Introduction to Traditional Chinese Medicine

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY

MONTEREY BAY

CAPSTONE PROPOSAL

Submitted in partial satisfaction of requirements of the degree of

MASTER OF SCIENCE in Instructional Science and Technology

Chao Hua Jasmine Huang

April 5th, 2011

Capstone Approvals: Nancy G. Lockwood

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Advisor Name Signature Date

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Capstone Instructor Name Signature Date

Table of Contents

Introduction/Executive Summary…………………………………………...3

Background…………………………………………………………………3-4

· Problem/Need Background………………………………………….3-4

· Target Audience……………………………………………………..4

Solution Description…………………………………………………………5-7

· Learning Goal………………………………………………….…….5

· Objectives…………………………………………………………....5

· Proposed Solution……………………………………………….…...5

· Instructional Strategies…………………………….…………….…..6

· Content………………………………………………………………6

· Media Components……………………………………………..…...6-7

Methods/Procedure………………………………………………….………7-8

· Design and Development………………………………….…………7

· Steps to finish your project………………………………..…………7-8

· Delivery system………………………………………………………8

Resource………………………………………………………….....……..…8-10

· Time……………………………………………………………….…8

· Cost…………………………………………………………………..8

· Space…………………………………………………………………9

· Hardware and software………………………………………………9

· Team Members……………………………………………………….9

· Resources Required…………………………………………………..9

· Approvals Required………………………………………………….10

· Maintenance Plan………………………………………………….…10

Timeline/progress report……………………………………………………..10-11

· Timeline………………………………………………………………10

· Proposed timeline and costs………………………………………….11

Evaluation/ testing plan………………………………………………………11-12

· Formative evaluation plan……………………………………………11

· Summative evaluation………………………………………………..12

Introduction/Executive Summary

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has formed a unique system to diagnose and cure illnesses for 2000 to 3000 years. It is a very popular study and career in China, and most of the people in China prefer to use TCM as the main type of treatment instead of Western medicine. The TCM approach is fundamentally different from that of Western medicine. The understanding of the human body is based on the holistic understanding of the universe as described in Daoism in TCM, and the treatment of illness is based primarily on the diagnosis and differentiation of syndromes. The five branches of Traditional Chinese Medicine: qigong, dietetics, acupuncture, clinical herbology, and Tuina (massage), reflect the best of the Chinese medical tradition, it is also where the name, Five Branches University comes from, where I currently work at.

This outlines the initial needs analysis to determine future development of a training solution that would educate the appropriate people about the TCM marketing in the modern days and the requirements needed before applying to the program. This project will help the prospective students understand the basic concepts of traditional Chinese medicine, and what they need to prepare before committing to this field.

Background

Problem/Need Background

Even though TCM is popular and well known in China, it is still a new program that people rarely know about in the United States. Therefore, Five Branches University wants to promote the Traditional Chinese Medicine into the Bay Area, so that more people can have a better knowledge on Traditional Chinese Medicine.

The problems we are facing now are

· Many people still do not know the differences between western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine, and how does TCM benefit our bodies.

· Some people would like to become a licensed acupuncturist in California, but they do not know how to start it, and how long it will take to reach the goal.

· What are the requirements before applying to the program if they would like to start the program?

We are going to design a web-based module, and it will be available on the Five Branches University’s website. Individuals will be able to access the module from any computer with internet access.

Target Audience

The learners (target audiences) do not need to have any TCM related background as prerequisites, but they must have fulfilled the minimum education requirements of 60 semester units (equivalent to 90 quarter units) of general education from a regionally accredited degree-granting college or university, with a minimum GPA of 2.5.

They also need to

· Have a college level mastery of the English language

· General awareness of modern technology, and be familiar with the computer, internet, and software, etc.

There is no age or gender limitation (the oldest student in FBU is 76 years old) for applying the program. Learner Profile: The learners are

· Knowledgeable

· Communicators

· Principled

· Open-minded

Solution Description

Learning Goal:

This project will help the prospective students understand the concepts of traditional Chinese medicine; a brief introduction about Five Branches University, and what they need to prepare for before committing to this field.

Objectives:

The learner will be able to know

· What is Traditional Chinese Medicine?

· What are the advantages of TCM?

· What to do after graduation?

· Where to work?

· The percentage of primary work setting after graduating from Five Branches University.

· What can Five Branches University offer in order to be a successful practitioner?

· What will they learn from the program?

· The application procedure

Proposed Solution

An online lesson would be one proposed solution to fill up the gap. It would be an approximately 20 minutes module on Five Branches University website. The learners should have the basic knowledge to access internet and the online lesson, and the module will be designed friendly in use.

Another solution is to develop a checklist that can help students to check what has been learned and what should be view again.

Instructional strategies:

Given that the instruction objectives are tied to the cognitive domain, a few cognitive strategies can be considered as follows:

· A clustering strategy to gather all key information about TCM in a table cell

· A repetition strategy that repeats the concepts of TCM over and over which may help the learner memorize the terms and details.

· Using images to support for the teaching materials.

Content:

There will be three main parts presented in this project:

1. A brief introduction of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM):

- TCM history?

- What is TCM?

- How TCM works?

2. A brief introduction of Five Branches University (FBU).

- School history

- Why choose FBU?

