Premium
Creation of a Learning Module for Healthcare Graduate Students on ALS
Author(s) -
Diouf Johnna Rena,
Pascoe Mike A.,
Ringel Steven P.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.30.1_supplement.787.8
Subject(s) - context (archaeology) , disease , amyotrophic lateral sclerosis , presentation (obstetrics) , medicine , foundation (evidence) , psychology , medical education , computer science , pathology , surgery , history , paleontology , archaeology , biology
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a commonly diagnosed neurodegenerative disease. Although recent research has elucidated potential causes of this disease, many allied health students do not have a deep knowledge of the disease, including its pathophysiology, genetic research and treatments. This can translate into a delayed diagnosis of ALS due to symptom overlap with other neurodegenerative diseases like multiple sclerosis. Some studies show that over 50% of ALS cases are given a different disease diagnosis at first. A rigorous literature search found no detailed self‐guided learning resources on ALS to address this potential gap in allied health student knowledge. Therefore, a learning module on ALS was created with the goal of providing a robust foundation of the various aspects of the disease, enabling a stronger knowledge foundation for clinical practice. The case‐based module was constructed using interactive presentation software (Articulate Storyline) that allowed users to explore the connections between pathophysiology, progression stages, research, and treatments of the disease. The module starts with a homepage that is linked to all other sections. All sections have a home button that returns to the homepage. Each section has informative text on its given subject (e.g., pathophysiology). Illustrations were provided along with the text to give visual context, providing a medium to aide visual learners. A clinical case scenario was integrated throughout the learning module to allow acquired knowledge to be applied to a real‐life example. Each section related to the progression of the disease in the clinical case. Also included in the module were 3‐dimensional renderings of neurons to demonstrate the varying effects of the disease dependent on the type of neuron that is affected (i.e., upper vs. lower motor neurons). Small quizzes were administered after each section to allow the student to assess their understanding of the material of a given section. The deployment of this module will add a much‐needed resource on neuropathology for medical and other health sciences students, especially those who plan to specialize in neurology, as it may improve their foundational knowledge and could be used as reference later in their careers. A future goal of the study will be to test the effectiveness of the module.