Health and science experts share knowledge with the world

The Faculty of Health and Life Sciences has been awarded funding to produce resources that will support the teaching and learning of science in school, colleges and universities across the world.

The team, which consists of DMU staff who lecture on forensic science, midwifery, biomedical science and medical science courses, have been given money by funding bodies JISC and the Higher Education Academy (HEA) to produce open education resources which are then published on the internet and are free for people to access.

The team is also working with external partners, including Leicestershire Constabulary and the NHS, to provide real-life scenarios that can be used as part of the educational package, giving a flavour of some of the situations people working in the profession encounter day-to-day.

Dr Vivien Rolfe is a principal lecturer in anatomy and physiology and is also the project manager. She said: “We are really pleased that we have been awarded this money to produce materials that can be used by people all over the world in a variety of situations.

“A real focus for the project is to produce taster material for school and college students that will hopefully support them when they are making decisions about higher education and career choices. They will view the sorts of things they will be learning at university, and the real-life scenarios will provide information on what a particular career might entail.”   

This is the third phase of funding from JISC and the HEA to develop open education resources. The first phase was to create a virtual lab which was used to support students coming from college who wanted to study science at university. For this work Dr Rolfe was presented with the Learning Technologist of the Year Award by the Association of Learning Technology.

The second phase looked specifically at producing and publishing resources that are used to educate people on Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia. The resources are now reaching global audiences and can be viewed at www.sicklecellanaemia.org|

DMU is one of only a handful of universities that has been given money to take part in all three phases of the project.

Dr Rolfe added: “It’s great that DMU has been involved in the open educational resources project for all three phases, it’s a real testament to the knowledge and expertise we have in the use of multimedia resources and learning technology within the university.”

To illustrate the work of the project Dr Rolfe enlisted the help of DMU graphic design and illustration student Jacob Escott. Jacob produced six images which show different parts of the body.

 

 

 

 

 

Jacob, 22, is a third year student on the course. He said: "I've always been interested in the body and how natural systems function, so when I was given the opportunity to blur the lines between Art and Science I was really excited. I found what needed to be said and displayed it in a language that everyone can understand."

For more information, or to view the resources that have already been produced during this phase of the project, visit www.biologycourses.co.uk|