Anca Colibaba, Ovidiu Ursa: Rethinking academic management for creative materials design: a new MOOC...

Eaquals International Conference, Lisbon, 21 – 23 April 2016

Rethinking academic management for creative materials design: a new MOOC integrating language and cultural competences

MedLang Project - Case Study

Ovidiu Ursa Anca Colibaba

Irina Gheorghiuwww.eaquals.org


Project target groups

• Lecturers & students in medicine • (Foreign) in-service medical staff • Social workers or other staff dealing with

palliative care • Language teachers/trainers in medical

institutions• Volunteers / volunteer organisations• Educational centres• Companies active in social corporate

responsibilityEaquals International Conference, Lisbon, 21 – 23 April 2016

European context – specific needs

• connect knowledge and skills with the world of work

• ensure multilingualism in medical education • develop a unitary system of medical education• stimulate exchange of knowledge & collaboration • update teaching methods • develop transversal skills


The aim of the project

• Creation of open digital educational resources in the field of palliative medicine


Project specific objectives •Promote, standardise and recognise medical tools and skills•Improve the link between the world of education and training and the world of work

•Improve the teaching and learning of languages •Develop innovative and multidisciplinary teaching, learning and e-learning materials

•Generate quality improvements, innovation, excellence and internationalisation at the level of education and training institutions

•Enhance the international dimension of education and training•Facilitate the exchange, flow and co-creation of knowledge


MOOC Pedagogic Principles (1)

• Competence-based design approach• Learner empowerment/Learner-centred approach• Learning plan and clear orientations • Collaborative learning• Social networking • Peer assistance


http://elearningindustry.com/elearning-authors/sarah-green


MOOC Pedagogic Principles (2)

• Quality criteria for knowledge creation• Interest groups • Assessment and peer feedback • Media/IT-enhanced learning


Main principles underlying the MedLang MOOC (1)CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning)- Students acquire knowledge and understanding

about palliative care protocols while improving their language/cultural competences related to this content

- Language/cultural elements are introduced whenever they are related to the content

- Balance between content and language learning - the second language is learnt in meaningful situations just as the first language is


Main principles underlying the MedLang MOOC (2)

FOCUS ON VOCABULARY• International medical students can take advantage

of their conceptual and topic knowledge• First language vocabulary predicts second

language vocabulary acquisition• Medical students have already created highly

organized concepts that will facilitate their understanding of the unknown words

(Foresee Drumhiller and Paula J. Schwanenflugel, 2013)


Main Components of the MedLang MOOC (1)

• 20 protocol situations, 20 videos, 20 learning units • 6 languages - English, Dutch, Italian, Spanish,

Romanian, French - intermediate level• Situational medical interventions accompanied by

specific medical communications - variety of perspectives: linguistic/ cultural / functional/ pragmatic communication

• Links with curricular medical subjects


The linguistic framework• Watch and listen (familiarising students with the topic and

vocabulary)• Reading and vocabulary (checking comprehension/

introducing and practising vocabulary)• Integrated grammar (introducing and practising grammar

structures related to the topic)• Communication (speaking and writing activities

stimulating students’ exchange of ideas on cultural issues, critical thinking skills and creativity)

• Self-evaluation (a quiz based on the activity carried out and the knowledge gained throughout the unit)


Online activities • Introductory video where tutors familiarize students with the

topic, objectives, activities, tasks and types of assessment of the unit

• Learning activities aiming at introducing, practising and consolidating the vocabulary, structures, functions and cultural components present in each protocol

• Language skills: listening, reading, speaking and writing• Exercises: filling in, matching, true or false, ordering words in

a sentence or paragraphs/lines in a dialogue, multiple choice, word master (online completion exercises/online ‘hangman’), correcting mistakes, organizing the vocabulary under the headings given, gapped text, etc.

• Glossary; grammar explanationsEaquals International Conference, Lisbon, 21 – 23 April 2016

Cultural competence

“As a critical and conscious citizen I am capable of functioning flexibly and interculturally in an open and respectful manner in the multicultural and diverse society in which I live and work. “

Paul Catteeuw - Do Engineers Need to Be Interculturally Competent?


