| Unit name | Responsible Innovation in Digital Health |
|---|---|
| Unit code | SEMTM0023 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Brigden |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | School of Engineering Mathematics and Technology |
| Faculty | Faculty of Engineering |
Why is this unit important?
Digital health has tremendous potential to improve health outcomes, enhance healthcare systems and benefit society at large. AI can increase the precision of healthcare whilst improving efficiency and reducing costs. Smartphone apps and wearables can empower people to manage their own health and enhance the quality of healthcare consultations. Virtual care can make healthcare more convenient and accessible whilst providing environmental benefits from reduced travel. However, there are also “dark sides” to digital innovation. New technologies can be challenging to use, may exclude sections of society, and can violate privacy and trust. And can we be sure that new technologies are safe and effective?
Responsible innovation is critical in understanding how to design, evaluate and implement health technologies that deliver benefits to all stakeholders. Responsible Innovation covers ethical and legal frameworks, as well as methods for user experience research (UX) and methods for evaluating the safety and efficacy of new products.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study
Responsible Innovation complements other Digital Health units through which you will develop technological expertise and an understanding of the health landscape. Responsible innovation will also prepare you for the Digital Health Project, where you will have the opportunity to put learnings into practice through solving a real-world digital health challenge.
An overview of content
Topics covered in this unit will include:
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit
Throughout this unit there is a focus on students’ understanding the lifecycle of technology design, development, evaluation and implementation. Students will be better equipped to assess the ethical implications of health technologies and obtain necessary ethical approvals. They will also gain knowledge of the regulatory landscape and how this applies to a range of different health technologies. Additionally, students will be equipped to design and critique different research methods for designing and evaluating technologies.
Learning outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
Teaching will be delivered through a combination of synchronous and asynchronous sessions, including pre-recorded video lectures, on-campus lectures and seminars, and formative self-directed exercises. There will be an emphasis on group work, reflecting the digital health values of promoting effective interdisciplinary working.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
During seminars, students will work in groups to produce group deliverables for formative assessment. This will include formative assessment on the topic of ethics, which will prepare students for the TB1 assignment, and on the topic of research methods, which will prepare students for the TB2 assignment.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
This unit will be assessed by two coursework assignments.
Group project 1 (50%) assessing Learning Outcomes 1, 2, and 3
For this group project, ethical questions linked to responsible innovation in digital health will be posed. Each group will discuss among themselves their views and ideas and formulate responses to the questions that represent a balanced answer to the problem. For this group project, students will have a choice between producing a video report or a 2000 word written report.
Group Project 2 (50%) assessing Learning Outcomes 4 and 5
For this group project, students will critique a research method for designing and/or evaluating a digital health technology. The deliverable for this project will be a 2500 word report.
For both group projects, student engagement and contribution will be monitored through observation by supervisors and through peer evaluation; these will be used to assign an individual moderated mark for the project to each student.
When assessment does not go to plan:
Re-assessment takes a similar form to the original summative assessment but adapted for individual students to be able to complete the deliverables.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. SEMTM0023).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
