Where life and learning click
It’s just what the doctor – or in this case, the nursing students – might have ordered.
Grande Prairie Regional College (GPRC) will deliver a course online from its Bachelor of Science in Nursing program for the first time this summer through eCampusAlberta.
The course runs May 30 to August 29 and has quickly reached its quota.
“We capped the enrolment at 22 students, although demand was greater,” says course Instructor Dr. Sean Irwin. “These numbers indicate the eCampusAlberta route offers the flexibility and convenience students want,” Irwin says.
MI 1330 – Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases is a core course in the four-year nursing program delivered collaboratively with the University of Alberta. The course is also open to nursing students from other schools and to those who want to increase their chances of getting into a nursing program.
Why the interest in the distance offering, when the course is available through classroom delivery during the regular academic year?
“It’s not an easy course, so many students want to get it done ahead of time,” Irwin says.
“Students will be completing the course this summer from as far away as Texas and Canada’s east coast.”
As well, some students aren’t successful in their first attempt at the rigorous course. Distance delivery offers them a way to repeat it outside of busy fall or winter terms, he says.
The course is delivered through Moodle, a learning management system that also facilitates student interaction through online forums. In addition, Irwin plans to schedule virtual office hours to take students’ phone calls and e-mails.
All four modules in the course offer innovative practice exercises that Irwin says are a great aid to students’ learning.
“Studying microbiology is kind of like learning a new language,” he says. “There’s a lot of new terminology that’s critical to know and the practice exercises on those key terms help with that.”
As well, students can take online practice quizzes and exams to prepare for the real thing.
Midterm and final exams are conducted online in a supervised setting. Irwin says that’s one of the big advantages of delivering the course through eCampusAlberta.
“Students can access resources and write exams at member institutions across the province. It would be far more difficult for our program to do distance delivery without the support of the eCampusAlberta consortium.”
Learn more about GPRC's Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases course.
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