Online Course Design Plan:

RADR 2213- Radiation Biology and Protection

Christopher Daza

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 Table of Contents

The Course, The Learners, and The Context………………………...………………………...2

Instructional Strategies for Communication…………………………………………………...6

Instructional Strategies for Creativity and Innovation…………….………………………….10

Active Learning Course Design………………………………………………………………13

Final Reflection……………………………………………………………………..………..15

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 The Course, The Learners, and The Context
1. Describe the course as completely as possible (5 Pts.)
The course I will be using as an example is a course that I taught online last semester, Radiation Biology
and Protection. I was forced to change from face to face instruction in the middle of the semester and
found that the course may run better as a fully online course in the future. 2nd year radiography students
are the students who take this course. In this course, 2nd year radiography students are introduced to
concepts regarding how radiation effects the body. The course also goes into depth on how students can
protect patients, other healthcare professionals, as well as themselves from unnecessary radiation
exposure.

At the conclusion of the course, 2nd year radiography students will be able identify the effects of
radiation on the body and analyze ways to protect patients and themselves from these effects. They will
do so by passing (>75%) the final exam that will test students’ knowledge on the information
learned/discussed in the course.

Sample of Specific Objective:

Given a lecture/presentation on effects of radiation on the body, 2nd year radiography students will be
able to identify all the effects of radiation exposure on the body when given a list of clinical
indications/symptoms to choose from.

2. Learner Analysis: Who are your targeted learners? (5 Points)

● Entry behaviors and Prior knowledge of topic area:

○ Our 2nd year radiography students have been in clinical rotations for a year. They were
exposed to radiation protection in clinic. This can potentially be disadvantageous as
some technologists do not practice radiation safety properly; especially with
technologists not protecting themselves correctly. My goal is to curtail these incorrect
behaviors during the course of the semester.
○ Students should have a general grasp on radiation and its effects on the body. As well as
some basics to radiation protection. These are taught in earlier classes within our
program.

● Attitudes toward content: How do your learners feel about your topic?
○ I think most people of the general population are afraid of radiation exposure.
Our students may sometimes see technologists in the field not using appropriate
radiation protection which can lessen their thoughts on needing to protect

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 themselves from radiation. This is something we will work on over the course of
the semester to correct.
● Attitudes towards the delivery system: How do your learners feel about how the
instruction will be delivered?
○ I think there may be some apprehension from students on the class being taught
online. I feel that some students are fearing of change (they are used to lecture
face to face classes) or have had bad experiences in the past with online lectures.
● Academic motivation (ARCS): In general, what characteristics do your learners have in
terms of attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction? (For more about ARCS, see
https://elearningindustry.com/arcs-model-of-motivation
○ Attention – Switching to online can be provide some problems with attention. I
will try to push boundaries by presenting statements that seem to go against
what we are learning as well as providing real world examples of how radiation
protection would be important. I feel this will go a long way to getting student’s
attention.
○ Relevance – The topic of radiation protection is useful to my target audience
because it directly affects the outcomes for their patients and themselves. By not
practicing radiation protection – we open ourselves up to an increase risk of
cancer. This is stressed in the radiation protection course and it causes a lot of
students to realize the importance of the topic at hand.
○ Confidence – I encourage our students to learn and I create activities that allow
for students to take control of their learning in a constructivist approach. I utilize
several things in this online course such as discussion boards and flipgrid. I
provide feedback at times where I feel emphasis on a certain subject is needed.
○ Satisfaction – Students after learning the material will be able to immediately
apply what they learn to their clinical settings. This is the biggest benefit as they
will begin to adequately protect themselves and patients from unwarranted x-
ray exposure.
● Education and ability levels: Do your learners have the same general education level
and abilities or are they diverse? What is their range of education and ability levels?
○ In a sense, students are all 2nd year radiography students so in radiography, as far
as abilities go, they are equal level. However, our program has different levels of
students with some just graduating high school to those that have had other
careers for 20 years. We have a wide area of people that attend our program as
first-time college student to those that have completed bachelor’s degrees to
some that even have master’s degrees.
● General learning preferences: How do your learners prefer to learn?
○ Generally, these students prefer to learn in a face to face environment – but this
could be because this is all the student “knows” when it comes to classes in the
radiography program. All other classes in our program are face to face in person
classes so there may be uneasiness on an online class.
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 ● Attitudes toward class, group, or organization: What attitudes do your learners have
about the class, group, or organization to which they belong?
○ Students are “bought in” to this class. Students are in an allied health program in
which they had to apply and interview to get into. They are halfway done with
their program which will motivate them for this class. Students also are sure to
want to know about ways to protect themselves from radiation – as they have
chosen radiologic technology as a career.
● Group characteristics: What are the overall characteristics of the group in terms of
heterogeneity? How large is the group? What are your overall impressions of the group?

