Infectious Disease

Control
Level 7

CRN 52424
53425

Module Handbook

January 2025 - May 2025

Prof Chloë James: Professor in Microbiology

Peel G28
C.James@salford.ac.uk

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 INFECTIOUS DISEASE CONTROL

Coordinator: Prof Chloë James

Peel G28
EMAIL: c.james@salford.ac.uk

Lecture Staff :
Prof Chloë James c.james@salford.ac.uk
Prof Richard Birtles r.j.birtles@salford.ac.uk

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 Forward

Dear Student,

We are excited to welcome you on your journey into exploring key challenges
to be tackled around infectious diseases and how they are controlled. This
handbook is your first port of call for any queries you might have about the
module. The following pages summarise the module structure, learning
outcomes, and assessments.

This module will help you to build and apply your knowledge and
understanding of fundamental concepts in microbiology, key infectious diseases
and strategies for their control through improved diagnosis and treatment.
Through PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING, you will refine your skills and
awareness of global health challenges, critical analysis of scientific research and
research project design.

For more detail on individual lecture materials and labs, please refer to the
content area of the Infectious Disease Control module site on Blackboard. If
you require more clarity, please do not hesitate to raise any questions during our
lectures, PBL discussions or lab sessions.

For any issues relating specifically to this module, you can also contact me, or
Richard directly via email using your Salford email account. For any personal
issues, do contact your personal tutors.

We look forward to learning with you on this module.

Prof Chloë James

Module coordinator, Infectious Disease Control.

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 CONTENTS

Module Summary …………………………………………………………………. Page 5

Module Timetable …….…………………………………………………………... Page 7

Module Delivery …………………………………………………………………. Page 8

General PBL Instructions …...……………………………………………………. Page 9

Module Assessment ………………………………………………………………. Page 11

Case Study 1 ……………………………………………………………………… Page 12

Case Study 2 ……………………………………………………………………… Page 17

Appendix 1: Grant Proposal Proforma …………………………………………… Page 23

Appendix 2: Marking Criteria for Grant Proposals ………………………………. Page 25

Appendix 3: Individual Contribution Assessment Form …………………………. Page 26

Appendix 4: Guidance on Plagiarism ……………………………………………. Page 29

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MODULE SUMMARY: INFECTIOUS DISEASE CONTROL (IDC)

The aims of this module are to:

(i) Provide you with an appreciation for the multifaceted factors that contribute towards
infectious disease outcomes.

(ii) Discuss the latest strategies used to investigate key diseases and the current
developments in diagnostics and treatment options.

(iii) Enhance your critical thinking by discussing the limitations of current strategies for
the control of infectious diseases of global and public health concern

Syllabus outline:

The basics of infectious agents and the importance of infectious disease control: This
module begins with a series of sessions that outline the globl impact and burden of infection
on human health. Key Bacterial and viral infectious diseases will be discussed in general and
PBL discussions will have a particular focus on sepsis and lung infections.

Infection Diagnosis and Control: Lectures, PBL workshops and labs will lay out strategies
for diagnosis of infection and detection of important microbial pathogens in clinical samples.
They will also discuss the challenges in delivering and evaluating effective treatments,
considering the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance.

Global Health Challenges: The module will use problem-based learning (PBL) to explore 2
major challenges in healthcare. Groups will be provided with case studies, and encouraged to
develop a hoilistic view of each scenario, drawing from the broad knowledge and expertise of
their team. Your discussions will inform work on assignments to design a study that will
evaluate or modify cutting edge strategies to reduce the burden of disease. This work will
include information retrieval, critical analysis, study design and budget planning.

Case Study 1 – Cystic Fibrosis Lung Infections in UK

Case Study 2 – Sepsis in Uganda

Practical Study: Basic microbiology techniques, biochemical and molecular assays will be
used to detect and identify infectious agents from clinical samples and determine suitible
treatment strategies.

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Key Learning Outcomes:

Knowledge and Understanding. On successful completion the student will be able to:

1. Demonstrate advanced knowledge of current principles in microbiology and

infectious disease.

2. Apply a holistic approach to retrieval, summarisation, critical evaluation and

referencing of information on a given topic, including recognition of gaps in existing
knowledge.

Transferable/Key Skills and other attributes. On completion you will have had the
opportunity to:

(iv) Develop your competence in safe handling of microorganisms, experimental query,

critical analysis and interpretation of results.

(v) Build your confidence in group work through problem-based learning and project
planning, including study design and budget planning.

