Elective Units of Study

In addition to the two core units of study, this course requires completion of the following number of elective units:

• The master’s degree comprises two core units of study and a further six elective units.
• The graduate diploma comprises two core units of study and a further four elective units.
• The graduate certificate comprises two core units of study and a further two elective units.

Semester 1 electives in Medical Education (MDED)

The following electives are taught by our coordinators in the Faculty of Medicine:

Unit of Study Code	Unit of Study Title	Mode	Credit Points
MDED5004/5005	Independent Studies A/B	Face-to-face OR Fully online	6
MDED5006	Facilitating Clinical Learning	Face-to-face OR Fully online	6
MDED5008	Assessment in Medical Education	Face-to-face OR Fully online	6
MDED5010	Developing Clinical Reasoning	Face-to-face OR Fully online	6

Semester 2 electives in Medical Education (MDED)

The following electives are taught by our coordinators in the Faculty of Medicine:

 

Unit of Study Code	Unit of Study Title	Mode	Credit Points
MDED5003 (Not on offer 2009)	Educational Development and Evaluation	Face-to-face OR Fully online	6
MDED5007	PBL in Medical Education	Face-to-face OR Fully online	6
MDED5009 (Not on offer 2009)	Promoting Interprofessional Learning	Face-to-face OR Fully online	6
MDED5004/5005	Independent Studies A/B	Face-to-face OR Fully online	6
MDED5011	Research methods in medical education	Face-to-face OR Fully online	6
PMED5051	Leadership in Medicine	Fully online only	6

To complete electives other than those on this list, approval must first be sought from the course coordinator, and from the coordinator of the elective unit of study.

Note: At least 50 per cent of the credit points needed for award (e.g. at least 12 credit points for graduate certificate, 18 credit points for the graduate diploma and 24 credit points for the master’s degree) must be completed within the Faculty of Medicine (MDED units of study).

Alternative electives in semester 1

Unit of Study Code	Unit of Study Title	Credit Points
BACH5153	Assessment of Learning	6
BACH5118	Learning in Groups	6
EDPE6016	Adult Learning and Development	6
EDPC6018	Designing Computer Assisted Learning Environments	6
EDPC5015	Emerging IT and Educational Change	6
EDPE5011	Motivation for Learning	6
EDPE5001	Learning, Knowing and Thinking	6
CEPI5200	Quality and Safety in Health Care	6
EDPK5003	Developing a Research Project	6
EDPB6013	Internationalisation of Education	6

Alternative electives in semester 2

Unit of Study Code	Unit of Study Title	Credit Points
EDPR5011	The Scholarship of Uni Teaching and Learning	6
MMHU6905	Medicine and Music	6
BACH5003	Facilitating Learning	6
BACH5007	Curriculum Leadership	6
BACH5116	Developing a Web-based Education System	6
EDPR6012	Developing Flexible Learning in Higher Ed	6
EDPA5013	Evaluation of Educational Training Programs and Institutions	6
EDPE6011	Learning and Individual Differences	6
EDPR5003	Research-enhanced Teaching and Learning	6
EDPP5002	Enquiry in Teaching and Curriculum	6
EDPK5003	Developing a Research Project	6
EDPB6013	Internationalisation of Education	6

Descriptions of our Elective Units of Study in Medical Education (MDED)

MDED5003 Educational Development and Evaluation (Not on offer 2009)

Credit points: 6
Coordinator: Dr Tim Shaw
Session: Semester 2
Classes: The total workload for this unit of study is approximately 10 hours per week. This unit may be undertaken in two modes: either as a blended face-to-face course requiring attendance at 4x2.5hr face-to-face evening classes on campus, along with some participation in online learning activities OR this unit may by completed fully online.
Assessment: Online discussion and tasks (10%), 1x2000word essay (30%), 1xpresentation (10%) and 1x4000 word project (50%)
Campus: Camperdown campus, Mackie Building
Workload: Approximately 10 hours per week over a 13-week semester.

This unit builds on module D in MDED5001 by developing understanding of approaches to program evaluation. This unit will provide students with skills to conduct their own evaluation and inquiry projects. The unit aims to develop scholarship and lifelong learning graduate attributes through promoting growth of skills in reflection, inquiry and communication. This unit of study aims to develop a better understanding of how evaluative practice can improve individual teaching and educational programs.