○ Our group is very diverse. Houston Community College is one of the most diverse
community colleges in the nation, so it is no surprise the wide array of ethnicities
and nationalities found in the demographics of our class. We have some students
even on foreign student visas to learn. The next cohort of students is 38 students. I
have had very few interactions with the group but from what my colleagues say, the
students seem very motivated and eager to learn.

● What data sources did you use for your responses to the previous questions?
○ I have a few of these students as my clinical students so I have met a small group
of them. The rest of the inferences drawn are from my colleagues.
● What implications do these answers in your learner analysis have for the way you
design your instruction?
○ I will be sure to make my teaching and activities very detailed. The students may
be first time online students so being detailed is important. I will also have
instructions on things that need to be done and potentially make documents
that will show students how to do several things that are important for the
course.

2. Describe the targeted learning environment (5 Points)

● The Course will be online with both asynchronous and synchronous components
○ Lectures will be synchronous for students to attend – but the lectures will also be
recorded for those who cannot make it
○ Asynchronous learning opportunities in the form of discussion boards and flipgrid
assignments
● Descriptions of any existing (or planned) curriculum/courses relevant to this one (look at
this course as part of a whole curriculum)
○ Our patient care class that is taught in the first semester gives some basics of
radiation protection
○ All clinical courses are pertinent (we send our students to clinic every semester for 6
semesters) because radiation safety is important in clinic
○ Our last semester has a registry review course that will review the information in
radiation protection and biology (along with reviews of material found throughout
the 2-year curriculum) as a means to prepare our students for their national board
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 examinations
● Any barriers to developing the course
○ There may not be any barriers on developing this course. One would have been
finding time to draw and plan for this course to be online; but since we are not going
to clinic as faculty members at this time – we currently have a lot of downtime to
spend retooling all our didactic courses.
● Any supporting factors to developing the course
○ Support of the program director to build this course for online instruction is vital
(she has approved)
○ Having other faculty members to bounce ideas off, would be important to help aid in
building a better student experience
● Any barriers to implementing the course
○ No barriers
● Any resources that could be used to support the course development
○ Plenty of resources through free online applications but also resources that can be
utilized through the college’s teaching and learning course designers. We have
instructional designers available to us that can provide assistance if needed.

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 Instructional Strategies for Communication
Short description of your course and learners:

RADR 2213 – Radiation Biology and Protection. This will be an online course for 2nd year radiography
students that will explore concepts of what radiation does to the body. This 16 week course will cover various
topics pertaining to radiation biology and protection to include: radiation and the cell, x-ray interactions with
matter, radiation effects on previously affected demographics, how to protect patients and staff from
unnecessary exposure.

The target learners are:

1. 2nd year radiography students
2. Have access to computer/webcam/microphone
3. General knowledge of usage of Canvas LMS (Should have through the various other classes in the
program)

Address at least five of these ten categories for communication as they pertain to your specific course.

Example of One Best

Drawback/
Reason for Communic Strategy for Explanation of Why
Communic Limitations of
Communic ation for This Course This Strategy Would
ating With: Implementing this
ation Your and This Work
Strategy
Course Audience

1. Alerting One person E-mail E-mailing is an No immediate response

Information students that effective method to – so as an instructor we
an getting student the would be unaware if
assignment information without they received the
is due singling out the message
student

Small group WebEx Can call a meeting to Some students may not
meeting talk to students above have the ability to access
their group WebEx or have
presentations computers that does not
support this application

Class Canvas Effective way to send May be overlooked if

Announceme out information – as the student does not
nt everyone registered in check the announcement
the course will get the section
same information

World/some n/a n/a – Only students n/a

one not registered in this
enrolled in course need to see this
the course information
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2. Content One person
of course
Small group

Class

World/some
one not
enrolled in
the course

3. Discuss Address an One person WebEx Can get direct Only reaches one
problems issue with a Office Hours feedback from the student; student has to
related to created student during a be available
the course assignment WebEx office hours
meeting

Small group Slack group I have seen Slack Student will have to
message utilized effectively actively check Slack;
through the master’s Students will have to
program at UH download another
application

