DEVELOPING AN ON-LINE THESIS COURSE FOR HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS

摘要

In a professional program designed for students from differing backgrounds who live in many parts of the country and perhaps even outside the U.S., on-line classes make a great deal of sense as they allow students access to a course regardless of the student's location and schedule. Since 2000, the Regulatory Affairs Master of Science Degree and Certificate programs have been run entirely on-line, having begun as face-to-face classes designed by the Colleges of Science and Business Administration at San Diego University. To fill a gap in the instructional catalog, we are now designing an on-line thesis preparation course for the Center for Biopharmaceutical and Biodevice Development graduate students. The course will require extensive up-front planning so that instructions and expectations are clear; it will use small assignments that build to larger assignments. The end goal is not to produce a thesis, but to learn the process and begin researching a topic that could become a thesis.