Health Care Management Course Management Faculty Handbook

Transcription

1 Health Care Management Course Management Faculty Handbook Introduction This handbook is designed as a guide to provide current Health Care Management (HCM) full time and adjunct faculty with an overview of the online and blended program policies and approaches used in HCM. Online and blended learning offers HCM students a variety of educational opportunities. Please consider the following learning approaches as you prepare and deliver the Health Care Management course content. 1. Encourage contact between yourself and the student so the student knows you are available. 2. Utilize teamwork and group activities to develop cooperation among students and teach them to work productively with each other across course sections. 3. Encourage active learning by engaging students to participate on the course site. 4. Give prompt feedback on assignments and activities (i.e., 1 week turnaround). 5. Give prompt responses to course s and questions (i.e., hour turnaround). 6. Promptly post audio recordings and live classroom sessions (i.e., 48 hour turnaround form assigned class day/time). 7. Communicate high expectations and encourage students to have high self-expectations. 8. Follow the HCM course format and create a well-organized course structure for HCM students. Why both in-class (blended) and QL course sections? To provide students with access to education while increasing the opportunities for students to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to achieve their academic and career goals. Faculty are able to provide a collaborative learning environment for students by using innovative technology and incorporate pedagogy that fosters the skills of self-directed learning. The HCM program and faculty are committed to providing the same quality of education and support to our online program students as we provide to the in-class program students. Page 1 of 7

2 Faculty Responsibilities and Course Expectations: All online courses and/or sections should have the same outcomes and objectives as the HCM courses which are offered on campus. Students should receive lectures, discussion questions, written assignments, projects and exams. All coursework must be completed/submitted through Blackboard during the semester. Using to submit work is prohibited. An online course requires as much commitment to learning as does an in-class course. Online learning is flexible and convenient, but also requires that students keep up and follow the schedule in the course syllabus. Students should be expected to log into the course shell on a regular basis, with a minimum expectation of two times per week and once on weekends. Faculty should monitor logins and student access and contact missing students through to encourage their participation. Students should be required to participate in discussion postings by organizing their thoughts coherently and express their thinking with properly constructed grammar and sentence structure. Students should be encouraged to ask questions of the other students and the instructor and maintain open lines of communications during discuss. Faculty are encouraged to utilize grading rubrics when applicable. If a course textbook or textbook edition changes, it is the responsibility of faculty member assigned to the course to notify Pam Paustian and Marian Collins of the change and to update all course content. Interaction between faculty and students is of high importance, especially with regard to immediate feedback. Ideally faculty should respond to student question, whether through or phone call within 24 and no more than 48 hours. This approach will minimize frustration for students and contribute to student success and course satisfaction. If there are holiday, weekend, or faculty travel exceptions, this should be clearly communicated to students. Announce your absences to students with guidance on what to do during your absence. Faculty must download their grade book at the end of the semester and retain it as a permanent record. A copy of the final grade report should be submitted to Pam Paustian and final letter grades should be sent to Susan Packa after submission of grades through BlazerNet. Faculty should conduct course according to designated schedule in the course syllabus with any deviations communicated in advance to all students through and course Announcements. Page 2 of 7

3 Faculty are encouraged to use the course Announcements tool to keep class current and personal. Announcements may include holiday wishes and current event issues as well as course information. Faculty are expected to design course materials, assignments, and assessments that meet and measure the required AUPHA certification competencies. A significant change in course content must be discussed with the HCM Program Director. Course content should be created in Units. Each unit lesson plan should contain student learning objectives, a PowerPoint presentation, an Acrobat PDF of the PowerPoint content, a voice-over presentation or Collaborate session related to unit content, activities for students to engage with content, reading requirements, and if applicable, graded assignments and/or quizzes. All HCM faculty are responsible for providing John Nagy with course content, assignments, and assessments for uploading to the course shell three business days prior to delivery of content. This will ensure that all course content maintains structure and will also provide time for faculty to perform a quality review of content before it is released for student access. All HCM courses are required to follow the UAB University Academic Calendar each semester. No classes, testing, or assignment submission may be conducted on University dead days or reading days. Faculty need to notify students of any requirements for proctored exams in the course syllabus and course Announcements. All major course exams must be supervised by the course instructor or an approved proctor. Students are responsible for arranging for a proctor to supervise the exam. Local students may complete the exam on the assigned exam day with the course instructor or schedule a time to be tested in the HCM Testing Lab. Distant students must have an approved proctor. All proctors must be approved and validated by the Health Care Management program office. On the day prior to exam day, the faculty member should the necessary exam information to the approved proctor on the HCM Approved Proctor List located on the Program sever. Adjunct faculty should provide Susan Packa, packa@uab.edu, the exam dates and password information, etc. two days prior to the exam and she will send out the required information to the approved proctors. Guidelines for students to setup an approved proctor may be found the Health Care Management Student Handbook. Course Management System: UAB uses the Blackboard Learn 9.1 learning management system. All HCM faculty are required to use the Blackboard Learn LMS for all in-class and online courses. Course Shell the course, as you receive it through Blackboard, will be preset by John Nagy, HCM Instructional Design support. A course shell will include its own Announcements, Assignments, Assessments, Course Materials, Grade Center, Collaborate, etc. It is standalone and in its entirety is referred to as a course shell. Page 3 of 7