(vi) Hone your skills in effective written presentation to impact non-specialist scientific
audiences

Assessment Summary:
1. Individual data analysis worksheet on PBL case study 1 (30%)

2. Group written grant proposal for PBL case study 2 (70%)

(The group mark will be adjusted for each member according to the individual
contribution assessment forms – see appendix 3)

Reading list:

1. Payfair, J., and Bancroft, G (2013) Infection and Immunity, (2nd ed), Oxford
University Press. ISBN: 9780199609505

2. Nash, A., Dalziel, R. and Fitzgerald, J. (2015) Mims Pathogenesis of Infectious

Disease (6th ed) Academic Press. London ISBN 978-0-12-397188-3

3. Ronald M. Atlas1, Stanley Maloy (2014) One Health: People, Animals, and the
Environment. American Society for Microbiology. Print ISBN : 9781555818425 e-
ISBN : 9781555818432 DOI: 10.1128/9781555818432

4. Wood, D. F (2003) ABC of learning and teaching in medicine Problem based

learning. British Medical Journal 236 328-330

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INFECTIOUS DISEASE CONTROL TIMETABLE
All sessions will be held in person, and you must attend on campus. You MUST attend ALL sessions
listed (there are no repeat sessions). You are expected to spend 109 hours on self-study. RB: Richard
Birtles, CJ: Chloë James, MDDR: M. Ale Diaz De Rienzo, HM: Holly Matthews, HKM: Henry Madubuike, LA: Louise Ackers.

WEEK DATE TIME SUBJECT ROOM STAFF

1 (18) Tue 14/1 11:00-13:00 Why Bother CH3 RB

Wed 15/1 11:00 – 13:00 Bacteria CH3 RB

2 (19) Mon 20/1 15:00-17:00 Viruses / Fungi CH2 RB

Tue 21/1 11:00-13:00 Diagnostics CH3 RB

3 (20) Tue 28/1 14:00-17:00 Lab 1 Cockcroft CJ/RB

Wed 29/1 14:00 – 16:00 Treatment CH3 CJ

4 (21) Mon 3/2 14:00 -16:00 Prevention CH2 CJ

Fri 7/2 09:00-1100 Cystic Fibrosis Maxwell U CJ

5 (22) Wed 12/2 14:00-17:00 Lab 2 Cockcroft CJ/RB

Fri 14/2 11:00 – 13:00 Lab interpretation CH1 CJ

Fri 14/2 16:00-18:00 Cystic Fibrosis PBL Workshop 1 Maxwell U RB/CJ/HM/MDDR

6 (23) Tues 18/2 11:00-13:00 Assessment Guidance CH3 CJ

Fri 21/2 9:00-11:00 Cystic Fibrosis PBL Workshop 2 Maxwell U RB/CJ/HM/HKM

(3 Pre-prepared proposals, each with alternative texts –
students to choose which text /budget fits best)
Submit Assessed Worksheet (Data interpretation: 3rd March 4pm)
7 (24) Mon 24/2 14:00-16:00 Defining sepsis and challenges Maxwell U RB/CJ/HM/HKM

Tue 25/2 11:00-13:00 Maternal Sepsis in Uganda – intro CH3 CJ/LA

8 (25) Tue 4/3 14:00-16:00 Diagnosing Sepsis and challenges Maxwell U RB/CJ/HM/MADDR

Fri 7/3 9:00-11:00 Treatment / Prevention & challenges Maxwell U RB/CJ/HM/HKM

9 (26) Tue 11/3 14:00-16:00 Assessment Guidance: aims, obj, Maxwell U RB/CJ/HM/MADDR
summary outline
Fri 14/3 9:00 – 11:00 Assessment Guidance: study design Maxwell U CJ/RB/HM/HKM

10 (27) Tue 18/3 14:00-16:00 Assessment Support – evaluation Maxwell U RB/CJ/HM/MADDR/HKM

Fri 21/3 9:00 – 11:00 Assessment Support (Budgets) Maxwell U RB/CJ/HM/HKM

11 (28) Thur 27/3 9:00-11:00 Assessment Support draft feedback SB 03/04 RB/CJ/HM/MADDR/HKM
(max capacity 120)
(Run as 2x 1 h sessions)
Easter Break weeks 29-31. Submit draft grant proposal 24th April: final deadline 1st May 4pm

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MODULE DELIVERY:

Note: All sessions will be delivered on campus and you must attend ALL timetabled
sessions on campus. You will be expected to organise your own additional working
group meetings in between timetabled sessions. These can be either on campus or
online, whichever suits your group best.

Update on fundamental knowledge and understanding:

This module will begin with on campus lecture sessions, led by Profs Richard Birtles and
Chloë James. These sessions will lay out fundamental concepts in microbiology and public
health. The 1st few weeks are designed to acknowledge / provide prior knowledge required
for effective critical analysis of case studies. You will have the opportunity to contribute
knowledge and ask questions during these sessions.

Problem-based Learning (PBL):

The remainder of this module will be conducted via PBL, either in the lab, or in focused on
campus workshops. These sessions will comprise small, facilitated group discussions that
then come together to report back to the whole module cohort. You will need to note your
PBL group and room numbers as advised from week 3 onwards.

WHAT IS PBL?

