Title: Initial design principles for establishing a learning community for public health professionals through authentic e-learning

Authors: James L. Vesper; Jan Herrington; Umit Kartoğlu; Thomas C. Reeves

Addresses: LearningPlus, Inc., 1140 Highland Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620-1868, USA ' Murdoch University, 90 South Street, Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia ' World Health Organization, HIS/EMP/RSS, Room L261, Avenue Appia 20, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland ' The University of Georgia, 325C Aderhold Hall, Athens, GA 30602-7144, USA

Abstract: The storage, transportation and distribution of time and temperature sensitive pharmaceutical products (TTSPPs) such as vaccines within the appropriate temperature conditions are important public health concerns. The personnel who handle pharmaceutical products must have high levels of expertise so they can take actions to ensure that the TTSPPs are not negatively affected by sub-standard practices. This paper describes the first phase of a multi-year educational design research project designed to enhance expertise in the field of pharmaceutical cold chain management. The paper describes the process of developing design principles to guide the conceptualisation and prototyping of authentic e-learning capable of enabling public health personnel to develop the skills required for effective pharmaceutical cold chain management and to establish a learning community extending beyond the course. Five design principles are shared along with examples of how they were instantiated in the prototype e-learning.

Keywords: authentic e-learning; cold chain management; educational design research; EDR; learning communities; public health professionals; design-based research; DBR; time sensitive pharmaceutical products; temperature sensitive pharmaceutical products; vaccines; electronic learning; online learning; product handling; health and safety.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCEELL.2015.069870

International Journal of Continuing Engineering Education and Life-Long Learning, 2015 Vol.25 No.2, pp.241 - 257

Published online: 15 Jun 2015 *

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