Cultural competence• Critical awareness (can deal critically and consciously as an individual

with the society in which he/she lives)• Openness – tolerance of ambiguity – right to differ – respect for

otherness (can deal with ambiguous situations, is open to others and can accept and respect possible differences)

• Behavioral flexibility and empathy (can be flexible when dealing with realistic situations and demands and can understand intuitively what other people think and feel in realistic situations)

• Cultural knowledge (can communicate effectively and correctly with others in realistic situations);

• Communicative awareness (can think and act in a solution-oriented way in realistic situations)

• Solution-oriented attitude (can acquire knowledge of a different culture and can use this knowledge in actual situations)


How to avoid misunderstandings? - three approaches -

1. Information = cultural knowledge

2. Double perspective approach - Recognize misunderstandings and conflicts, related to the cultural background • Perspective 1: Know your own culture• Perspective 2: Learn about the other culture

3. Three-step method - In individual situations, make an extra effort to learn from misunderstandings and conflicts

• Step 1 - Perspective1: Knowledge of own culture• Step 2 - Perspective 2: Knowledge of other culture• Step 3 - Handle differences

Fix your limits Communicate your limits Adaptation

Pinto, Interculturele Communicatie, conflicten en management , 2004Eaquals International Conference, Lisbon, 21 – 23 April 2016

ConclusionsThe MedLang MOOC: • Improves students’ skills in performing palliative clinical

procedures, medical communication and intercultural skills • Encourages students to practise these skills in simulation

centres and promotes autonomous and collaborative learning

• Provides open free resources available online for yhose interested in medical procedures and medical communication skills

• Provides language teachers with an educational support for teaching languages for medical purposes

• Connects language learning disciplines with medical disciplines


Practical Activity (1)A 2nd year Lebanese student from Iasi Medical University recounts the following situation:

Aicha: ”I couldn’t go and see a gynecologist because I’d have problems with my husband. So, I went with my mom”. Like her, many other Muslim women are not allowed to be consulted by a male gynecologist. In a country where there are only three female gynecologists it stands to reason that Muslim women’s access to specialists is highly restrained. In Burundi the Muslims represent 13% of the population. Most of them are traders. While economic integration is possible Muslim women still face a lot of problems when it comes to looking after their health. Many of them do not have the right to be looked after by a male doctor. It is their law that forbids it, they say.

What skill-based / cultural awareness raising activities could be designed starting from this student-generated text ?


Proposed tasks (1)LISTENING / WRITING DictoglossWhat to do:• Students listen to a short text at normal speed• Students take notes• Students listen to the short text again• Students improve their notes (and share them in pairs)• Students listen to the text a final time at normal speed• Students produce a final written version of the text (the aim

is to get as close to the original as possible)


Proposed tasks (2)

SPEAKING / READING / INTERCULTURAL • Read the case, brainstorm and find a possible solution

to the case thinking of your own cultural context • Read about what Muslims could do

POSSIBLE SOLUTION• Whenever Aicha has to see a doctor for a medical

check-up or a health problem she has to be accompanied by her husband / mother / chaperone


References

Paul Catteeuw, Training intercultural communication, Mikkeli, 2-11 May 2011David Pinto, Interculturele Communicatie, conflicten en management, 2004Massive open online courses with videos for palliative clinical field and intercultural and multilingual medical communication, Ref. no.: 2014-1-RO01-KA203-002940 Sarah Green, Pedagogy Of MOOCs And Benefits For Modern Professionals, http://elearningindustry.com/pedagogy-of-moocs-benefits-modern-professionalswww.medlang.eu


http://www.medlang.eu/

Thank you!Fundatia EuroEdwww.euroed.ro

Project website: www.medlang.eu

Project Facebook page:www.facebook.com/MedLangPalliative

Anca [email protected] Eaquals International Conference, Lisbon, 21 – 23 April 2016

http://www.euroed.ro/

http://www.medlang.eu/

http://www.facebook.com/MedLangPalliative

mailto:[email protected]

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