By the end of this unit of study students will be able to:

• Compare strategies for reflecting on teaching and students' learning experiences;
• Apply examples of evaluation methods to developing a plan for evaluating a program;
• Compare forms of evaluation and explain the role of forms of evaluation in educational development.

Textbooks
Owen, J. (2006). Program Evaluation: Forms and approaches. 3rd Edition. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.

MDED5004/5 Independent Studies A/B

Credit points: : 6 Independent Studies A or 12 combined Independent Studies A & B
Coordinator: Assoc Prof Merrilyn Walton
Session: Semester 1 or 2
Classes: Face-to-face: 1x3hr evening class (several times during the semester) plus scheduled supervisory meetings. Alternatively this unit may by undertaken fully online, with online supervision.
Assessment: Assessment for Independent Study A will be a 6000-8000 word project, or its equivalent; whereas combined Study A & B will require a 10000-14000 word project, or its equivalent.
Campus: Camperdown campus

Workload: Approximately 10 hours per week over a 13-week semester or 26 weeks for combined Study A & B.

Please note that it is not advisable to begin an Independent Study early in your program. We advise you to wait until you have completed four other units of study including the two core units and from 2009 MDED5011 will also be a prerequisite. Approval for independent studies must be sought from the program coordinator.

Candidates may contract to undertake independent studies in a particular field of educational interest or to undertake independent research. Students undertaking a research project will have appropriate supervision by academic staff in the Office of Postgraduate Medical Education and many have co-supervision within the actual research setting.

The project is negotiated with your supervisor and based on a written Learning Contract. The project can be undertaken for one semester (6 credit points - Independent Studies A) or two semesters (12 credit points - A and B) in negotiation with your supervisor. The choice of project is yours and you are encouraged to select a topic that is directly relevant to your own work setting. As part of the Independent Study you will develop your own learning outcomes.

The following are examples of Independent Study projects designed and undertaken by students in previous years:

Title: A framework for reflection on teaching: Combining teaching philosophy, reflective tools and insights from implementing a unit of study

Description: Part of being an effective educator is the ability to be able to reflect on one’s own learning and teaching practice. This project involved the use of three tools to compose reflective statements about teaching experience in a new unit of study. Outcomes were to evaluate the usefulness and productiveness of the reflective tools, and propose a framework for reflection on teaching that incorporates awareness of one’s own teaching philosophy.

Title: A Pilot Study of In-Training Assessment in Rheumatology Advanced Training

Description: A pilot study was conducted which attempted to introduce several established performance assessment methods to Rheumatology Advanced Training in several large teaching hospitals in NSW and Victoria. The pilot study was timely, given the major trend internationally towards performance-based assessments in postgraduate medical education. The study investigated supervisors and trainees' attitudes to the new assessment methods used in performance assessment, established what the local challenges to implementation might be, and provided advice that can be used to guide adaptation to local contexts of Australian postgraduate medical education.

Title: Teaching Professionalism to Junior Medical Staff

Description: Professionalism covers a wide variety of topics and has been difficult to clearly define in a form that is easy to learn. The aim of this independent studies project was to determine what constituted professionalism and the best way for Junior Medical Staff to learn professionalism.

Title: Teaching Clinical Reasoning to Medical Registrars
Description: Clinical reasoning is essential for good clinical practice. The aim of this independent study project was to determine the components of clinical reasoning and how clinical reasoning could be taught to medical registrars.

NB: Students negotiate with an Office of Postgraduate Medical Education staff member to be their supervisor on an agreed project. The supervisor emails the Postgraduate Student Administration Unit permission for the student to enrol.

MDED5006 Facilitating Clinical Learning

Credit points: 6
Coordinator: Assoc Prof Chris Roberts
Session: Semester 1
Classes: Face-to-face: 4 x 2hr evening classes. Alternatively this unit may by undertaken fully online.
Assessment: 3 written assignments (100%)
Campus: Camperdown campus
Workload: Approximately 10 hours per week over a 13-week semester.

This unit aims to explore, discuss and critically appraise perspectives on, and practices in, clinical learning in appropriate settings and to apply these understandings and knowledge to the development of an initiative to improve clinical learning. Participants will explore what and how students learn in the clinical context; the challenges of learning and teaching in a work environment; and other clinical learning situations such as simulation and skills laboratories. Participants will define a particular problem for learning and/or teaching from their own context and review the literature (theory and research) to develop an educational intervention to address this issue. The development of student professionalism is another curricular theme in this unit of study.

