FOUNDATIONS OF HEALTH SCIENCE

Foundations of Health Sciene (FHST)

Foundations of Health Science and Technology (FHST) curriculum introduces students to a variety of medical careers and to prepare them for the workforce. This has been accomplished in collaboration with Connecticut Career Choices (CCC), the Connecticut College of Technology (COT), and participating high schools across the state. The FHST curriculum is designed as a stand-alone course for students in grades nine and ten.

The FHST curriculum develops academic skills, transferable skills, and knowledge of healthcare careers through the completion of a FHST project. The comprehensive, standards-based project includes research of health science and healthcare careers, a lesson in basic human anatomy and biology, persuasive exercises based on ethical and legal dilemmas, and interactive online discussions with classmates. Throughout the school year, students learn about the importance of professionalism and maintaining good contacts through networking. Using 21st century skills, students design a multimedia e-Portfolio highlighting the green aspects of the healthcare career for which they feel best suited.

The FHST curriculum is hosted in the Moodle online environment. Moodle is a free, open-source software package, based on sound pedagogical principles that help educators create effective online learning communities. The FHST Moodle course is designed for use in a blended learning mode where teachers at local schools utilize the online materials with students in a classroom. Teachers and students can extend their classroom learning into an online community where they can interact and collaborate with each other and with business professionals via chat, e-mail, and discussion boards. A Moodle learning environment facilitates distribution of instructional materials to all course participants and gives students experience using a variety of online technologies in the context of a comprehensive research and development project.

The culminating experience for all FHST participants is the public presentation of the student work at the Connecticut Innovation Expo in May 2010. They will present their e-Portfolios to a panel of healthcare professionals.The judging panel uses rubric assessment to score each of the project teams on elements from thoroughness, creativity, and accuracy to presentation style and public speaking. The winners will be picked based on their appeal as potential candidates for a healthcare internship.

Students also display professional exhibition booths that provide the opportunity for students to share their work in an informal manner with the judges and the public. Members of the respective communities celebrate student achievements as the students demonstrate the elements of the program, including creativity, communication, collaboration, and technology skills within the context of the FHST project.

Teachers using the FHST curriculum are provided with an intensive summer workshop for professional development in the pedagogy of using a blended curriculum. Teachers also receive online and on-site support throughout the year.

The FHST course was articulated with the Community Colleges HLT103 Course, Investigation in Health Careers in March of 2009. Students who successfully complete the FHST course will receive 3 semester hours of college basic level credit.

2009-10 Challenge

Students will develop a multimedia ePortfolio to identify how a chosen health science career is working toward solving a global environmental health issue.

For More Information

Contact Jane Donn at 860-567-0863, ext. 138, or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).