PBL has been adopted by medical schools to foster holistic student-led learning around
complex clinical and public health issues.

There are several different versions of PBL, but they usually begin with a scenario that
groups explore by sharing their prior knowledge and identifying gaps in their understanding.
This process is supported by a facilitator to guide discussions and keep activities focused on
the task.

You can read more about this in the BMJ article posted on Blackboard:

Wood, D. F (2003) ABC of learning and teaching in medicine Problem based learning.
British Medical Journal 236 328-330

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GENERAL PBL INSTRUCTIONS FOR IDC MODULE:

Facilitation and guidance: Module staff will continually guide your direction as floating
facilitators of group discussions. They will also provide feedback on your plans. Take note of
this guidance, it will be useful for subsequent PBLs and assignments.
Note: A facilitator is not expected to be an expert in the field. The role of the facilitator/tutor
is to help keep discussions going – not to provide specific information about the disease and
current research – this is up to you to find out in your reading of research articles.

Problem-based Learning (PBL) sessions will be used to explore 2 case studies:

PBL 1: Management of Cystic Fibrosis Lung Infections
PBL 2: Reducing Maternal Mortality due to Sepsis in Uganda

This is generally how your PBL sessions will be organized:

SESSION 1:

1. The Scenario: You will be provided with a scenario to explore. You will work in
groups to share your knowledge and understanding and develop a holistic view of the
challenge presented. You are advised to set up a TEAMS group for working together.

2. Allocate roles: In your groups, with the help of your facilitator, you must allocate key
roles. You should elect: (i) a chairperson, who will lead and manage the group
discussions, and is responsible for allocating tasks and organising further group
meetings and communications; (ii) a scribe, who will record notes about the group
discussion, and email them to the group, along with a summary of the follow-up tasks
for each group member; (iii) a time-keeper who will remind the group when each 10
min has passed; (iv) you may also allocate a reporter, who will communicate a
summary of the group’s discussion orally at the end of the session. This role will
usually be undertaken by the scribe, as they have the notes, but you can assign this to
another person if necessary.

3. Discuss what you already know: Each group member should spend a few minutes
summarising to the rest of the group what they know about the scenario. Organise
your knowledge into broad topics. Some suggestions: i) the disease, ii) the biological
causes, iii) the societal causes, iv) epidemiology, v) diagnostics, vi) treatments, vii)
barriers / challenges, viii) official initiatives/ guidelines / government strategies /
policies, viiii) other considerations. The scribe could draw a colour-coded “mind
map” to capture all this knowledge.
Note: Your group may be given a specific aspect to focus on

4. Identify gaps in your knowledge: Look carefully at the scenario and the notes / mind
map you have created to summarise what you know and identify what you don’t know
and what you think you need to find out. Compile a list of “learning objectives” and
divide them between all the group members by assigning “finding out task(s)” to
complete before next session.

5. Assign tasks and assess contributions: The learning objectives should be allocated
so that each member of the group contributes evenly to the completion of the

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 scenario. The chair might decide to create a TEAMS site for the group to share
meeting notes, research articles, ideas, discussions outside timetabled sessions.
Note: Each group member will be required to submit an individual contribution
assessment form with their assignments that scores each group member on their
relative contribution to the work (see appendix).

SESSION 2:

6. Build on the mind map: Add the new information you have obtained to the mind
map you created last week. To do this, each group member should summarise what
they have found out and where they got the information from.

7. Informed decision-making: On the basis of the knowledge you now have, decide
where and how you should intervene. Think carefully about how you might
implement an intervention in a well-informed, controlled and cost-effective manner.

8. Allocate new tasks: The chairperson will assign a new set of tasks for the group, this
time with a focus towards preparation for the assignment. For example, individual
group members might be tasked with identifying recent scientific research articles
thar report recent developments in the area. Others might be tasked with identifying
alternative methods that could be used or evidence to support further investigation of
a certain therapeutic or diagnostic test.

SESSION 3:

9. Plan and prepare your action plan: Your group will use the “Grant Proposal”
template to summarise your proposed project to address a specific aspect of the global
health challenge. The form provides space for you to summarise the issue you are
addressing and why, what you propose to do and how you propose to do it. You will
also provide a timeline of proposed activities (Gantt chart) and justification for the
cost of the project, including resources and staffing. Your group chair should make
sure that the group has agreed on who will focus on each section. All members of the
group will play an active role in deciding on all aspects of the plan. This will be
assessed by peer-evaluation using member contribution forms.

10. Assign new tasks: The chairperson will be responsible for allocating tasks to each
group member, but all members are expected to help by volunteering what they could
do and assisting the chairperson by agreeing fair division of labour. Such tasks should
be completed in collaboration with the whole team and might include i) briefly
summarise the specific disease aspects that are addressed by your project plans, ii)
identify or summarise the recent published research that your project plans are
building on, iii) summarise specific aims and objectives of the project, iv) you’re your
experimental design including key conditions, controls and techniques to be used, v)
identify key performance indicators (KPIs) that can be measured to indicate success
of the planned project, vi) Plan the project budget and timeline – working closely with
budget guidance documents and those working on the experimental design. vii) Proof-
read and edit entire proposal, including reference list and make sure it fits the
assessment criteria.

