Interactive Module Development

Process

We identified a gap in the curricular material we provide to students as pre-work for interactive sessions. Most pre-work has been passive readings and watching videos. Theories for multimedia design, andragogy, and cognitive load posit that adults retain information better if there are ways for them to practice what they have learned. The evidence shows that interactive learning is better than passive learning. Articulate is one of the top-line resources for interactive module development. The college purchased 10 seats for instructional designers, specific faculty, and multimedia design specialists to use the software package.

For the Illinois Medicine Curriculum (IMC), I collaborate with faculty to create interactive educational modules using Articulate Rise, Storyline, and Review. Here are some examples of my work with this software. The Articulate team at the University of Illinois College of Medicine (UICOM) has made 80+ modules since 2019 and I developed and/or designed the ones listed below. I ensure the Articulate team is provided with regular updates to new product implementation such as more modern templates and themes in Rise as well as microlearning course development options, and any additional training they may need.

Course	module
Body Systems and Homeostasis I	Membrane Potential Comprehension Questions
Pathogenesis	Mechanisms of Edema and Hemorrhage
Skin, Muscle, & Movement	Dermatology
Circulation and Respiration	Acid Base Factors for Edema Abnormal Imaging Radiology Knowledge Check
Digestion and Homeostasis II	Basic Comprehension Questions Renal Physiology Self-paced Comprehension Questions
Brain and Behavior	Cellular Reactions to Injury Phakomatoses-Neurocutaneous Disorders
Regulation and Reproduction	Week 1 Self-Assessment Prep Work Week 2 Self-Assessment Prep Work Thyroid Physiology Case Exercise Pharmacology Review Adrenal Physiology – Steroid Synthesis Pathology of the Lower Female Reproductive Tract Female Reproductive Physiology Supplementary Case
Synthesis	EBM Review for Step 1

Problems

The modules have been hosted on an internal only (to UIC users only) out-dated website infrastructure. The plus of including them on this internal site was that users could go to one central place to find all modules. The infrastructure will eventually be deprecated and there is no information about a replacement so now all modules are embedded in the learning management system for the relevant course.

Results and Takeaways

The anatomy faculty who have developed many of the modules used at the college love using Articulate to create content. I am impressed with their work and attention to detail. Students have mostly favorable views of these modules. Students have provided valuable feedback to module developers. One example is a request for a summary guide or set of slides reflecting the content for study purposes to be included in the module.

Next Steps in 2023

Accessibility Improvements

Articulate has made improvements in accessibility for their products. In 2023, we will perform a systematic review of all modules to ensure they meet a certain level of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and other standards such as Section 508. Some interactive elements we have used since the beginning of our module development are not considered accessible. This FAQ from Articulate has been helpful in guiding us in this endeavor.

Design Improvements

As we have been using Articulate for a while now, we are also discovering better ways to design interactive elements and color schemes. In 2023, we will also be reviewing our modules to update them. We use sites like Designs.AI Color Wheel to help us ensure we are following established ‘color harmony’ rules. WebAIM (Web Accessibility in Mind) is also a useful site for accessibility standards with color.