Educational Framework

eHealth Education have adopted the educational framework endorsed by the Australian College of Health Informatics (ACHI). This consists of the combination of internationally recognized degrees of competency as introduced by Benner as stages of clinical competence[1]  Novice, Advanced Beginner, Competent, Proficient, and Expert and Bloom's Taxonomy consisting of levels of intellectual behaviour.

The degrees of competencies are given values from 1 (Novice) to 5 (Expert). The degree of competency can be understood as the depth of expertise/understanding required in one field. That is no education is required to gain an understanding at Novice level, however maximum education and experience is required to become an Expert. The maximum degree of competency does not include a specialisation in this field.

Bloom, an educational psychologist, developed a classification of levels of intellectual behaviour[2] . The classification featured the following levels of intellectual behaviour:

• knowledge (the lowest level, pure recall of data),
• comprehension (understand the meaning) ,
• application (use a concept in a new situation),
• analysis (identify components, see patterns),
• synthesis (put parts together to form a new whole),
• evaluation (the highest level, make judgments about the value of ideas or materials)

Apart from the degree of competency required for the 'ideal' Health Informatician in a specific role, the breadth of the field is important to determine the amount of education required. Also, the complexity of a field has to be taken into account.

Degree of Competency, Breadth and Complexity together define the amount of education required for this field. Based on these three variables (of which two, breadth and complexity, are fixed for one field), the amount of education required can principally be calculated to determine the credit points required to achieve the desired educational outcome.

As there is no standardised credit system available in Australia, eHealth Education employs the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) relative to the Australian Qualifications Framework(AQF) for this purpose.

Your personal competence may be evaluated according to your ability to use the skills and knowledge gained via formal education and your life experiences. All coursework offered by eHealth Education is available for adult learning regardless of prior formal qualifications.  However all coursework profiles provide an indication of recommended prior skills and knowledge required to succesfully complete each course of study and achieve the stated learning outcomes.

[1] Benner P (1984) From novice to expert: Excellence and power in clinical nursing practice. Addison-Wesley, Menlo Park

[2] Bloom BS, ed. 1956 Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals: Handbook I, cognitive domain. Longmans, Green, New York ; Toronto