Project structure

While there are many international sources on skills frameworks and core competences in health, medical and biomedical informatics, there is a need to identify which of these skills and competences can be attained through existing national study programmes taken by our target group, and which may be attained through other forms of learning (non-formal and in-formal), so as to offer a complementary set of learning objectives. It is also important to analyse which of the competences are identified by employers as needed now, and which may be recognized as critical for future jobs market.

The main outputs of the work-package will be the Systematic Literature Review and the Needs Assessment Report.

This work-package will comprise following activities:

A-01 Systematic literature review,
A-02 Development of a questionnaire and brainstorming framework and data collection,
A-03 Data analysis and drafting the Needs Assessment Report.

This work-package will comprise activities on identifying and bridging the capacity gap of the staff of partner institutions for developing the qualification standard and the study programme.

Two one-day trainings for 20-30 people will be organized. The first training will address implementation of the Croatian Qualification Framework, development and use of qualification standards and their relationship to learning outcomes in addition to FOI and ŠNZ staff this workshop will be open to other stakeholders, in particular potential employers. The second training will address methods of assessment and recognition of prior learning, and requirements for international accreditation of study programme. It will primarily target FOI and ŠNZ staff, but also members of CSMI from other institutions of higher education. We will organize two study visits to European institutions offering study programmes in health, medical or biomedical informatics that are recognized by IMIA or other international organization, that address the learning objectives identified through the WP-01, and/or that have implemented assessment of prior learning in line with recommendations of the European Qualification Framework. Each study visit will be for 3-4 members of ŠNZ and FOI staff.

Outputs of these activities will be training materials, training reports and evaluations, and study visit reports. Expected outcome is increased capacity of staff of both partners to implement student centred learning based on skills, competences and learning outcomes, develop the study programme and the qualification standard, and also increased capacity of potential employers to use the developed qualification standard in human resource management.

The work-package will comprise two types of activities:

A-01 Trainings and
A-02 Study visits.

FOI has developed and implemented an application for managing study programme that supports drafting and maintenance of study programme and course learning outcomes, input competences, course requirements and prerequisites. This application will be upgraded to include recognizing previous learning and to support consistent development of flexible study paths for targeted groups of students.

This work-package will focus on providing logistics support to the main activities through following activities:

A-01 Improving and updating the existing software,
A-02 Installation and maintenance of software and hardware, and
A-03 Public procurement and subcontracting.

Outcome of this work-package will be availability of necessary equipment, software, literature, and experts, and end-user documentation for the upgraded software.

Drafting the study programme will include compiling the feasibility report, defining input competences, core competences and learning outcomes of the programme, defining the courses' learning outcomes and connecting them to the learning outcomes of the study programme, defining input competences for the courses/modules, defining prerequisites for the courses, defining the content and the forms of delivery of the courses/modules, identifying obligatory and elective literature, assessing the student workload and ECTS of the courses and the final thesis. Drafting of the study programme will be carried out using the application for developing and maintaining study programmes developed by FOI. Guidelines for recognizing prior learning will enable assessment of learning outcomes achieved through formal, non-formal and informal learning. It will form a basis for choosing a flexible study path adjustable to the needs of a particular student. Documents on quality assurance will define criteria for assessing teachers' competences, criteria for student facilities (availability of labs, computers, literature etc.), criteria on quality of teaching and e‑Learning materials, criteria for assessment of achieved learning outcomes, and methodology for evaluation of students' perception of quality. The qualification standard will build on the results of other activities in this WP, such as core competences and learning outcomes of the study programme, learning outcomes of the courses, quality assurance documents and procedures. It will further organize learning outcomes in sets of units that can be separately assessed and certified, thus enabling creation of individualized training paths. Within this WP we will also organize a workshop with stakeholders to encourage discussion and elicit feedback on the draft documents from targeted stakeholders.

This work-package will comprise drafting the main results of the project: the proposal for the postgraduate specialist study programme in medical informatics and the proposal of the qualification standard for specialist in medical informatics. It will include activities on:

A-01 Drafting the study programme,
A-02 Drafting the guidelines for recognition of prior learning,
A-03 Drafting the documents on quality assurance,
A-04 Drafting the qualification standard, and
A-05 Workshop and consultations with stakeholders on draft documents.

Main outputs of this WP are the proposal documents for the qualification standard, and the study programme. Other results include guidelines for recognizing prior learning, procedures for quality assurance, as well as reports on workshops and other forms of feedback. The expected outcome is further development of the Croatian Qualification Programme, increased capacity of employers to implement Croatian Qualification Framework in human resource management, visibility of the study programme among the target students and their potential or current employers, and established partnership among the stakeholders that will contribute to sustainability of the study programme and qualification standard after the finalization of the project.

Based on the Strategy of e-Learning at the University of Zagreb we will define a minimum standard level of e‑Learning for all courses. For each course we will develop training materials in digital form to meet the requirements of the standard level of e-Learning and make them available through the e‑Learning platform.

This work-package will comprise development of study modules and courses. It will include two activities:

A-01 Development of course content, and
A-02 Development of teaching and e-Learning materials.

The expected outcomes of this work-package are on-line training materials and courses, with sufficient number of courses made available in English to enable pursuing one complete study path in English.

In designing the courses modified Morisson, Ross, Kemp model of Instructional design (PDDIER) will be implemented. While the first part "PDD" was implemented in previous work package, the second part "IER - Implement, Evaluate, Revise" will be implemented in this work package.

"I-implement" will be done through piloting the study program as a life-long learning programme for a selection of participants from participating stakeholders. A selection of courses will be offered and evaluated ("E-Evaluate"). Study programme and qualification standard will be revised (R-Revise) based on the feedback from participants. During the pilot, lectures will be captured and produced video content will be made available in the e‑Learning system.

The expected outcomes of this WP will be video recorded lectures, report on piloting and evaluation and improvements to the study programme, course content and teaching materials, e-Learning environment, and quality assurance procedures.

This work-package will comprise activity:

A-01 Piloting and evaluating the study programme.

External communication will be on-going with presentation of project results on a project web-page, at least two presentations at the Croatian Conference Medical Informatics 2013 and a series of presentations at other relevant events to promote the new study programme and qualification standard. The other forms of dissemination will include reports; newsletters; on-line information promoted through the participants' and associates' networks and websites; and press releases. Project methodology, training materials and results will be compiled in a book to be submitted for publication at the end of the project.

Dissemination will comprise external and internal communication of project results. It will comprise following activities:

A-01 Establishing a project web site,
A-02 Establishing an online collaboration space,
A-03 Presenting project results at professional and research conferences, and
A-04 Publishing a book.

Outputs of this WP will be content on the project web-site, conference papers and presentations, and the book. The expected outcome is awareness about the project and its results among the target group and the beneficiaries and increased capacity of potential employers to use the developed qualification standard in human resource management.

The objective of this work package is to coordinate and manage project activities efficiently and effectively

This work-package will comprise one activity:

A-01 Project management.

The outputs of this work-package will be intermediate and final reports, minutes of the Project Steering Committee meetings, external and internal evaluation and risk assessment reports. The expected outcome is efficient and effective project implementation.