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MODULE ASSESSMENT (100% COURSEWORK)

The module will be assessed by submission of one data interpretation worksheet based on
labs and one written grant proposal that will be developed during PBL sessions.

1) The data interpretation will be based on labs that link to both case studies but are most
directly linked to PBL1. This will take the form of a blackboard test and will be
different for each individual.

2) A grant proposal based on PBL2 will be prepared and submitted as a group but will
clearly show individual contributions from each group member. This will be shown
by completion of an evaluation form detailing individual peer contributions.

Assessment Support and Feedback

1. Your lectures and labs will provide fundamental information to support your learning
and information retrieval during PBLs

2. The lab sessions will provide direct guidance and practice in data analysis in advance
of the assessed worksheet.

3. You will work in groups to acquire and share knowledge and produce your grant
proposal. Feedback from peers, facilitators and teaching staff will provide guidance
for your assessed work.

4. The 1st two PBL sessions will run through a practice PBL to demonstrate what is
expected in the grant proposals.

5. There will be support for running through grant proposal drafts during drop in
sessions before the final submission of assessments. You are advised to manage your
time carefully and make full use of the drop in sessions, as module staff will not be
able to respond to drafts sent via email.

Summary of Assessment Deadlines:

Data Interpretation Worksheet: Deadline 4pm 3rd March 2025 (30%)

Individual Written Grant Proposal 2: Draft Deadline 24th April 2025

Final Deadline 4pm 1st May 2025 (70%)
(Including individual Contribution Assessment Form):

Grant proposals must be submitted to Turnitin by all members of the group (see module
assessment brief for detailed instructions and marking criteria).
All work must be your own (see notes on plagiarism, appendix 4)

An individual contribution assessment form (see Appendix 3) must be completed by each

member of the group and submitted along with the group grant proposal. The scores awarded
will be used to create a weighted individual mark for the group work as detailed in Appendix

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CASE STUDY 1: SCENARIO FOR PBL DISCUSSIONS 30%

PBL 2: Innovations to Reduce Morbidity / Mortality of Cystic Fibrosis Lung Infections.

This PBL session has been designed to provide you with practical and analytical skills to
address key challenges in the management of chronic lung infections. The session will build
on your understanding of the field before you prepare your grant proposal to the cystic
fibrosis trust in application for a Venture and Innovation Award. Your application must aim
reduce the morbidity and mortality of Cystic Fibrosis lung infections.

Scenario:

A 27 yr old man (Erik Fairchild) arrives at the

cystic fibrosis clinic, short of breath, with severe
coughing and wheezing. His notes state that, he has
a long history of recurrent lung infections. At age 16,
he began taking nebulized ceftazidime, and showed improvement. When he turned 18, he
transitioned to an adult CF program. He continued to have frequent pulmonary exacerbations
requiring repeated courses of intravenous antibiotics. He developed complications from the
antibiotics, including kidney damage and hearing loss. At age 24, he received a lung
transplant, and has (until now) maintained normal lung function managed by taking several
medications to prevent infection and lung rejection. He works part time and takes classes at a
community college.

The next patient is a 10 year old girl (Rachel Miller). She is wheezing heavily and is
complaining of a tight chest. Reviewing her patient records, you note that she did not gain
weight normally after birth and had frequent, loose, foul-smelling bowel movements. At four
months of age, he developed a cough that produced phlegm. A sweat test showed elevated
chloride levels, which are diagnostic of cystic fibrosis. Rachel was referred to a CF centre
and was treated with pancreatic enzymes, chest physiotherapy (to clear excessive secretions
in the chest), and antibiotics. She was in fairly good health for a number of years, although
she struggled to gain weight and had several hospital stays for breathing problems. On
examination, the clinician noticed that Rachel’s pulmonary function had worsened, and she
required admission to hospital.

A sputum sample was taken from each patient and sent to the diagnostics lab for
analysis.
You will consider the role of the clinical diagnostics laboratory in the cystic fibrosis unit. The
techniques used here to detect pathogens in sputum samples are also used to diagnose other
infections from a range of patient samples.
Despite huge advances in elegant and rapid molecular diagnostics; culture-based techniques
are still heavily relied upon for diagnosis of many bacterial infections.

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You will collate the results from a series of culture dependent and independent techniques
and use them to inform the clinician on the best course of action for each patient.

Questions to consider for the assessed worksheet:

You will each be provided with data from a different set of patients

- Are either of the patients infected with a common bacterial CF pathogen?

- Which bacterial species have been isolated from the sputum samples?

