Integration of the Pharmacy Curriculum using WebBased Technologies

1

• A Frequently Asked Questions Section to help
  students with commonly asked questions about the
  WBLC and WebCT.
• The Project Background containing the grant
  proposal, the learning objectives for the
  project, and a link to the original WBLC
  prototype.
• The Design Team giving credit to the individuals
  responsible for creating the WBLC, including
  biographies.
• 2. Each pharmacy course contained
• Four common elements (Course Materials,
  Evaluation Tools, Communications Tools and a
  Resource Centre see Figure 4).
• Integration of course materials are provided
  through strategic linking of materials within
  each course (Intralinks), between courses
  (Interlinks) and to other sites on the Internet
  (URLinks).
• Animated movies and interactive multimedia were
  incorporated into the lecture notes of the
  courses.
• An integrative problem in which student will be
  required to use aspects of other pharmacy
  courses.
• 3. The features of the interface include
• A navigation bar to promote a user centric
  interface (see Figure 3).
• A comfortable visual environment.
• Common design and icons throughout each pharmacy
  course for ease of navigation and adaptability.
• This resource has the potential to enhance
  student learning and understanding of objectives
  within each course through lecture notes,
  interactive movies and extensive concept linking.
  The prototype will be implemented during the
  2000-2001 academic year.
• CONCLUSION

ABSTRACT Objective The objective of this
project was to upgrade the Web-Based Learning
Centre (WBLC) prototype created in year one of
the project. Based on student feedback, a
re-designed user interface is expected to further
integrate the pharmacy curriculum into a unified
resource to enhance teaching and learning in the
pharmaceutical sciences. Methods Enhancing the
initial WBLC prototype involved strategic
planning, creative development and production
phases. Strategic planning consisted of extensive
information gathering, consultations and concept
mapping to clearly define the learning framework
and the features critical for the new site
design. The creative development process involved
transcribing the entire resource on poster-sized
paper into storyboards and site maps. The
production phase focussed on the creation of a
central menu bar, homepages, course materials,
graphic elements, animations and the
interactivity of the centre using a number of
software packages. Existing evaluation profiles
in the form of two questionnaires, developed to
determine the effectiveness of the prototype for
student learning, were added to the site for
on-line delivery. Results An upgraded WBLC
prototype integrating seven core pharmacy courses
and Continuing Pharmacy Education (CPE) into a
seamless resource was successfully created.
Components of the resource include the WBLC
homepage, seven WebCT courses and the CPE
website. The WBLC homepage provides an overview
of the resource including instructions, tutorials
and recommendations on how to use the resource.
WebCT courses include a homepage built on top of
the WebCT framework in addition to four common
elements (Course Materials, Evaluation Tools,
Communications Tools and a Resource Centre).
Integration of course materials are provided
through strategic linking of materials within
each course (Intralinks), between courses
(Interlinks) and to other sites on the Internet
(URLinks). Integrative problems involving
literature evaluation were developed to promote
the use of the resource links. An intuitive menu
bar was developed to link all components of the
centre. The interface uses a user-centric model
designed around a fundamental three clicks to
anywhere principle. The WBLC is currently being
implemented and evaluated during the 2000-2001
academic year. Conclusions A WWW-based
educational resource was successfully created
with the potential to enhance teaching and
learning in the pharmaceutical sciences. The
successful implementation and evaluation of this
resource may provide the potential for utilizing
technology-based approaches for educating
students and for moving to a more
learner-centered approach to pharmacy
education. Acknowledgement UBC Teaching and
Learning Enhancement Fund, B.C Student Summer
Works Program and the Faculty of Pharmaceutical
Sciences.

• OBJECTIVE
• The objective of this project was to upgrade an
  initial Web-Based Learning Center (WBLC)
  prototype for the purpose of
• Integrating web-based technology into the
  pharmacy curriculum.
• Creating a unified resource that would further
  integrate the pharmacy curriculum.
• Enhancing teaching and learning in the
  pharmaceutical sciences using web technology.
• METHODS
• The upgrading process involved
• 1. Strategic Planning
• Storyboards and site maps of the WBLC and
  individual courses were created to aid in
  interface design (see Figure 1).
• The navigational scheme was designed.
• 2. Creative Development
• The layout of the HTML pages were designed using
  Macromedia Dreamweaver 3.
• Animated movie clips were created using
  Macromedia Flash 4.
• 3. Production
• WebCT tutorials were developed using Macromedia
  Flash 4.
• Course lecture notes were incorporated into WebCT
  with animated movies.
• Linking of the individual courses, integrative
  problems, and WBLC effectiveness surveys were
  uploaded.

Integration of the Pharmacy Curriculum using
Web-Based Technologies
Simon P. Albon, Nelson P. Kuhlen, Philip Hui,
Stephanie Lee, Howard Sham and Kishor M. Wasan
Software UsedMicrosoft Word97, PowerPoint97,
Macromedia Dreamweaver 3 Macromedia Flash 4.0,
Paintshop Pro 5.0, Adobe PhotoShop 5.5, Adobe
Acrobat 3.0. Hardware Used Celeron 333Mhz for
Web Design Kodak DC280 digital camera for taking
pictures for creating director movies.
WBLC Home
Getting Started
Tutorials
Project Background
FAQs
Design Team
WBLC Courses
Password Change
Navigation
Original Prototype
WBLC Log-in

• RESULTS
• A WWW-based educational resource tool which
  integrated Pharmacy 211, 300, 311, 325, 360, 402,
  403 and Continuing Pharmacy Education (CPE) was
  successfully created. The interface of the WBLC
  utilizes a combination of text, interactive
  multimedia, animations, stills, Interlinks,
  Intralinks and URLinks to meet the learning
  objectives for the project.
• 1. The WBLC featured
• A homepage containing the links to the individual
  pharmacy courses (see Figure 2).
• A Getting Started section describing the
  hardware, software and computer skills required
  to efficiently use the WBLC.
• A Tutorial section containing interactive
  animations that deal with the various modules of
  WebCT.

Pharmacy 311
Pharmacy 211
Bulletin Board
E-mail
Pharmacy 325
Pharmacy 300
Pharmacy 360
Pharmacy 402
Chat
Student Records
CPE
Pharmacy 403
Figure 1. Site map of the Web-Based Learning
Centre.
INTRODUCTION The Faculty of Pharmaceutical
Sciences offers a traditional approach to
professional pharmacist training. Although this
current educational paradigm remains in place for
developing the skills necessary for the
practicing pharmacist, the approach does impose
several limitations on both the learner and the
teacher. The use of web-based technologies has
the potential to overcome these limitations.
Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences University of
British Columbia Vancouver, BC
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The SPIDERS team would like
to acknowledge generous support from the UBC
Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund, the
Government of British Columbias Youth Options BC
Student Summer Works 2000 program, and the
Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences.