Chinese Herb Academy Continuing Education

The Chinese Herb Academy, a pioneer in online continuing education, is pleased to announce our next generation of online classes in Chinese herbology. The Chinese Herb Academy has created a unique Online Learning Environment created for TCM herbalists. The design of the Virtual Classroom is based upon a rapidly evolving consensus within the Instructional Design community on how to create the ideal online learning experiences. The combination of successful course design principles and appropriate use of the internet can result in superior outcomes compared to conventional classroom learning. The basic concept is to create a space where learning and the group construction of knowledge can occur rather than lay out facts to be memorized or procedures to be learned in a fixed sequence.

In general, this style of learning provides the following benefits:

• Better long term retention of material

• Enhanced understanding of material

• Better clinical decisionmaking skills

• Increased familiarity with online information resources

• Increased ability to find solutions to novel and complex real-life clinical problems

• Improved ability to communicate with the written word

All classes have the following features

• Problem Based - students work on exercises rather than just passively read or listen. numerous studies have shown this approach to learning to yield far better outcomes than rote memorization of data and concepts. understanding develops through process of learning. each class provides unique opportunities for each student to explore a subject rather than merely giving them data and rules.

• Interactive - students regularly interact with each other in a threaded discussion forum. this creates a virtual classroom where everyone is comfortable to answer questions in a thoughtful, deliberative manner, rather than class participation being limited to the fastest and most extroverted. students also have access to archives of past classes and the entire virtual community of experts in the Chinese Herb Academy forum.

• Collaborative - students work together on class exercises in small groups, which then present solutions to the entire the class for discussion. the focused dialog of group work facilitates accurate independent decision making by preventing students from getting lost in their own ideas and losing sight of the central role of consensus in determining the validity of systems of thought. students are also encouraged to access the online community of experts for guidance

What is the Learning Environment like?

• Students complete assigned readings (and/or related multimedia presentations), take interactive online quizzes, do personal and collaborative Learning Activities and discuss all of this in a threaded online forum.

• All students must participate frequently if they want CEU credit.

• The ongoing log of assignments, quizzes, solutions and related discussions provides a detailed record of each students activity.

• Evaluation of this log by the Instructor is the basis for granting credit upon completion of the course.

• These are self-study courses. The instructor may post to the forum as necessary to supplement the course materials, but the focus of the courses is for the students to demonstrate their understanding through the exercises and writing.

• Because these classes do not involve direct instruction, they may not be for everyone. However, because they involve group activities, this format has far superior outcomes to individual self-study courses and equals or exceeds face to face learning for appropriate subjects.