By the end of this unit, students will demonstrate ability to:

• Explain the principles of one of the main theories that underpin current understanding and conceptualization of learning and teaching in a clinical environment
• Identify the common challenges of preparing clinicians for complex practice and some of the distinctive, curricula, pedagogical and assessment practices that have been developed to meet these challenges
• Frame questions related to student learning in your clinical environment for research
• Analyse and evaluate appropriate literature in relation to a specific area of investigation of learning in a clinical environment
• Apply knowledge of current theory/research to develop new understandings about learning and teaching in clinical environments
• Question and analyse current educational practice in own and other contexts
• Apply knowledge of current theory/research to justify a proposal for an innovation in teaching practice/s supporting the professional development of learners in your own clinical environment
• Analyse ethical considerations of any proposal for educational change
• Predict the effects of proposed educational change within own workplace setting
• Evaluate and reconsider your own teaching practice in the light of new knowledge and understanding
• Critically evaluate the impact of personal beliefs and attitudes on teaching
• Communicate information, ideas, problems, and solutions accurately and reliably, and with structured and coherent arguments in both written and oral format.
• Work effectively and cooperatively as a member of a learning community, providing and responding to constructive feedback.
• Please note: it is recommended that part-time students complete MDED5002 prior to commencing this unit.

MDED5007 PBL in Medical Education

Credit points: 6
Coordinator: Dr Rola Ajjawi, Ms Samantha Van Staalduinen
Session: Semester 2
Classes: The total workload for this unit of study is approximately 10 hours per week. This unit may be undertaken in two modes: either as a blended face-to-face course requiring attendance at 1x3hr fortnightly face-to-face class on campus, followed by some participation in online learning activities OR this unit may by completed fully online
Assessment: 2xwritten assignments (100%) plus formative tasks.
Campus: Camperdown campus
Workload: Approximately 10 hours per week over a 13-week semester.

This unit of study builds on the introduction to concepts of effective learning and teaching developed in MDED5001 by offering you in-depth study through authentic learning activities. The key focus of this unit is on developing your understanding of student-focussed perspectives on problem-based learning and the introduction of problem-based learning to professional health education curricula. An important aspect of your learning experience is the development of your own problem-based learning case, a process that combines theory, design skills and creativity. This unit provides a foundation for the study of small group learning and teaching in future units of study.

By the end of this unit of study students will be able to:

• Prepare students and staff for the introduction of a problem-based learning component
• Design problem-based learning cases to guide collaborative and self-regulated learning
• Critically appraise evidence for the effectiveness of problem based versus alternative curricula
• Justify the introduction of problem based learning into new or revised professional health education curricula

MDED5008 Assessment in Medical Education

Credit points: 6
Coordinator: Assoc Prof Chris Roberts
Session: Semester 1
Classes: Face-to-face: 4 x 2.5hr evening class. Alternatively this unit may by undertaken fully online.
Assessment: Portfolio-based assessment
Campus: Camperdown/Darlington
Workload: Approximately 10 hours per week over a 13-week semester.

The aims of this unit are that students will gain enhanced skills in student assessment and a deeper understanding of principles and practices which underpin evidence-based assessment practice in medicine and the health sciences. Assessment is an essential element of undergraduate, post-graduate and continuing medical education and training. This unit of study will focus on the purpose, design, implementation and evaluation of authentic assessment tasks and strategies that reflect what practitioners do and what students will do in medical practice. The unit of study will discuss the principles underpinning best assessment practice and the evidence for particular assessment strategies.

Specific topics to be addressed include selecting assessment tools, the design and blueprinting of assessment strategies, use of assessment in formative and summative assessments, the implementation and evaluation of assessment strategies appropriate to particular medical education contexts and measurement of appropriate outcomes.

During this unit students will learn to:

• Evaluate the purpose, reliability and validity of an existing assessment;
• Design and construct a reliable, valid and acceptable assessment instrument;
• Develop strategies to facilitate the implementation of change in assessment practices;
• Demonstrate the ability to engage in collaborative learning and demonstrate the ability to critically reflect on personal learning and teaching practices.

MDED5009 Promoting Interprofessional Learning (Not on offer 2009)

Credit points: 6
Coordinator: TBC
Session: Semester 2
Classes: The total workload for this unit of study is approximately 10 hours per week. This unit may be undertaken in two modes: either as a blended face-to-face course requiring attendance at 1x2.5hr fortnightly face-to-face evening classes on campus, along with participation in online learning activities OR this unit may by completed fully online.
Assessment: 1x8000word project (100%)
Campus: Camperdown
Workload: Approximately 10 hours per week over a 13-week semester.