- Explain how the data help to identify the specific species

- Are either of the patients infected with an epidemic strain?

- Are either of the patients infected with a multi-drug resistant strain?

- If antibiotic treatment is advised – which one(s) should be used?

- What are the next steps for management of each patient’s disease?

Lab Session 1: Recording and collating observations

The sputum samples described in the scenario above, have been processed and inoculated
onto several different selective agar plates, then incubated overnight at 37 oC. You will
analyse the growth on these plates and the results from some further tests to characterise the
pathogens that were isolated from patient sputum. You will use the results to make a
preliminary decision about the identity of the bacteria that have grown from the samples. You
will perform PCR and antimicrobial susceptibility assays to further characterise key bacterial
isolates from the samples.

Lab Session 2: Recording and collating observations II

During session 2, you will analyse the results of your antimicrobial susceptibility tests and
PCRs. You will use these results to determine the best treatment and control options.
You must provide recommendations for treatment and control based on your findings.

Data Interpretation Session 3: Making sense of the lab data:

During this session, we will look at all results and findings from the different group
discussions together and discuss what they mean. How do they compare to findings of similar
cases across the country? How can they inform the best treatment? Do they highlight any
challenges that need to be addressed for control of CF lung infections?

Assessed worksheets will be released for completion after this session

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Formative Assessment:
This will provide crucial guidance for the next assessed grant proposal.

PBL Discussion Sessions 4 & 5: (Introducing PBL discussions)

You are tasked with applying to the UK Cystic Fibrosis Trust for a Large Venture and
Innovation Award (£250 K over 3 years) to reduce morbidity and mortality of cystic fibrosis
lung infections. https://www.cysticfibrosis.org.uk/the-work-we-do/research/research-we-
are-funding/venture-and-innovation-awards

You should discuss in your groups, what you think the important challenges are and highlight
key areas for further investigation. You should assign each member a specific topic to
research.

PBL Instructions

1. Allocate roles: Decide who will do what in each group. You should elect (i) a chairperson,
who will lead and manage the group discussions, (ii) a scribe, who will record notes about the
group discussion, (iii) a time-keeper, and (iv) communicator(s), who will ensure good
communication between group members towards the final presentations.

2. Discuss what you already know: Each group member should spend a few minutes
summarising to the rest of the group what they know about the causes of morbidity and
mortality in Cystic fibrosis cases. The scribe should draw a “mind map” to capture all this
knowledge.

3. Identify gaps in your knowledge: Look carefully at the scenario and the mind map you
have created to identify what you don’t know and what you think you need to find out to
construct an imaginative but viable proposal to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. Compile a list of
“learning objectives” to complete for next week.

4. Assign tasks: The learning objectives should be allocated so that each member of the
group contributes evenly to the completion of the scenario.

Concept development for PBL sessions.

Each individual should bring a recent research article that reports a promising innovation that
could tackle the specific challenge that they were tasked with researching. They should orally
summarise the innovation to their group and why they think that further research in this area
would be valuable. Each group will discuss each idea and how it might be developed further.

1. Discuss the information you have obtained and Share research articles: Each group
member should share a recent research article that reports an innovation that could
address their assigned challenge.

2. Informed decision-making: On the basis of the knowledge you now have about 1)
causes of lung infections and death of cystic fibrosis patients, 2) latest innovations
designed to address key challenges in infection control, decide where and how you
could develop these further. Think carefully about how you will develop these

14
 interventions in a cost-effective manner. You should draw up a clear list of work
packages, and who will lead each one. Certain elements of some work packages may
link with each-other and share staff. Each work package must be novel and clearly
justified with reference to relevant research articles.

Points to guide discussions: which aspects of this challenge will your group address?

You should work in groups and identify 1 work package per person, that will address a key
challenge.
For example:
- Rapid diagnostics
- Improving pathogen identification
- Detecting new epidemic strains
- Metagenomics to better understand microbial communities in CF Lungs
- Improving antibiotic treatment
- Alternative therapeutics
- Gene therapy

Click here for guidance on costings

Click here for guidance on project ideas

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PBL Organisation sheet:

Fill in the names for each role:

Chair Person ………………………………………………………………………..

Scribe: ………………………………………………………………………..

Time-Keeper …………………………………………………………………………

Communication …………………………………………………………………………..

Learning Objectives: (Identify key challenges that need addressing and gaps in your
knowledge that you need to find out before the next session to inform your action plan).
These may eventually form your individual work packages. Assign one person to find a paper
to address each issue.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

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Mind Map: (use this page to jot down a mind map to capture discussions)

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CASE STUDY 2: SCENARIO FOR PBL DISCUSSIONS 70%

PBL 1: Reducing maternal/neonatal mortality due to sepsis in Uganda

Despite significant investment, much from oversees Aid, maternal and neonatal mortality
rates in Uganda have barely declined in recent years and remain amongst the highest in the
world. This failure is particularly frustrating given that a WHO blueprint for reducing
morbidity and mortality based on provision of skilled birth attendants and better management
of obstetric emergencies, in particular sepsis, is well established. Research focused on
improving provision of these resources is likely to have a significant impact, and thus the
UK’s National Institute for Health Research is offering up to £1 million over 4 years to
support research initiatives in this area. What would you propose to do with this
money? A detailed justification of your spending is required.

