| Title | Information Technology Fundamentals for Life and Health Sciences Students |
|---|---|
| Faculty/College/Unit | Science |
| Status | Completed |
| Duration | 2 Year |
| Initiation | 04/01/2004 |
| Completion | 03/31/2006 |
| Project Summary | We propose to develop a curriculum of an introductory course on computer science concepts and skills tailored to life and health sciences students. We have two main motivations. The first one is the need for training, and the second is the crystallization of an emerging interdisciplinary area. Concerning the need for training, tele-medicine is just around the corner, and is critical for a vast province like British Columbia. The Canadian Nursing Informatics Association recommends the development of a national nursing informatics curriculum reflected in nursing examinations. Finally, the level of computerization of health management and numerous medical activities is increasing at an accelerated rate. Yet presently, a majority of students who aspire to pursue health science careers do not have any computer science training at the undergraduate level. This leads to the second motivation. The area where computer science meets health sciences is emerging and not well-defined. Thus, this proposal is as much about finding out which concepts to teach, as about deciding how best to teach those concepts. This proposal is as much about enhancing learning for students, as about enhancing teaching, and even research collaboration, for faculty members in multiple faculties. We know that there is a mismatch between what existing computer science curriculum offers and what is needed from a health science perspective. This mismatch cannot be dealt with by simply using health sciences examples and case studies in existing courses; it can only be addressed by carefully designing the syllabus, and selecting the most relevant concepts and skills to be taught. We intend to use this TLEF opportunity to plan out the curriculum and to decide on the most effective ways to introduce those topics. |
| Funding Details | |
| Year 1: Project Year | Year 1 |
| Year 1: Funding Year | 2004/2005 |
| Year 1: Project Type | Small TLEF |
| Year 1: Principal Investigator | Raymond Ng |
| Year 1: Funded Amount | 40,000 |
| Year 1: Team Members | Raymond Ng, Computer Science, Faculty of Science |
| Year 2: Project Year | Year 2 |
| Year 2: Funding Year | 2005/2006 |
| Year 2: Project Type | Small TLEF |
| Year 2: Principal Investigator | Raymond Ng |
| Year 2: Funded Amount | 4,444 |
| Year 2: Team Members | Raymond Ng, Computer Science, Faculty of Science |