This unit aims to prepare students to promote interprofessional learning opportunities in the workplace. This unit will focus on the exploration of theoretical and practical issues surrounding the promotion of interprofessional collaborative learning. Students will undertake a small-scale project to design an interprofessional learning opportunity relevant to their educational environment. Particular emphasis will be given to the benefits and challenges to implementation of interprofessional learning.

By the end of this unit, students will be able to:

• Design and implement a protocol/guideline for assessing interprofessional teamwork;
• From the literature identify the benefits of and barriers to interprofessional learning as it relates to health professional education and
• Apply knowledge of the interprofessional learning literature and educational strategies to design interprofessional learning opportunities.

MDED5010 Facilitating Clinical Reasoning

Credit points: 6
Coordinator: Dr Rola Ajjawi
Session: Semester 1
Classes: The total workload for this unit of study is approximately 10 hours per week - this unit may be undertaken in one of two modes: either as a blended face-to-face course requiring attendance at 4x2.5hr face-to-face evening classes on campus, along with participation in online learning activities OR this unit may by completed fully online
Assessment:2xwritten assignments (100%) plus formative tasks.
Campus: Camperdown campus
Workload: Approximately 10 hours per week over a 13-week semester.

In this unit of study participants will develop a deep understanding of the theoretical and practical issues surrounding the facilitation of clinical reasoning. They will critique and analyse educational theory and research to form a theoretical framework to support their learning and teaching of clinical reasoning. They will engage in critical reflection of their own reasoning and learn strategies for facilitating its development in a variety of medical education contexts. Participants will also learn to identify students’ reasoning difficulties and to design a program to promote the development of clinical reasoning within their own workplace setting.

At the completion of this UOS students must be able to:

• Discuss current theory and research related to clinical reasoning and its communication
• Critically reflect on own clinical reasoning and/or teaching of clinical reasoning in light of ‘new’ understanding
• Critically evaluate current educational theory and research related to strategies for learning and teaching of clinical reasoning
• Develop a coherent theoretical framework to support the development of clinical reasoning in themselves and others
• Design and defend an innovative educational program to facilitate the development of clinical reasoning

Textbooks
Higgs J, Jones M, Loftus S and Christensen N (2008). Clinical Reasoning in the Health Professions, (3rd ed.). Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.

MDED 5011 Research methods in medical education

Credit points: 6
Coordinator: Assoc Prof Charlotte Rees
Session: Semester 2
Classes: Face-to-face: 5 x 2.5hr evening classes starting at 6pm. Alternatively this unit may be undertaken fully online.
Assessment: 2xwritten assignments (100%) plus formative tasks
Campus: Camperdown campus, Mackie Building
Workload: Approximately 10 hours per week over a 13-week semester

This is a core unit of study for the Graduate Diploma and Master of Medical Education programs. This unit is designed to build on the basic research principles learnt in MDED 5002 (Scholarship of Teaching in Medicine) and to prepare students for independent research in medical education. This advanced unit of study will help students develop a greater depth of understanding of research methods suitable for medical education, including qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods research. Students will explore the philosophical assumptions underpinning these research traditions and the range of data collection methods best suited to answer a research question based on their own context. Students will explore the ethical issues pertinent to conducting medical education research and will design a comprehensive medical education research proposal (including ethics application). Students will also learn to apply quantitative and/or qualitative techniques to analyse medical education research data.

Textbook
Cohen L, Manion L, Morrison K. Research Methods in Education (6th edition). New York: Routledge, 2007.

By the end of this unit of study, students will be able to:

• Differentiate between evaluation and research in medical education
• Discuss the role of theory in medical education research
• Discuss the philosophical assumptions (e.g. ontology, epistemology) underpinning qualitative and quantitative medical education research methodologies
• Critique common qualitative and quantitative medical education research methods (e.g. study designs, sampling strategies, data collection and data analysis methods)
• Critically appraise the quality of qualitative and quantitative medical education research papers
• Analyse basic qualitative and quantitative data using appropriate software packages
• Design a rigorous research study proposal that investigates a medical education research question(s) and uses appropriate methodology

Textbooks
Cohen L, Manion L & Morrison K (2007) Research Methods in Education (6th edition). New York: Routledge.