Instructions for PBL: Your group will focus on a specific aspect

1. Allocate roles: Decide who will do what in each group. You should elect (i) a chairperson,
who will lead and manage the group discussions, (ii) a scribe, who will record notes about the
group discussion, (iii) a time-keeper, and (iv) reporter(s), who will communicate the group’s
proposal.

2. Discuss what you already know: Each group member should spend a few minutes
summarising to the rest of the group what they know about the causes of maternal mortality
in Uganda. The scribe should draw a “mind map” to capture all this knowledge.

3. Identify gaps in your knowledge: Look carefully at the scenario and the mind map you
have created to identify what you don’t know and what you think you need to find out to
construct an imaginative but viable proposal to the NIHR. Compile a list of “learning
objectives” to complete for next week.

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4. Assign tasks: The learning objectives should be allocated so that each member of the
group contributes evenly to the completion of the scenario.
PBL Worksheet: This will be accompanied by an individual contribution assessment form
(see Appendix 3) to be completed by each member of the group and submitted along with the
group grant proposal. The scores awarded will be used to create a weighted individual mark
for the group work as detailed in Appendix 3

Fill in the names for each role:

Chair Person ………………………………………………………………………..

Scribe: ………………………………………………………………………..

Time-Keeper …………………………………………………………………………

Reporter(s) …………………………………………………………………………..

Learning Objectives: (Identify key gaps in your knowledge that you need to find out before
the next session to inform your action plan).

1.

2.

3.

4.

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Some suggestions for organizing your thoughts into topics (your group may be guided to
focus on one or more of these aspects):

i) The disease (global burden and symptoms)

ii) The biological causes

iii) The societal causes

iv) Epidemiology (global distribution, risk groups, transmission)

v) Diagnostics

vi) Treatments

vii) Barriers to effective control

viii) Official guidelines / government strategies / existing initiatives

ix) Other considerations.

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Mind Map: (jot down a mind map to capture discussions)

21
Session 2

5. Complete the mind map: Add the information you have obtained by addressing the
learning objectives to the mind map you created last time.

6. Informed decision-making: On the basis of the knowledge you now have about why
maternal mortality is so high in Uganda, decide where and how you should intervene. Think
carefully about how you will implement these interventions in a cost-effective manner.

7. Prepare your proposal: Each group should work together to prepare a written grant
proposal using the template provided (Appendix 1). It is important that all actions are
justified by referring to key published articles that support given facts / proposed methods.

Points to guide discussions: Circle the aspects of this challenge that your group addresses?

Epidemiology of maternal morbidity/mortality

a. What is the rate of maternal morbidity/mortality in Uganda?
b. How is this figure determined? Is there any disagreement?
c. What are the main causes of maternal morbidity/mortality?
d. Sepsis – what is this?

Sepsis
a. What pathogens cause most sepsis in Uganda?
b. Are these unique to Uganda?
c. How do mothers become infected?
d. Are particular mothers at risk?
e. How are sepsis patients managed?
f. Are treatment regimens standardised and widely applied?
g. What is the prognosis for patients? Short term/long term.
h. What control measures are currently employed to reduce sepsis?
i. Why are these not working?
j. What alternative approaches are there to sepsis control?

Systemic problems
a. Staffing/truancy/shortages/turnover
b. Lack of training – solutions?
c. Professional volunteers/health partnerships
d. Poor management structure
e. Maintenance of facilities
f. Lack of resources
g. Lack of clean water
h. Poor infrastructure
i. Remote areas
j. Poor local evidence base
k. Traditional beliefs / cultural behaviours
l. Corruption

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Session 3:

Groups should now have decided on the focus of their grant proposal with guidance from the
facilitator.

Details of the proposed project must be discussed, including a timeline, staffing and costings

[Suggestions for costings of different activities / salaries and consumables will be provided in
the session.]

By the end of the session, groups should have allocated a specific task to each member for
informing each section of the proforma.

Drop in support sessions

The next 2 sessions are protected study time for groups to work together on their grant
proposals and access advice from module staff as needed.

Click here for mark schemes and guidance on costings

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APPENDIX 1: GRANT PROPOSAL PROFORMA: (3 PAGES MAX)

TITLE AND SUMMARY: (20 marks)

Provide a meaningful title that summarises the point of the specific project proposal

Give a brief summary (1 paragraph), describing the challenge: What is the problem? What
you propose to do?

