We draw heavily on the body of existing literature from digital pedagogy and learning science; as well as student feedback and engagement data available to us from across the University.

The CARE Digital project

 

Our work to bring the CARE agenda to life begins with the CARE Digital project. This flagship initiative involves working with programme and course teams to collaboratively (re)design digital learning programmes and courses. We are currently co-creating the following programmes:

 

 

In partnership with the Institute of Health Sciences Education (IHSE), this Master’s programme has been specifically designed for doctors, dentists, senior nurses, allied health professionals and academics, involved in undergraduate or postgraduate teaching of clinicians. Through this programme students discover how to create medical education programmes that achieve maximum results, improve teaching practice and develop the expertise needed to lead medical education in the workplace.

In partnership with Barts Cancer Institute (BCI) this programme aims to provide students with a clear understanding of the scientific basis underlying the principles and practice of cancer biology, therapeutics and the development, evaluation and implementation of new treatments. Designed specifically to be delivered remotely, allowing for students to schedule their studies in line with their personal and professional schedules, the knowledge and experiences gained from this course will provide excellent grounding in the use and evaluation of cancer therapies which will enhance career prospects in many areas of early phase clinical trials and clinical drug development in the cancer setting.

In partnership with the Blizard Institute this programme (at time of writing) will be the only dedicated MSc for prospective Advanced Neonatal Practitioners in London. The course aims to address the local and national shortage of clinical services, specifically paediatric posts, through the development of workforce groups such as Advanced Nurse Practitioners. Innovative digital learning approaches will be delivered alonside support from well-established relationships with Hospital Trusts to accommodate professional and clinical schedules, while helping deliver long-term benefits to the health system.

In partnership with the Institute of Dentistry (IoD), this online short course aims to provide systematic leadership training with theoretical framework and practical applications and skills in healthcare settings, for middle managers or aspiring leaders working in the public and private healthcare sectors.

To accommodate participants’ busy schedules, the course offers easy online access to learning materials and teachings, so that participants can learn in their own time and at their own pace, regardless of where they are located.

In partnership with the Wolfson Institute of Population Health (WIPH) this course focuses on the social determinants of health, governance in global health, and climate change. The programme combines a wide variety of staff and student experiences, along with impactful online learning approaches to deepen understanding of global health issues and help learners from around the world become astute health professionals with a truly global perspective.

In partnership with the William Harvey Research Institute (WHRI) this undergraduate programme will provide participants with a thorough grounding in the discipline together with the tools to maintain their knowledge base through a course of advanced, specialist instruction, while being able to study both flexibly and remotely. The programme is designed to ensure that course participants acquire the theoretical/practical understanding and skills to advance and promote knowledge in the field as well as develop leadership skills.

In addition to the CARE Digital project, as part of the CARE agenda the Digital Education Studio provides expert advice and guidance to Institutes on all matters relating to digital education.

For example you may want to take a look at our CARE Digital Education module on QMPlus. This short online course is accessible for existing QMUL staff, and addresses key questions such as:

  1. Why does digital education matter?
  2. What does excellent digital education look like?
  3. How do we do this in practice?

If you would like access to the CARE Digital Education course, or would like to know more about the CARE agenda, CARE Digital project, or any of the other work taking place within the Digital Education Studio, please e-mail: digitaleducationstudio@qmul.ac.uk

 

References

Gravett, K., & Ajjawi, R. (2021). Belonging as situated practice. Studies in Higher Education, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2021.1894118.

Herrington, A. & Herrington, J. (2006). What is an Authentic Learning Environment?. In T. Herrington & J. Herrington (Eds.), Authentic Learning Environments in Higher Education (pp. 1-14). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-59140-594-8.ch001

Hew, K. F., Bai, S., Huang, W., Dawson, P., Du, J., Huang, G., Jia, C., & Thankrit, K. (2021). On the use of flipped classroom across various disciplines: Insights from a second-order meta-analysis. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 37(2), 132-151. https://doi.org/10.14742/ajet.6475

Kerosuo, H. & Engeström, Y. (2003). Boundary crossing and learning in creation of new work practice. Journal of Workplace Learning, 15(7/8), 345-351. https://doi.org/10.1108/13665620310504837.

Markauskaite, L. & Goodyear, P. (2017). Epistemic fluency and professional education. Springer, Gordrecht.

Smith, C. D., & Baik, C. (2021). High-impact teaching practices in higher education: a best evidence review. Studies in Higher Education, 46(8), 1696-1713. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1698539

Villarroel, V., Bloxham, S., Bruna, D., Bruna, C., & Herrera-Seda, C. (2018). Authentic assessment: creating a blueprint for course design. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 43(5), 840-854. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2017.1412396

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