Class Canvas Best method in Student will have to

Announceme getting the entire class check announcement
nt to view section

4. Answers One person

to simple
questions Small group
about the
Class
course or
assignments

5. Answers One person

to complex
questions Small group
about the
Class
course or
assignments

6. One person
Discussion
Small group

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about Class
content of
the course World/some
one not
enrolled in
the course

7. Motivate Giving One person E-mail Easy to communicate No direct feedback right
students to students an through this way; away
complete extra push students are
assignments with familiarized with e-
through assignments mail as a form of
communicat conversation in
ion courses

Small group Twitter Easy to send to small Students must have the
groups with usage of application downloaded
hashtags and an account made

Class Canvas Ensures all registered No direct feedback

Announceme in the course will get
nt the same information

8. One person
Encourage
students to Small group
participate
Class
in
discussion
through
communicat
ion

9. Provide Provide One person Canvas Speed This gives an Students aren’t able to
feedback to feedback for Grader individualized comment back through
students assignment response to each speed grader – they
about their given the student would need to send an e-
progress in previous mail
the course week
Small group WebEx Can give generalized Can alienate students
meeting feedback to students who would not like their
who need the same feedback discussed in
area of improvement this format

Class Canvas Can reach all students Can be too generalized

Announceme at one time and not pinpoint the
nt need for improvement

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 that individuals may
need

10. Provide Student to One person Canvas Small audience – but Private – only the
opportunitie share their Submission may be of benefit if instructor and student
s for thoughts on student does not want can see the information
students to a topic information shared
share their
work Small group Blog Can provide small This is not a feature on
group of students the canvas – so students
ability to share their would have to go to a
work different website to
create a blog post

Class Flipgrid Gives students ability Will need students to

to share their work access different website
with all members of to create information
the class and post
responses

World/some Blog/flipgrid Access is available to Need the specific

one not all as long as website/access code to
enrolled in restrictions are not set view these areas
the course

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 Instructional Strategies for Creativity and Innovation

Short description of your course and learners for your peer reviewers:
The course I will be using as an example is a course that I taught online last semester, Radiation Biology and
Protection. I was forced to change from face to face instruction in the middle of the semester and found that the
course may run better as a fully online course in the future. 2nd year radiography students are the students who
take this course. In this course, 2nd year radiography students are introduced to concepts regarding how radiation
effects the body. The course also goes into depth on how students can protect patients, other healthcare
professionals, as well as themselves from unnecessary radiation exposure.
At the conclusion of the course, 2nd year radiography students will be able identify the effects of radiation on the
body and analyze ways to protect patients and themselves from these effects. They will do so by passing
(>75%) the final exam that will test students’ knowledge on the information learned/discussed in the course.

______________________________________________________________________________

Section 1. Instructional Strategy for the Module Introduction

 Describe the strategy that you will use in introducing your module (e.g., activating prior knowledge, pre-
assessment, engaging the learner).
o I plan to present relatable information to provide context to students. I will first present quantities
of radiation quantities they are familiar with (such as REM) and then we will work to discuss
some of the other units of measurement students are not familiar with. I will also bring the
student radiation dose monitoring sheet for students to look at their acquired dose for the quarter.
This will be touched on later in our class period – but will allow for students to have something
that directly ties them into the lecture; their own personal dosimetry record. This strategy of
making things relatable and relevant to the learn is stated in Sullivan’s “Faculty Development -
Creative Teaching and Learning Strategies” that “make teaching and learning relevant…”.

 What is the academic outcome for this strategy? (What is the goal for student learning?)
o The goal of this unit will be for students to understand the usages for various radiation quantities
and units. The students will also take ownership of their own personal dosimetry record – they
will learn the correct ways to use radiation dose monitors.
 Why would this strategy work?
o I feel this strategy will work because we are giving students information that is relatable. Their
personal dosimetry report provides a link to what we will learn in class to something that affects
the students outside of the classroom.
 What are potential problems with using this strategy and how would you solve these problems?
o Potential problems are if students are not wearing their dosimeters and are getting false minimal
readings. Minimal recordings will give students false reading and make the initial activity we
have regarding dose reports inaccurate. I will solve this problem by asking a post-lecture
discussion post on whether or not the student believe, after the lecture, that they were utilizing
the dosimeter properly.
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Section 2. Instructional Strategy for Presenting the content of a module
 Describe the strategy that you will use to present the content of your module
o We will use a variety of strategies to get the point across within the lecture. Gannon’s (2018)
“Seven Principles, part seven: Respecting Diverse Talents and Ways of Learning” states “Rather
than having a class session dominated by one particular teaching style, consider a mix of such
activities as discussion, paired group work, lecture, in-class writing, or peer instruction”. This
will involve an initial lecture, with group work to following during the class. A discussion will
also be utilized that must be turned in before the end of the class period.
 What is the academic outcome for this strategy? (What is the goal for student learning?)
o The goal is to ensure that students have a variety of different learning strategies to play to the
student’s strength but also to challenge students.
 Why would this strategy work?
o This strategy will work because it does help some student’s strength. Those that aren’t as great
with the activities will be paired in group activities during class to help strengthen weaknesses.
 What are potential problems with using this strategy and how would you solve these problems?
o I think the course can be overwhelming at times – just due to the fact that many other courses in
our curriculum are just lecture/quiz/test-based learning. The incorporation of many different
learning strategies and ideas many be foreign to some students. I will look to curtail this
overwhelming feeling by having many group activities that will allow for students to collaborate
and feel as if the burden of work is shared.