Why is this ACTION needed? How many people are affected by this disease and what is the
health burden / cost? (cite 1 or 2 key references)
What is the key statement that summarises the main benefit of your project? Make this a
short summary e.g. 'By raising awareness of infection control procedures in key healthcare
professions, survival rates in vulnerable patient groups will improve'.
Is this part of a long-term response to a particular health issue? Or is this a new
development? Is there anything else other health professionals have done, or you are
planning to do, that is relevant? Where appropriate, supply examples. Have similar activities
been successful in the past, or, where they have failed, can you identify the reasons for this?
(cite 1 or 2 key references)

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: (15 marks)

List key overall aims (what you aim to do). For example, to develop rapid diagnostics, or to
identify new drug targets, or to establish better surveillance networks etc… What do you
want to achieve in the short-term, in the long-term?

List objectives (how you plan to achieve your aims?). What methodological approach will be
used? You should justify this by referring to key published research.

You must make it clear how your approach is novel. For example, you may choose to
combine different aspects of existing innovations, or apply an existing innovation from
another field, or develop an existing innovation to the next stages

METHODS / STUDY DESIGN: (25 marks)

This section will provide the detail of your approach. Your proposal should be informed by
the most up to date research in this area. Is there a new technique or database that could
be exploited? (cite 2 or 3 key references).

You should choose one or two research articles that report a piece of promising
research. Then you need to develop these ideas towards achieving your specific
objectives. For example, if someone has reported the development of a new rapid
diagnostic test – how might you modify it or evaluate it’s use in the specific setting?

Describe the specific methods / experimental approaches that will be used to achieve
your goal. For example, how will you collect the relevant data that you require? Will you
need surveys, patient samples, data from hospital records, clinical trials, high-throughput
screening methods etc.. How many samples / replicates / patients / animals will you need?

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Include a consideration of control groups / samples. Will you need to obtain ethical approval
for this work?

EVALUATION: (15 marks)

Critically analyse your project proposal. How will you evaluate its success? What are your
key performance indicators? For example, a drop in mortality rates, or a change in
treatment behaviors?
Identify any potential pitfalls and contingency plans. You may use a SWOT analysis
(Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) e.g. strength: access to patient samples;
weakness: highly variable treatment regimens; opportunities: new high-throughput
technologies available; threats: clinicians may resent being asked to rethink what they
already know.

COSTS / TIMELINE: (15 marks)

Provide an overview table of the money required to support your action and when each
aspect will be carried out. Justify the need for this cost and provide a breakdown of
spending. For example, will you need to employ skilled researchers? What skills will they
require? How can you justify their salary? What equipment or consumables will you need?

For example (NB you can opt for part-time / shared staff if appropriate and modify costs
accordingly. You may not need to include all these categories, but what you do include must
be informed by guidance in the PBL sessions and must be fully explained):

Activity / Year (£) 1 2 3 4 Total (£)

Staff Costs:
Principle Investigator (10%): Overall project 4.5 K 4.5 K 4.5 K 4.5 K 18,000
management
Research assistant (100%): To manage storage 22 K 22 K 22 K 22 K 88,000
of samples, carry out……….. and ……………

Postdoctoral researcher (100%): To design …

……….. manage ………and carry out …………
Research nurse (30%): To recruit ………………,
collect ……….. and measure………………
Materials / Equipment Costs:
Materials to assist collection of …….
Materials / equipment for measurement of….
Materials for in vitro assays to …..
Clinical trials or animal experiment cost
details……………
Genome sequencing……(be clear about what
and how may samples etc..)
Travel, communication and evaluation costs
Evaluation ….
Meetings / Conferences
Public / Stakeholder Engagement
Total £5 M

REFERENCES: (10 marks)

Why should your audience believe what you claim? List up to 5 references that back up your
statements. You must cite all references in the text and use Harvard referencing style.

25
APPENDIX 2. MARKING SCHEME FOR GRANT PROPOSALS
(PBL2 70%):

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APPENDIX 3. Individual Contribution Assessment Form

The purpose of group work is that it provides you with the opportunity to learn from each
other and to develop a key employability skill. However, often students feel that there is a
sense of injustice to giving all students in a group the same grade. A system has been devised
by Cheng & Warren (2000)1 and widely adopted across a range of learning environments to
enable students to assess the contributions made by individuals in their group work. This is
then used to develop each individual’s weighting factor that is applied to the group mark to
give an individual mark for each student. For this assessment, 40% of the group mark that is
awarded will be weighted based on peer assessment of individual contributions. This exact
format has been used in the Professional Practice module at Salford for a few years. We have
adopted its use for IDC this year for the 1st time.

You may feel that everyone contributed equally in your group, or you may feel that one or
two individuals did most of the work. You are to complete the following table for each
individual in your group, including yourself. This table should be completed individually and
there is to be no collusion about scores given to other students. Be fair and honest in your
scoring.

