Unit information: Clinical based Education (Online) in 2027/28

Please note: Programme and unit information may change as the relevant academic field develops. We may also make changes to the structure of programmes and assessments to improve the student experience.

Unit name Clinical based Education (Online)
Unit code MEEDM0042
Credit points 20
Level of study M/7
Teaching block(s) Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director Dr. Maidment-Otlet
Open unit status Not open
Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units)

No prior units are required. However, applicants must be practising health care professionals, who must also have some teaching responsibility during the duration of study.

Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units)

None

Units you may not take alongside this one

None

School/department Bristol Medical School
Faculty Faculty of Health Sciences

Unit Information

Why is this unit important?

A large proportion of the teaching and learning that takes place within healthcare professions happens within clinical environments. This can present significant learning opportunities, but also significant challenges and barriers to learning. There is often tension between clinical demands and
learning in the workplace. Within this unit, you will learn about how learning occurs in clinical workplaces and the unique challenges that occur in these settings. We look at practical strategies to address barriers to learning and allow you to support your learners. We will look at how organisational factors such as the learning culture has an impact on learning. We will also consider collaborative practice and interprofessional learning. We hope that this unit will give you a good understanding of the theory underlying these issues and help you support learning in challenging environments.

How does this unit fit into your programme of study?

This unit builds directly on from Theory and Practice and Assessment and Evaluation. These units cover much fundamental learning and assessment theory. Clinical Based Education brings this theory into the context of the clinical workplace to consider its practical application in challenging
environments. We build on this with a deeper look at theory around workplace learning and organisational learning. Following on from T&P and A&E, we continue to take a critical approach to the theory and literature.

Your learning on this unit

An overview of content:

To provide flexibility, asynchronous online activities are set to be completed in your own time. These are supported by optional synchronous online tutorials. To complete the unit there is one residential face-to-face teaching day; several dates will be made available providing much greater choice and flexibility for you. Across each cohort group sizes will be kept small to facilitate in depth discussion leading to deeper learning. The residential teaching day will consist of a mixture of face-to-face teaching and group work where we will consider the health professional as an educator as well as the student perspective on learning in the workplace. The summative assessments provide the opportunity for learners to reflect on their developing practice over the course of the past few months and create a learning resource based on some of the core educational theories and methodologies and strategies.

How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit:

Students will have a good understanding of clinical teaching methodologies and underpinning workplace social models and theoretical perspectives (including the impact of the organisation) on learning in the workplace. They will also have an understanding of strategies to support learners in clinical environments and overcome barriers to learning. We hope that they will be able to apply this knowledge to support their learners.

Learning outcomes:

  • Critically examine and discuss a range of clinical teaching methodologies
  • Critically appraise workplace social models and theoretical perspectives
  • Reflect on perceived barriers in their clinical teaching and identify strategies to overcome these drawing on the literature
  • Demonstrate criticality towards literature and theory relevant to workplace based teaching and learning
  • Communicate effectively to an audience in an engaging and professional manner using a range of media as appropriate.

How you will learn

Online mixed methods including synchronous tutorials, small group discussions, workshops and teamwork. Paired activities and presentations by participants with structured feedback.

How you will be assessed

Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):

Formative assessment will include the production of varied texts and/or items in other media, contributing to an overarching, programme-level portfolio assessment, employing the concept of the ‘patchwork text’. Each unit will have required items and types of texts to be produced at stated times within the framework of the unit and others will stretch across the entire Certificate permitting learners to demonstrate how they are connecting key concepts and synthesising the material. This provides a more appropriate assessment for the development of understanding and skills in a course where reflection on progress parallels a critical approach to theory.

Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):

Summative assessment: The final summative assessment is divided into two formats, each will contribute to the final mark following appropriate weighing, as follows:

  • 1000 word written reflection on how this course has impacted your teaching practice and changed your approach to Health Professions Education in the clinical workplace. You should include citations where relevant. This forms the final summative patchwork of your reflective e-portfolio, patchwork eight, and counts for 30% of the total mark for this unit.
  • A narrated presentation (duration 10 minutes) providing a reflective and critical account of a student learning experience in the workplace in which you were involved. You should reflect on how the student learning took place in that environment? What were the barriers to learning? Analyse the external factors and influences, for example the people that may have impacted on the learning event. Reflecting on your role and practice as a Health Professions Educator you should draw on at least three of the theoretical concepts, models or frameworks taught on the study days to explore in-depth. The presentation should be grounded in a critical review of educational literature, research, and theory. This summative assessment counts for 70% of the total mark. Additional information: a transcript of the relevant part of the narration should be included in the notes section of each slide. Add citations to your notes, but you do not need to include these in your verbal narration. An assignment cover should also be completed and include a reference page.

When assessment does not go to plan:

If you do not pass the unit, you will normally be given the opportunity to take a reassessment as per the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes. Decisions on the award of reassessment will normally be taken after all taught units of the year have been completed. Reassessment
will normally be in a similar format to the original assessment that has been failed.

Resources

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. MEEDM0042).

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.