UICC World Cancer Congress 2006

Objective: Provide to a wide audience, ranging from health professionals, medical and nursing students to patients, relatives or friends, fundamental understanding of the disease, its development, diagnosis and treatment, as well as addressing psycho-social, ethical and legal issues through a self-teaching e-learning tool.

Methodology: The text, generously provided to the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) by the Oncology Nursing Society (USA), was developed by UICC and programmed by a Learning Designer into a self-teaching tool in the form of a CD ROM for PCs. Four interactive Courses on

• How Cancer Evolves • How Cancer is Treated • Managing Symptoms • Cancer as a Chronic Disease

provide 7.45 hours of learning in 16 Lessons.

Each Lesson includes at least one formative exercise that asks the user to consider an issue and select item(s) from a multiple choice list based on existing knowledge and experience, such as labelling key parts of a cell

A number of Learning Checkpoints in each Lesson serve to positively reinforce what has been learned so far. Learning Checkpoints are not tests and do not carry a score or a pass mark. Each Course ends with a Post Course Assessment. This is a TEST and consists of up to 10 questions. They mostly take the form of

• Multiple choice questions • drag and drop labels into their correct positions

To pass a Course, users must achieve 80% correct answers. Upon successful completion of each Course, they are invited to document their achievement by printing their Course Certificate. It is expected that these may be admissible as evidence for educational credits at their workplace or learning institution.

Outcome: The series is programmed in such a way that it allows translation of the text into almost any language (subject to a licence being granted by UICC), to adapt it to national, regional, or ethical requirements, without the need for additional development software.

Symposium participants will receive a demonstration of this practical, user-friendly e-learning resource and have the opportunity to find out more how this e-learning resource can help them in their professional or indeed their private lives.

Learning design: www.snowfish.co.uk