ARTICLE #3 | 49
RE-DESIGNING OF A PROBLEM BASED LEARNING MODULE TO REFLECT A
DISTINCTIVE CURRICULUM
and human health. In keeping with the ethos of self-directed
learning the intention here is to encourage students to apply
deep knowledge and develop critical awareness of the role of the
environment in cancer development. This strategy is aligned to the
GMC’s learning outcomes on sustainability which recommends that
students should be able to:
• Recognise the role of environmental and occupational hazards
in ill-health and discuss ways to mitigate their effects.
• Discuss from a global perspective the determinants of health
and disease and variations in health care delivery and medical
practice.
• The cancer module’s approach to educating sustainability
lacks explicit outcomes. As a module which spans only for four
weeks it is no doubt a challenge to incorporate the curriculum
adequately with all the essential learning outcomes including
aspects of public health. However the module could be
redeveloped to make use of innovative learning formats such as
‘Flipped learning’ to accommodate for the time and resources
needed to engage students with sustainability issues such as
climate change.
Technologies to support delivery of the cancer module
Learners entering today’s educational system are heavily reliant
on information and communications technologies (ICT) and thus
a well-designed module should use appropriate technologies for
interfacing with students. As the generation which has the most
experience with technology they are aptly classified as the ‘Digital
Natives’. Learners of this generation are more likely to engage with the
learning environment when it is presented with visuals and elements
that blend a mixture of different media (Prensky 2001). The choice
of technology to use in education is continuously expanding. These
choices allow us to design and deliver learning materials which can
be accessed by a diverse range of students having different learning
styles or needs. With the aid of technology, education is no longer
fixed on a single delivery point such as the classroom but rather
can be accessed remotely without being constrained by time and
space. However the choice of technology to use must be aligned
to its effectiveness in helping students learn. This resonates with
the established notion that a designated technology must reflect its
usefulness in being the most appropriate for students achieving the
desired learning outcomes (Sidman 2007).
Adapting to the rise of ICT, almost all universities within UK including
Keele have undergone transformations to not only improve the
quality of education but to meet the requirements of the ‘Digital