Health Informatics Professor Leverages Canopy Tools for Challenge-Based Learning

Challenge-based learning (CBL) is an innovative type of learning that immerses students in a variety of activities that explore real-world problems and engage students in developing solutions. While CBL has been implemented into many face-to-face courses, online tools offered through Canopy (UC's eLearning ecosystem) allow Associate Professor and Health Informatics Program Director Victoria Wangia-Anderson to implement the strategy into online courses as well.

The model she uses separates students into groups and encourages them to use available technologies in order to solve problems and develop solutions to a societal challenge. Students must meet to work on their group projects using WebEx, UC's web-conferencing tool. These sessions are recorded and contribute to the students’ participation grades. Students also use Canopy tools such as blogs, email, file exchange, journals and tasks. 

As the program director, Wangia-Anderson must work closely with other Health Informatics faculty to recommend tools to implement into courses.

“My students are particularly interested in technology-oriented careers and typically enjoy the variety of tools we apply for teaching and learning,” Wangia-Anderson said. “I have found their learning experiences to improve when the technology is helpful and user-friendly. They also really enjoy technologies that allow for social learning and networking.”

The online Master in Health Informatics Program, a collaboration between the College of Allied Health Sciences and Carl H. Lindner College of Business, is only about two years old. Wangia-Anderson said Canopy tools enhance collaboration between students and encourage them to interact. This helps students—who never meet in person—to form strong support systems. As a result, retention in the program increases as collaboration increases.

“Technology is ubiquitous, touching almost every part of our lives and our students expect us to be leveraging these technologies, but they also expect the technology to be meaningful,” Wangia-Anderson said.

Wangia-Anderson is also collaborating with a group of faculty from the College-Conservatory of Music, the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP), and the College of Engineering and Applied Science, who are interested in CBL. As she learns from Health Informatics students’ learning outcomes, she conveys that information to this interdisciplinary group of faculty.