DESIGNING A PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COURSE ON THE FUNDAMENTALS OF EDUCATION FOR NEPALESE PHYSIOTHERAPY LECTURERS: A NORTH-SOUTH-SOUTH COLLABORATION

H. Myezwa¹, P. Barnard Ashton¹, R. Shijagurumayum², E. Carm³, S. Moch¹, A.-K. Stensdotter⁴

¹University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Health Sciences, Johannesburg, South Africa, ²Kathmandu University Hospital, Dhulikhel Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal, ³Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal, ⁴Faculty of Education and International Studies OsloMet, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway

Background: Development of physiotherapy services is an integral part of strengthening health systems in any developing country. Nepal experiences a lack of qualified health care staff and has responded by establishing several physiotherapy colleges across the country. University of Witwatersrand SA (Wits), Norwegian University of Science and Technology, (NTNU), Kathmandu University School of Medical Science, (KUSMS) and Kathmandu Medical College (KMC) jointly agreed to capacity development as part of the grant “Strengthening academic capacity in physiotherapy education in Nepal”, consisting of staff enhancement in attainment of higher degrees, curriculum development and pedagogical training. The project has several work streams of which the design and presentation of a pedagogy short course for physiotherapy lecturers in Nepal was one component.

Purpose: The experience of four diverse universities aimed at strengthening academic capacity in physiotherapy education and research in Nepal as a prerequisite to develop physiotherapy as an integral part in the health service system is shared. Specifically, the current presentation outlines a participative consultative planning process, selection of culturally and contextually relevant topics and execution of an online pedagogic course.

Methods: Descriptive course metrics including number of participants and engagement with material were obtained from the hosting learning management system. Thereafter, students’ final portfolio submissions were qualitatively analysed to explore students’ learning experiences. Inductive thematic analysis of notes and recordings of planning sessions were undertaken.

Results: The eight-week online course consisted of four two-week units delivered to 12 physiotherapy lecturers from Nepal (KUSMS and KMC), facilitated by five facilitators from Wits and NTNU. Importantly the development of the course, selection of content was undertaken with the participation of all stakeholders. The delivery format included a combination of synchronous weekly online lecture/discussion sessions, self-paced content engagement, and online learning activities, culminating in the submission of a summative portfolio in early January 2023. The four units were: 1) Foundations of Learning; 2) Pedagogic Approaches; 3) Curriculum – design, mapping, and alignment; and 4) Essentials of Assessment. The strategy of demonstrating the teaching strategies contained in the course content as a method of delivering the course allowed participants to experience the student perspective, and that these strategies were realistic for the Nepal context. The challenges of truly understanding the Nepalese physiotherapy landscape, despite the pandemic preventing the Wits and NTNU facilitators visiting KUSMS and KMC, were overcome through the participative consultative planning process. Eight participants have successfully completed the course, and they reflected on invaluable learning in their portfolios.

Conclusions: This North-South-South collaboration brought four universities’ health education and physiotherapy departments together to design a professional learning course that potentially enhanced teaching and stimulated a changed mindset towards teaching practice. The specific attention to a participative consultative planning process ensured an adaptable and reusable product that is contextually relevant to physiotherapy education in Nepal.

Implications: The course was developed online for adoption by the physiotherapy departments of KUSMS and KMC. The next step is the training and supporting of those who participated in the course as facilitators of this professional learning course for academics of other Nepalese physiotherapy collages.

Funding acknowledgements: - NORHED- NORHED II, The Norwegian Program for Capacity Development in Higher Education and Research

Keywords:
Education
Collaboration
Pedagogy

Topics:
Education
Education
Education

Did this work require ethics approval? No

Reason: The project is not active research but a development project that requires permission from the participating institutions