In order to meet the needs of busy pharmacists working in diverse locations and
practice contexts around New Zealand the course Pharmacotherapy in Psychiatry
required redesigning to become fully online.
Monica Zolezzi, Senior Lecturer, School of Pharmacy wanted to make changes that
would provide:
- Flexible access to course materials (time and space)
- Engaging, authentic learning in mental health management and prescribing
- A professional development and communication support structure for isolated
pharmacists working in a specialized field
Monica worked with Adam Blake (LTU) using learning design principles to redesign
the course in the following ways:
Monica and a range of expert contributors used Articulate Presenter to share
their expertise with students via narrative voiceovers for audio-visual
presentations.
Videotaped patient interviews provided a real-world basis for course discussions
in theUniversity's CECIL learning management system.
Case ‘logbooks' (personal journals in CECIL) were set up for participants to
record, reflect and gain feedback on their own practice experiences.
Authentic case scenarios, together with participant practice experiences, acted
as a platform for development of care plans addressing the most prevalent mental
health conditions that participants could employ directly in their professional
practice.
Monica learned how to use CourseBuilder to develop the course, which meant she
had the control to create and update course content without having to depend on
technical staff.
Adam and Monica carried out usability trials to test and refine a prototype of
the course website and at the end of the development they undertook an
evaluation to determine how the new course design supported health professional
participants in developing their mental health management and prescribing
skills.
Because of the positive reception of the course changes by staff and students,
it has subsequently provided a template for other postgraduate pharmacy courses
to be redeveloped for online learning.
"Adam has brought great enthusiasm to the role. He has literally opened our eyes
to the potential of learning technologies and has worked collaboratively with
our staff to help them develop and refine newteaching and learning practices."
Professor John Shaw, Head, School of Pharmacy