Section 3. Instructional Strategy to facilitate students in working with/practicing the skills

in/engaging with the content in a module
 Describe the strategy that you will use to facilitate your students in working with/practicing the skills
in/engaging with the content in the module.
o One of the activities we will do in a discussion. This will take place after we review dosimetry
reports and after the lecture on proper usage of dosimeters. Questions will be:
 *Do you feel this dose is an adequate representation of the dose you have received?
 If not, what are things you can do to get an adequate representation?
 *Why is it important that you get an accurate reading of your dosimeter?
o This will tie in real life clinical issues that the students face to the lecture that we will be teaching
for the day. This will also allow for students to self-reflect their practices in the clinical setting in
regard to radiation monitoring.

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 What is the academic outcome for this strategy? (What is the goal for student learning?)
o The goal of this discussion activity is to tie clinical radiation monitoring and radiation units to
what we learn in lecture.
 Why would this strategy work?
o This strategy will work as it draws on something that is relevant to the student. This is something
that is stated in Keller’s (1987) ARCS model for instructional design. R stands for Relevance and
by using something that directly affects the student.
 What are potential problems with using this strategy and how would you solve these problems?
o Problems with having a discussion is participation. I had this problem in the past when I used to
do this discussion live, in-person. I have since moved the discussion to an online message board
on Canvas. I have noticed MUCH more relevant and expansive responses from students using
this model of asynchronous discussion. I have even seen more debate from students with each
other’s responses.

Section 4. Instructional Strategy for assessing students’ knowledge in a module

 Describe the strategy that you will use for assessing students’ knowledge in your module
o I will keep this section simple – I will have a quiz the following class period to assess the student
on what they remembered from the radiation units and radiation monitoring module
 What is the academic outcome for this strategy? (What is the goal for student learning?)
o The goal of this activity is to have students show what they have learned in the module.

 Why would this strategy work?

o I think this strategy works very well in the assessment of students. Quizzes are familiar to all
student learners, so this should help students by allow them to keep things similar to how other
classes in our curriculum run.
 What are potential problems with using this strategy and how would you solve these problems?
o Potential problems in quizzes is the questions of the quiz should be very clear and concise. I
know in the past, that several assessments taken in previous classes for students were unclear and
at time misleading. I need to ensure that my questions are not confusing to students. I will have a
colleague review my quizzes for accuracy and clarity.

Bibliography:
Gannon, K. (2018, March 26). Seven Principles, part seven: Respecting Diverse Talents and Ways of Learning.
Retrieved from http://www.grandviewcetl.org/seven-principles-part-seven-respecting-diverse-talents-and-ways-
of-learning/
Keller, J. M. (1987). Development and use of the ARCS model of instructional design. Journal of Instructional
Development, 10(3), 2-10. doi:10.1007/bf02905780

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Sullivan, L. (n.d.). Faculty Development - Creative Teaching and Learning Strategies. Retrieved
https://elearning.uh.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-6789765-dt-content-rid-
56405245_1/courses/H_20202_CUIN_7356_18218_MAIN/Creative-Teaching-and-Learning-Strategies(3).pdf

Active Learning Course Design

Active Learning Course Design
1. Course Name: RADR 2213 – Radiation Biology and Protection
2. Course level (undergraduate, graduate, professional development, etc.): Undergraduate Health
Science Program
3. Briefly describe the course, the context, and the learners.
Radiation Biology and Protection is a course where 2nd year radiography students learn, in detail, the
effects of radiation on humans. We explore populations effects by radiation, and we see what sort of
medical effects those populations had due to their radiation exposure. The course also goes into depth on
how students can protect patients, other healthcare professionals, as well as themselves from
unnecessary radiation exposure.

