Course Development

Backwards Design

Context

Clinical faculty physicians teach undergraduate medical students during hands-on ultrasound clinical skills sessions with volunteer patients. Faculty generally have working knowledge of ultrasound but have varying levels of experience and confidence in teaching novice learners. The non-graded course addresses the need for accessible, standardized faculty development that can be completed despite demanding clinical schedules.

Delivery Method

Asynchronous online self-directed module, with optional synchronous online or in-person office hours for questions and hands-on practice.

Hours

4 hours, exluding the optional office hours

Audience

Clinical faculty physicians who teach undergraduate medical students during ultrasound clinical skills sessions. Participants have completed medical school and residency training and generally have working knowledge of ultrasound operation and relevant anatomy. Their primary professional role is patient care, with teaching as one component of their responsibilities.

Design Outcomes

• Developed learning outcomes using instructional design principles and the goals of the course

• Designed formative learning activities and summative assignments that support learners with achieving the learning outcomes

• Align all learning activities and assignments to the major concepts, skills, and issues that will be addressed in the course

Lesson Plan & Presentation Slide Deck

Developing the Lesson Plan

This lesson plan is developed for learning objective 2: demonstrate a structured approach to guiding a novice learner through a basic ultrasound scan. The lesson is designed to prepare participants for assignment 2, a short video recording demonstrating how they would teach a novice learner through a basic ultrasound scan. One of the challenges was designing brief learning activities without sacrificing the preparation participants need to successfully achieve the learning outcome and complete the assignment.

Designing the Presentation Slide Deck

I also developed a presentation slide deck on the Canva graphic design tool that complement the optional synchronous office hour component in this lesson. The optional synchronous component provides an opportunity for participants to practice the teaching sequence and receive guidance from an experienced faculty member, if they need more support to complete the assigment.

Evaluation and Implementation Plan

As I developed the plan, I realized that implementing a course involves much more than delivering the learning experience itself. My initial focus was primarily on the instructional design and how the course would support the learning objectives. However, developing this plan required me to think more broadly about the people involved in decision-making, course administration, facilitation, and evaluation. I needed to consider who would be responsible for each part of the implementation process and how their roles would contribute to the success of the course.