PRE-WORKSHOP
Problems and Solutions in Developing Medical CBT-programs
O.P.Gobée (1), M.Doets (2), P.M. Bloemendaal (3) Leiden University Medical Center & Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Lecture/Demo Half Day. Open to all Interested.
ABSTRACT:
Developing a CBT program encompasses a multitude of problems. Many interconnected problems and several risks are encountered and many decisions have to be made. Based on the experiences of two medical faculties (Rotterdam and Leiden’s medical faculties in the Netherlands), where medical CBT programs are being developed from scratch and implemented successfully, we will review the problems and choices encountered in such a process. The solutions at the two institutions are quite different, thus enabling comparison between approaches.
Emphasis will be paid to practical "how-to-do" issues, tips, tricks, and less on management-level issues, although these certainly will be discussed. The format of the workshop will be a combination of presentations, illustrated by examples from our faculties and discussions with the audience. A handout with an overview and useful web sites will be made available. The following steps in the development process will be covered:
•Starting point: a need is felt.
The problem of the chicken and the egg. If it has not been developed yet, nobody will implement it, but if it will not be implemented there is no use in developing it. Where to start?
•Goals: what do you want to achieve?
Different functions of CBT: inform, transfer knowledge, develop skills, facilitate communication, or assess. And for which target groups?
•Buy, share or develop oneself?
There is so much for sale, but does it satisfy our needs? A rough overview of types of available medical CBT and why it is or is not useful.
•Reinvent the wheel?
The story about projects that are started enthusiastically, but not continued after the grant’s end. And why is cooperation so difficult?
•Who’s going to do it?
A medical teacher, a software engineer or an educator? Deal with the subject matter yourself or provide the expert with easy tools to do it? And how about artwork, public relations, and project management? All of this is needed for success!
•Functional, graphical and technical design. How to arrive at a framework?
Tips for a good graphical design.
•Which client-environment?
Windows, Mac, browser-dependent or independent, plug-ins, resolution? Develop for small bandwidth or for broadband Internet?
•Which authoring environment and how will it be delivered?
Web-based, stand-alone, CD-ROM or mixed? HTML, scripting language, Flash, Authorware, Director, Visual Basic, Java, etc.?
•Developing programs
An authoring environment, a HTML- or WYSIWYG-editor, an image processing program, an animation-program, video-processing programs, database-support, group cooperation support (version control systems), miscellaneous (hot-spot authoring, QTVR authoring)
•How to get the programming knowledge or get help if you’re not a software engineer? Best sources, programming dos and don’ts.
•What can you expect in terms of Clinician participation?
What to do when the promised content/expertise never comes?
•How to get the multimedia source material?
Copy (from the web or books), from image databases, make yourself? Copyright issues!
•How do I transfer it from my head to the screen?
Writing instructional texts for the screen. How to get the student to understand and to do what you want him to do?
•How can I implement it in the curriculum?
Obligatory or optional?, Go commercial?
•How and what to evaluate and what to do with the results?
•How can you continue to maintain the program?
Could you please add this and this and this? Keeping your CBT program up to date as hardware and software changes.
Backgrounds of presenting groups:
The Rotterdam faculty has a centralized 3-person medical CBT development group, staffed with technical and general health-science educated developers, developing on demand for different disciplines. When possible, teachers are being provided with authoring environments. Custom projects can also be developed in close cooperation with the teachers. This approach has led to a series of programs. The programs are mostly developed with Authorware as the development tool and are made available via CD-ROM and the University Intranet.
The Leiden faculty has 3 decentralized discipline-oriented CBT-groups. Two are staffed with medically educated developers. They handle both the medical content and the programming themselves using clinicians as consultants. This approach has lead to innovative applications one of which has been nationally adopted and further developed. The programs are partially or wholly web-based (DHTML, JavaScript, Flash, Visual Basic).
All medical CBT-developers in the Netherlands participate in a national committee.
BENEFIT TO PARTICIPANTS ATTENDING SESSION: Every CBT-developing project will encounter the issues dealt with in this workshop even though every situation is different. The overview of issues, arguments, and different solutions as presented in this workshop can be valuable for developers or staff beginning or in the process of developing a CBT-project. Useful tips and tricks will be dispensed!
1. O.P.Gobée
Leiden University Medical Center, dept. of Anatomy and Embryology
P.O. Box 9602
2300 RC Leiden
the Netherlands
Phone: +31 71 5276673
Fax: +31 71 5276680
Email: o.p.gobee@lumc.nl
CO-AUTHORS:
2. M.Doets
Institute of Education. Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam,
P.O. Box 1738
3000 DR Rotterdam,
the Netherlands
Email: doets@oig.fgg.eur.nl;
Fax: (2) +31 10 4087839
3. P.M. Bloemendaal (3)
Leiden University Medical Center, Dept. of Surgery, P.O. Box 9600
2300 RC Leiden,
the Netherlands
+31 71 5263628
+31 71 5266750
Email: p.m.bloemendaal@lumc.nl
Website: http://www.eur.nl/fgg/ and http://www.lumc.nl/