At the conclusion of the course, 2nd year radiography students will be able identify the effects of
radiation on the body and analyze ways to protect patients and themselves from these effects. They will
do so by passing (>75%) the final exam that will test students’ knowledge on the information
learned/discussed in the course

4. Describe at least THREE key learning objectives of the course. In other words, by the end of the
course what are three skills that the learners be able to perform?
a. Students will identify the effects of radiation on the human body.
b. Students will describe the history of radiation effects on the human population.
c. Students will list federal and state dose limits and regulations regarding medical imaging
equipment/devices.
d. Students will analyze appropriate ways to protect patients, staff, and themselves from
unnecessary radiation exposure.

5. Describe ONE way you can design your online course to incorporate ACTIVE LEARNING
strategies into the class. When describing the strategy, think about what you will do as the course
instructor and what you expect the students will do in the course.
a. There are several ways I want to incorporate active learning to this course. One of them will be
connect courses and content to current events (Eison, 2010). There is currently a trend in the
medical imaging community to discontinue shielding of patients during radiologic examinations.
This goes against what the entire courses is built on. By incorporating this current event into my
course, I will be able to create moments in the class (through discussion boards) that will allow
for students to critical think and debate amongst each other whether this discontinuing of
shielding is a good thing or bad thing.

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 6. Describe ONE learning outcome that will be enhanced or improved through the course design.
a. I think the topic of “Students will identify the effects of radiation on the human body” can be
enhanced through designing this course. This topic when I give it face-to-face is generally a dry
lecture; I have been trying to find ways to make it more exciting/fun. What I am thinking on
doing for this topic is providing a “pop culture” radiation assignment. Students will research and
identify instances in film/tv shows that showcase radiation in a negative manner. We will also
discuss how these processes make our job as radiologic technologists harder – as patients come
into an exam room with preconceived thoughts on what radiation does to humans. Once the
assignment is complete – We will discuss in the next class period through WebEx, the student
findings and have a healthy conversation on what we can do as technologists to alleviate the
patient’s fear.

7. Describe ONE course assessments (e.g. assignments, exams, projects, problem sets, etc.) as a result
of the course design.
a. One course assessment I used this past term that helped in the learning objective of “Students
will analyze appropriate ways to protect patients, staff, and themselves from unnecessary
radiation exposure” was having a individual project. What I plan to do after having lecture over
this topic, is to have students create a public service announcement (Eison, 2010) on Flipgrid –
that will showcase the students’ ability to synthesis their knowledge on the topic of radiation
safety. I will assign students to different demographics to present information to (patients/general
public, radiology staff, other medical staff) as a means to see if students can critically think what
information is important per population type.

8. Describe ONE way that the impact on student learning will be measured. Please elaborate on the
specific measurement.
a. Students learning will be measured using the EGLS surveys given at the end of the term. This is
Houston Community College’s form of course evaluations. Student learning will be assessed
based on the student responses to the survey. A variety of questions are asked in this survey that
will determine whether the course design had a positive or negative impact on the student
learning. Responses will be made available to the instructor to review and to analyze what could
be done better to impact student learning in a positive light.

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 Final Reflection

Overall the design process went really well. I think I had some foundation of converting

classes to online due to the COVID-19 situation in the Spring, where we had to move all Face to

Face classes to Online. I think through the discussions, assigned readings/videos – I found what

it takes to provide quality instruction for online education.

I learned several new strategies to incorporate into my online course content. I outlined

several of them in the active learning strategies and instructional strategies for creativity and

innovation sections of this design document. Many were found throughout the courses many

readings. Things like discussion boards, the utilization of flipgrid, the incorporation of current

events and many more active learning strategies were included in my design document. Again, I

found a plethora of great knowledge from the assigned readings and videos that will go a long

way to turn my traditionally face to face class to an online model.

The implementation plan for this course would be to first get permission from our

accrediting agency and my program director to get the course model changed to online. Once

that is approved – I will begin in the Fall, outlining the course for online instruction in a Canvas

shell. That way when the time comes to teach the course and I get assigned a course in the

learning management system – I can easily just copy and paste the course in. I will begin to flesh

out the grading rubrics for the various new assignments I have created as well as to make sure

the instructions for these new assignments are clear. I think the implementation phase as far as

students are concerned will be relatively easy – I have seen a trend in the students we have that

lean more towards wanting online classes versus face to face.

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