- What you will learn from FBU?

3. How to apply for TCM program.

- Application process

- Personal interviews

- Acceptance

- Official enrollment in FBU

Media Components:

The instruction will be created by using

· Adobe Captivate

· Adobe Photoshop

· Video software

· Audio software

· Microsoft Office

· Survey Monkey

· Others, if needed

Methods/Procedure

The instruction will use cognitive strategy at the beginning to deliver the TCM information. The instructions will use the strategy to gain attention from the learners, help learners integrate new knowledge, provide examples, provide practices, and help learners organize information.

Design and Development

The instruction will be shown in video format with narration, music, and visual aids.

· Visuals/Graphics (animations, video, etc.): Support for the teaching materials on the screen in a visual/graphical format by describing or illustrating the content through visual images.

· Text/Narration: The narration will be done professionally to aid the visuals described above.

Steps to finish your project

· Gather information

· Brainstorm the information gathered

· List out the subtitles

· Input the contents

· Search/design visual aids

· Design videos

· Search for a background music

· Record narration

· Use Adobe Captivate to finalize the first draft

· Submit the first draft and get feedback from FBU faculty and staff members

· Modify the module if necessary

· Submit the second draft and get feedback from FBU faculty and staff members

· Finalize the module

Delivery System:

The platform may include online lessons (school website), printed materials, and stand-up training. The type of platform to be used will be determined depending on the occasion. All training materials would be available on the school’s internal website.

Delivery assumptions:

· The learners have basic computer skills and knowledge

· The learners have college level of English skills.

· The learners know how to access the internet

Resource

Time

It will take approximately 3 months to complete the project.

Cost

It will not cost anything because I have all the hardware and software already. The school and my coworkers will also support me if needed.

Space

The project can be done anywhere using a computer with internet access and the right software installed.

Hardware and software:

· A functional computer (either desktop or laptop)

· A printer

· Internet access

· Microsoft Office

· Adobe Photoshop

· Adobe Flash

· Video maker

· Adobe Captivate

· Audio recorder

· Survey maker

Team Members

Chao-Hua Jasmine Huang - Instructional Designer

Gian Huang - Curriculum Specialist

Mimi Latno - Copy Editor

Chao-Hua Jasmine Huang - Multimedia Producer

Alex Hu - Computer Programmer

Resources Required

Five Branches University official website: www.fivebranches.edu

California Acupuncture Board: http://www.acupuncture.ca.gov

Acupuncture Referral Service: http://www.acufinder.com/

Council of Colleges of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine: http://www.ccaom.org/default.asp

Approvals Required

The project will become the property of Five Branches University, so all information provided on the school’s website and catalog needs to be approved by the president. All other referenced material will be listed in the reference section.

Maintenance Plan

All information will be updated and maintained once receiving any new/updated data from the California Acupuncture Board and the school president. The main maintenance will be done every 6 months to keep the data up to date.

Timeline/progress report

It will take one month to gather the information, survey, feedbacks, and other necessary data. After receiving all the information, I expect to complete this project within two months. It will take 3 months in total to complete.

Timeline

Tasks / Start Date / Duration (days) / End Date
Initial design plan with proposed story board / 5/3 / 7 / 5/9
Finalize design, gain approval from FBU / 5/10 / 7 / 5/16
Initial development of instruction / 5/17 / 14 / 5/30
Evaluation of instruction / 5/31 / 7 / 6/7
Second draft of module / 6/8 / 7 / 6/14
Evaluation of instruction / 6/15 / 7 / 6/21
Final development of instruction
(online delivery, printed materials) / 6/22 / 14 / 6/28
Final module and project / 6/29 / 14 / 7/5
Total days / 77

Proposed timeline and costs

Timeframe and deliverable / ~ Hours / ~ Cost
Initial design plan with proposed story board / 15-20 hours @ $30/hr* / $ 450-600
Initial development of instruction / 8-10 hours @ $30/hr* / $ 240-300
Evaluation of instruction / 8-10 hours @ $30/hr* / $240-300
Second draft of module / 8-10 hours @ $30/hr* / $ 240-300
Evaluation of instruction / 8-10 hours @ $30/hr* / $ 240-300
Final development of instruction / 5-8 hours @ $30/hr* / $150-400
Final module and project / 8-10 hours @ $30/hr* / $ 240-300
Total cost for 60 – 78 hours development and implementation would typically be $1800-2340; however, this project is donated by the students.

* Cost of $30/hr per is based student/entry-level instructional designer hourly rate doing all the script writing, interface design and development, narration and final testing.

Evaluation/ testing plan

For this instruction to be successful, both formative and summative evaluation will be performed to monitor the development and implementation effectiveness.

Formative evaluation plan

The formative evaluation will be used via online surveys, interviews and focus groups. Online surveys will be used for collecting data from all participants, if possible. Interviews and focus groups will be scheduled.

Summative evaluation

The main way to measure whether the project is efficient is to provide online quizzes or surveys before and after the learners view this set of instructions.

Another way I can measure the successfulness is by asking my coworkers how much time they spend, on average, explaining the TCM program to the prospective students each week before incorporating my capstone project. And then find out how much time they spend after the implementation. It will tell me how well the students learned.