Syllabus
Instructor
Instructor: Arianna Rubin Means, MPH, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Global HealthUniversity of Washington Dr. Means is faculty in the Department of Global Health at the University of Washington where her research focuses on generating operational evidence needed to improve the delivery of infectious disease programs in low and middle income countries, particularly the neglected tropical diseases. She is currently the implementation science lead for the DeWorm3 Project, a series of large hybrid cluster randomized trials in Benin, India, and Malawi. She designs and manages the DeWorm3 Project’s qualitative research studies, organizational readiness surveys, process mapping studies, and economic evaluations. A trained epidemiologist and implementation scientist, her area of expertise is building evaluation of implementation outcomes into clinically oriented research to ensure that findings easily translate into the evidence needed to inform policy and guidelines. Dr. Means has previously worked in Kenya, Zambia, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda. Dr. Means is a Scientific Associate at the Natural History Museum in London and an Associate Editor for PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.
Description
The past several decades have witnessed remarkable advances in medical science and the discovery of new medicines, vaccines, and diagnostic tools that have the capacity to lead to large improvements in global health. However, the translation of research findings into practice has been slow and uneven. As a result, many of the solutions to health problems are not applied, leading to a widening gap between what is known and what is done in practice (what the World Health Organization refers to as the “know-do gap”). Implementation science has the potential to reduce this gap by applying systematic research and evaluation approaches to identify and address the barriers to effective replication and scale-up of evidence-based interventions in local settings. Fundamentals of Implementation Science is an interactive, online course that provides students with an introduction to the emerging field of implementation research by outlining various methods that are applied to improving implementation (including applied engineering, management tools, health systems, and policy research). This course will also address barriers to effective replication and scale-up in local settings. The 10-week course is comprised of a variety of online formats, including: pre-recorded video lectures from experts in the field, selected reading assignments, quizzes, discussion forums, and a final project. Each week, you will be presented with a module exploring an implementation science methodology. These modules define the conceptual framework and available methodologies for implementation science. You can also download the course syllabus. You are required to take a Course Policy Quiz to ensure you understand policies and grading for this course.Course Learning Objectives
This course explores the current literature on implementation science; introduces strategies for using innovative scientific methods and tools of diverse disciplines to understand and overcome impediments to implementation and facilitate scale-up; and uses applied case studies to identify and contextualize implementation successes and failures. At the end of this course the student should be able to:- Identify the major factors that limit the translation of high-quality evidence into effective health programs and describe the role of complementary implementation science research methods in the development of evidence-based health programs and policies.
- Explain appropriate research and evaluation methods to overcome impediments to implementation and facilitate timely scale-up of proven interventions with high levels of fidelity and effectiveness.
- Contextualize and explain real-world examples where sound interventions failed or succeeded.
- Describe at least one framework for designing successful implementation strategies and apply the framework to a real-world health problem.
Target Audience
This course is appropriate for health care and public health professionals who want a better understanding of the tools, approaches, and applications of implementation science. Participants are from multiple countries around the world and include health care workers, early to mid-career clinical and public health managers, and program directors.Format
This is a self-paced, online modular course divided into 10 weeks. This course will be delivered entirely online through a course management system named (Moodle). Participants are expected to review the pre-recorded weekly lectures, complete assigned readings and activities, and participate in discussion via the discussion forums. Most participants will also meet with a local study group that is led by a site facilitator. This is meant to increase opportunities for discussion about the relevance of the material to the local setting. Completion of a final course evaluation is strongly encouraged for successful completion of the course.Materials
All reading materials for this course are provided, in PDF form, or by linking to online sources.Grading
To be successful in the course you will need to complete all of the learning activities listed. Final grades will be calculated as follows:| Activity | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Baseline Project Selection Assignment (20 points each, 1 total) | 20% |
| Assignments (2 points each, 10 total) | 20% |
| Discussion Forums (2 points each, 5 total) | 10% |
| Quizzes (2 points each, 10 total) | 20% |
| Final Project (30 points, 1 total) | 30% |
| Total | 100% |
Submitting Assignments
All assignments for this course will be submitted electronically through Moodle. Assignments must be submitted by the given deadline.
Viewing Grades in Moodle
Points you receive for graded activities will be posted to the Moodle Grade Book.
Quizzes will be graded upon submission. Grades are posted by the end of the day Monday after an assignment is due. If you submit your assignment late (after the due date), please allow at least 24 hours for your grade to be updated. We do not update late submission grades over the weekend.
Assignments
Baseline Project Selection Assignment
During week 1 decide upon a health topic of focus for your final project, country of focus, and implementation objective.Written Assignments
Each week you will respond to a short writing assignment, meant to help build your final project.Final Project
Throughout the course you will apply methodological approaches and frameworks to develop a final project. The final project is intended to be an application of the information presented in the prior 10-weeks of the course. You will be asked to incorporate key concepts from throughout the course into your project. Your project should be approached from the perspective of a Minster of Health or Director of a large national institution presenting a proposal to Parliament. In other words, assume that even very basic information is required.
Discussion Forums
Your participation in the discussion forums is critical for maximizing your learning experiences in this course. Please refer to the information on posting to discussion forums to read about expectations for posting.
Quizzes
Quizzes will open when the module opens. You will have 2 attempts on each quiz. The learning management system will record your highest score.
Certificate of Completion
Active participation is required in order to receive a Certificate of Completion for the course. To receive a Certificate of Completion from the University of Washington, USA, you must pass the course, which means getting a final score of 70% or higher on all graded activities.
If you are a site participant, you must earn a qualifying score and attend 3 of the site meetings your site will hold. Attendance at more, if offered, is encouraged but not required to meet the site participation requirement. After the course, site participant certificates will be sent to site coordinators for distribution.
Late Work Policy
Assignments will be due at the end of each module. If you are unable to submit your assignment by the due date, you may still submit it up to one week late without penalty. After the one-week grace period, the assignment will close and it can no longer be accepted for grading.
Commitment to Academic Integrity
Commit to Integrity
As a participant in this course you are expected to maintain high degrees of professionalism, commitment to active learning and participation in this class and also integrity in your behavior in and out of the classroom.
Definitions
"Plagiarism is defined as the use of the words, ideas, diagrams, etc., of publicly available work without appropriately acknowledging the sources of these materials. This definition constitutes plagiarism whether it is intentional or unintentional and whether it is the work of another or your own, previously published work. Plagiarism is a very serious offense that the University of Washington's eDGH Program does not tolerate."
Enforcement
Corroborated reports of plagiarism, cheating, or other misconduct will result in no credit on that assignment and may result in suspension from the course and ban from participation in future courses.
Religious Accommodations
eDGH uses the UW's policy on religious accommodations for participants who need to make special arrangements in meeting course deadlines due to reasons of faith or conscience or for religious activities. Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course by contacting edgh@uw.edu.
Copyright Statement
All content associated with this course is copyrighted. This includes the syllabus, assignments, reading lists, and lectures, as well as any material generated by your fellow students. Within the constraints of "fair use", you may copy these materials for your personal use in support of your education. For example, you may download materials to your computer for study, but you may not copy the materials and distribute or upload to a website. Such "fair use" by you does not include further distribution by any means of copying, performance or presentation beyond the circle of your close acquaintances, student colleagues in this class and your family. If you have any questions regarding any use violates the creator's copyright interests, please feel free to email edgh@uw.edu.