Use the table below to assess both your contribution and the contributions of other members
of your group to the assignment.

Use the following scores:

0 – did not contribute in this way
1 – poor
2 – below average
3 – average
4 – above average
5 – excellent

Write the name of each student in your group and score them against each of the four criteria
giving them a score from 0 – 5. If there was a particular issue with your group, you can add a
cmment

Literature
Ideas and Planning, Costings,
and other
suggestions Management layout and Tota
Student name material
for group &Preparation writing of l
search and
worka of work proposal
analysisb

Comment:

a
Including design of project, methodological considerations etc.
b
includes acquisition of key info from peer-reviewed articles / public health guidelines
1
See https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/135625100114885

27
This table MUST be completed and appended to the submission of group work by eacj
individual.

Failure to submit this part of the assessment will count as a non-submission as it will not
be possible to calculate your individual grade without it.

The following worked example illustrates the method that will be used for calculating the
individual marks based on the individual contributions of group members. This will be
discussed in detail in class.

Example

 A group of 6 students (A-F) submit a piece of group coursework that is graded at

67%.

 Each student also completes and submits an Individual Contribution Assessment; they
assess and score their own contribution as well as the contributions of the other group
members. The total score that any individual can be assigned is 20 (if their
contribution was rated as excellent, i.e. given a score of 5, for all four criteria).

 The average individual score for each individual is then calculated by summing the
scores assigned to that individual by each group member and then dividing the total
by the number of individuals in the group. The average individual scores are then
entered into the table below.

 The average group score is calculated by summing all of the Average individual
scores and dividing by the number of individuals in the group.

 The Individual Weighting Factor (IWF) is calculated by dividing the Average

individual score by the Average group score.

 The final individual mark is made up of 60% of the group mark plus 40% of the group
mark, weighted by individual contribution.

For example, student B in the table below has an IWF of 0.889 so their individual
mark for the assignment would be = (67% * 0.6) + (67% * 0.4 * 0.889) = 64.02.

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STUDENT AVERAGE INDIVIDUAL AVERAGE GROUP IWF GROUP MARK INDIVIDUAL MARK
SCORE OUT OF 20 SCORE (Total =Average individual (Mark awarded =(67*0.6)+(67*0.4*IWF)
(calcuated from the score for all score/Average group for the submitted
Individual Contribution group members) score group
Assessments submitted by coursework)
each group member)
A 16 18 0.889 67 64.02
B 16 18 0.889 67 64.02
C 20 18 1.111 67 69.98
D 19 18 1.056 67 68.49
E 20 18 1.111 67 69.98
F 17 18 0.944 67 65.51

Total score (all

group members) 108

Source: Cheng, W. & Warren, M. (2000). Making a Difference: Using peers to assess
individual students' contributions to a group project. Teaching in Higher Education, 5(2),
243-255.

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APPENXIX 4: PLAGIARISM

A Note on Plagiarism (taken from The University of Salford Website

(http://www.careers.salford.ac.uk/cms/resources/uploads/files/Plagiarism(1).pdf)

What is plagiarism?
The University defines plagiarism as ‘taking the work of another person or source and using
it as if it were one’s own. This work includes but is not restricted to, written work, ideas,
musical compositions, computer programme, laboratory or survey results, diagrams, graphs,
drawings and designs’. (University of Salford, Policy on the Conduct of Assessed Work
(Academic Good Conduct), Pg 1, 2005)

Why is it important NOT to plagiarise?

Plagiarism is cheating, it is an offence and the penalties can be serious.

How can I avoid plagiarising information?

1. Make sure you are aware of what plagiarism is. If you are in doubt, ask!
2. Paraphrase and Summarise - Whilst researching information for assignments or making
notes try to write down the main ideas, theories etc in your own words and formulate your
own opinion. If you decide use this information in your own work, you still need to
acknowledge that the ideas were originally someone else’s. Therefore, you should make a
note of the source (e.g. the author, book/journal, date and page number) and write out all this
information in full. You will then be able to cite and reference it in your own work.

What is paraphrasing?
This is when you use the ideas outlined in a section of a text but present them in your own
words but still refer to the original author. A paraphrased piece of text will usually be about
the same length as the original.

What is a summary?
This is when you use the central idea of a text, present it in your own words but still refer to
the original author. It is usually much shorter than the original. For example, using one
sentence to sum up the main idea behind a book or story that you have read.

How to summarise and paraphrase?

1. Read the text. You may need to do this a few times to be sure of its meaning
2. Put the text aside 3. In your own words, write down the key points and ideas from the text.
This takes a bit of practice and confidence but don’t be tempted to refer back to the original
just yet.
4. Once you have written the ideas into your own words, refer back to the original text. You
need to check you have the correct meaning, that there is nothing significant missing and that
what you have written is not too close to the original.
5. Make sure you reference the piece correctly
Visit the website above for further information

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NOTES:

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