Understanding the Patient Experience Through the Power of Film: a Mixed Method Qualitative Research Project

Film is a highly attractive teaching instrument for the study of different terminal diseases, exploring bioethics (Beauchamp and Childress, 2009) and is a preferred medium over traditional lectures (Edmunds, 2013) to provide realistic examples for adult learners. It can tap into ethical issues; facilitate decision-making; and examine underlying issues such as euthanasia; assisted suicide; and professional responsibility. Contrast this with standard means of teaching, such as scenarios- although a useful pedagogic tool, these are limited because students must imagine the clinical scenario. Film can fill that imaginative gap (Volandes, 2007). It can be utilised as an active teaching strategy for a variety of topics in nursing (Edmunds, 2013) providing a unique way to promote active learning in nursing education (Herrman, 2006). The objectives of the study, aim to help pre registration student nurses from each year of study to engage with their role as health care professionals; provide open discussion and debate on how they view the personal experience of illness/disease/disability/death and to reflect on their role and provision of patient care. It is delivered in 3 tiers to provide a range of data for thematic analysis; 1) Film screening followed by a ‘5 minute reaction’ discussion and post screening questionnaire; 2) Pre screening guided activities for reflection and discussion; 3) Focus groups. This project meets identified aims from the UK Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF) by fostering creative and innovative approaches to teaching and learning; facilitating and supporting the design and delivery of continuing education development programmes and activities; and demonstrates professionalism that staff and institutions bring to teaching. Preliminary feedback and themes will be presented.

An Exploration of the Use of Coaching and Mentoring in the Supervision of Doctoral Students in UK University Business Schools

Purpose: to consider and evaluate the student and supervisor experience of doctoral supervision (dyadic and triadic) and specifically the value of using coaching and mentoring approaches (process and relationship) in supervisory practice. Design/methodology/approach: phase one is a mixed methods study exploring the use of coaching and mentoring in doctoral supervision on traditional and taught doctoral programmes in one UK university business school. The focus is on developing a conceptual model for doctoral supervisory practice for the transfer of learning and the improvement of practice. Phase two will be a collaborative action research study in a range of UK university business schools to use, reflect on and refine the conceptual model of supervision. Findings: the initial findings from phase one will be reported on at the conference presentation. Research limitations/implications: we have tentative agreements from four UK university business schools for phase two (subject to ethics approval). Practical implications: students and supervisors participating in the research will benefit from having the opportunity to review and improve their practice; the participating business schools will have the opportunity to review and potentially revise their doctoral student and supervisor training; and a business school’s reputation for high quality doctoral supervision could be enhanced. Social implications: could potentially benefit numerous future students and supervisors across a wide range of UK university business schools. Originality/value: there does not appear to be any previously published research on the use of coaching and mentoring in doctoral supervision in UK university business schools for the transfer of learning and improvement of practice.

Changing Professional Identity in the Transition from Practitioner to Lecturer in Higher Education: an Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis

This research explores the experiences of five professional practitioners from disciplines including teaching, youth work, sport and health who had become lecturers in Higher Education. Their experiences are considered using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis and tentative conclusions are reached on the meaning of such experiences for the individuals. The work extends previous studies (Shreeve 2010, 2011; Gourlay 2011a, 2011b; Boyd & Harris 2010) to consider the relationship between knowledge and influence and how institutional preference for knowledge gained from research impacts on the validity of knowledge derived from professional experience. The research finds shared feelings associated with inauthenticity and loss arising from concerns that the contribution of the professional in Higher Education is undervalued. The research challenges the assumption that professional practitioners adopt the professional identity of a lecturer in Higher Education instead finding that they create their own professional identities in the liminal space between the professional and academic domains, but points to difficulties associated with constructed nature of such professional identities within the institutional structure of a Higher Education institution.