4 Copying Course Shells the act of copying one course shell from a previous semester for reuse in a current semester. Once a course is used, the student work is preserved and archived with that particular term s shell. To reuse the course content, the shell must be copied, or reproduced, for future use. The original shell is preserved and another, identical shell is created for the assigned faculty member to access. If you would like a term course shell copied you need to inform the Pam Paustian, HCM Program Director. Collaborate - is a communication tool that allows faculty to interact with students in a synchronous format. Faculty and students are able to chat by typing the responses, or speak through a microphone headset. Faculty are able to share PowerPoint, videos, websites, and other documents and sync it with what is being said by the instructor. Faculty are expected to Record and Archive all Collaborate sessions for students to access. See John Nagy for training and/or specific instructions. Assignment Links - All coursework submitted by students, must be submitted through Blackboard. Using to submit work is prohibited. Announcements - It is expected that the assigned faculty member for a course will make the first contact with the students enrolled in all course sections each semester. This should be done prior to the start of the course with a Welcome that contains orientation details, textbook information and course syllabus. Use the Blast function associated with your course roster located in BlazerNet under the Faculty tab with the correct term and course section. Also post the Welcome in the course shell under Announcements. Set the display times to open on the first day of the semester and display until the evening of the first class meeting. All HCM courses should contain the following on the first day of class: o Course Syllabus the syllabus must be located in your course on the main course page. All courses are required to use the School of Health Professions syllabus template, policies, and requirements as well as HCM course policies. o Introduction Unit to enhance online engagement faculty must have an Introduction or Orientation unit posted in their course welcoming their students and providing guidance on how to get started in the course. o Welcome Announcement a quality welcome announcement should be posted containing information regarding your course under Announcements. o Contact Information the Contact button is located in all Blackboard courses; edit the information, complete with your name, your , and the best way to contact you, etc. o Unit Material - to enhance online engagement faculty must have at least one unit of course material beyond the orientation/introduction posted in their course for student to review and begin the learning process. o Grade Center all Blackboard courses have a Total column that includes points earned by default, this needs to be deactivated and then hidden to users if you do Page 4 of 7

5 not utilize it in the course to prevent student confusion; instructors must add a text column indicating a student s final, letter grade in the course prior to enter grades in BlazerNet. Hiding Previously Taught Courses Once a faculty member is loaded to the course shell it will appear under the My Institution tab, My Courses column when you log into Blackboard Learn ( If you have courses from previous semesters and don t want to see them, you may hide them from view. To do this click the circular icon ( gear ) to the right of My Courses, then uncheck the boxes under Display Course, and clicking Submit at the bottom. This will remove courses from the My Courses list but leave the courses accessible if you desire to access previous content from another semester. Faculty Support Training: Training for Blackboard Learn, Turn-it-In and Collaborate are available through the HCM program office. To schedule a one-on-one training session, contact John Nagy, nagy2@uab.edu or (205) Classes related to pedagogy are also available in the UAB Center for Teaching and Learning. See the Center s website for topics and links for registration. A set of Blackboard Tutorials is available for faculty on the main UAB Blackboard log-in website at Student Support Training: Blackboard Tutorials can be found in each course shell on the main page at the left side of the screen. A set of Blackboard Tutorials is available for students on the main UAB Blackboard log-in website at Technical Support: Blackboard Issues: Contact John Nagy, nagy2@uab.edu, (205) or Pam Paustian, (205) , paustian@uab.edu. PC or Browser Issues: UAB AskIT at (205) Preparing Students to Utilize Course Shell: Students new to utilizing an online course section may initially be confused with the course. It is critical for faculty to prepare students during the class orientation. It is recommended faculty cover the following during orientation. Page 5 of 7

6 Clarify computer skills/terminology Provide instructions that detail the minimum technical requirements needed for the course (both in terms of hardware and technical expertise). Provide an introduction to the Blackboard Learn course tools and how they will be used in the course. Demonstrate how to locate and access course content and how to complete the technical tasks required for completing course work. For example, while it may be clear to you how to post a discussion message or upload an assignment but for many students, such tasks are new. Describe how students may obtain technical assistance. Show how to access Blackboard directly and state when a student may connect through BlazerNet when they should go directly to the course site (i.e., quizzes, exams, assignment submissions) Explain online communication and how it is interrupted (i.e., tone, using ALL CAPS, text slang, abbreviations, emoticons, etc.). Establish an expectation for professionalism. Provide students with a clear overall understanding of the course structure. Students need a clear message of the direction and expectations of the course so provide them a sense of the overall landscape of the course. Remind students you are accessible and the best methods to communicate with you. Students must feel that a faculty member is approachable. Blackboard Learn Course Checklist: Before the course section opens on the first day of the semester: Make sure your course content has been loaded correctly Add your contact information Delete any old Announcements or Discussion threads Add a Welcome Announcement and a Welcome using BlazerNet Consider adding a non-graded Discussion Forum for General Course Questions Check Grade Center columns and delete old columns not being used Modify Grade Center make sure items are shown/hidden correctly Check Assignment and Assessment dates and remove or update them Check all existing links in the course that are active for students to access Verify Collaborate session is setup and ready for orientation Page 6 of 7

7 Disability Support Services: UAB students requiring DSS accommodation will provide faculty members with a Letter of Accommodation which will outline the needs of the student. In the event a student is afforded additional time to complete assessments, the option under Test Availability Exceptions within the exam setting options can be used to meet this accommodation. The exception settings can be changed at any time, even after the test has been attempted by some students. Exceptions can be created for: Number of attempts, time of test, auto submit on or off, and availability of test using start and end dates. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA): All faculty members (full-time and adjunct) are required to follow the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). FERPA provides legal guidelines on student right to access, confidentiality, and institutional responsibilities. Faculty may not release personal information about a student, including: UAB Student Number, Social Security Number, Grades, Grade Point Average, Class Schedules, Attendance Record, Academic Performance Information, or Academic Dishonesty Charges. Any questions or concerns regarding FERPA compliance should be directed to the HCM Program Director. Questions? Contact Pam Paustian, Health Care Management Program Director, Paustian@uab.edu, (205) Page 7 of 7