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KHK
Development of an intranet-based learning and information system for theoretical and clinical cardiology centering around coronary heart diseases
"Wissensvermittlung als Herzenssache" ("Providing knowledge as a matter of the heart") is the motto of four German universities (Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Dresden, Köln) under the overall control of the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, developing a multimedia learning and information system centering around coronary heart diseases (KHK).
Within this task two aspects are especially focused on: On the one hand the development of multimedia knowledge modules that are to improve the level of knowledge of coronary heart disease. And on the other hand the development of a so-called learning and information system that is also open to other fields in and outside of medicine.
All in all eleven institutes and clinics from the areas of physiology, pharmacology, cardiology and cardiosurgery create multimedia learning modules that cover cardiopathy from its molecular basis to up-to-date operation-techniques. Altogether almost 80 hours of learning material will be provided. The modules will eventually be made available as part of the learning and information system over the intranets of the universities involved and can then be accessed free of charge by students.
In order to allow coherent learning, the modules can be worked on as a course that has been didactically pre-structured by the authors of the learning and information system. Nevertheless it is also possible to look for specific information: A search function enables users to navigate to any module, no matter what course it is part of. Via a built in query module and the "knowledge-check" function users can check their progress. The system keeps track of wrongly answered questions and offers the user knowledge modules that can help to find the correct answer.
Other than learning environments that come with a lot of administrative functions, learning and information systems like the KHK-learning and information system emphasise on offering users a flexible and dynamic as possible basis for a variety of uses. Key to that flexibility and dynamics are the basic units of the learning and information system, the modules. Apart from knowledge these modules contain pre- and postconditions as logical descriptions of their contents or of the premises of their applicability. Appropriate concord requirements regarding these pre- or postconditions of various modules form an implicit semantic network that spans all modules and can be utilised to put various application scenarios into practice: push-scenarios, optimized by the authors, free navigation through all available modules, and provision of individual learning sequences that depend on the knowledge and the goals of the individual user. For medical use it is especially important to efficiently link case-based and systematic learning within the learning and information system.
In this vein the project created a complete software system containing the learning and information system itself as well as numerous authoring tools (e.g. an XML-editor for knowledge modules). Since the software package does not depend on specific content, it can be used in other fields as well.
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