Problem-based learning and masculinities : unique opportunities for Mr. Fix It? Well, maybe

I watched a smoker of 30 years being admitted to the Coronary Care unit following an acute Myocardial Infarction (heart attack). The message from the male clinician was simple, accurate, but somewhat behaviourist: " the death of part of your heart muscle is the result of your smoking, if you don’t stop smoking the damage will continue and you will die." A global, proactive and humanistic consultation demonstrating an understanding of the man’s addiction to a legal and accessible drug and illuminating prevention strategies may have been more appropriate. Maybe the interaction was about competing masculinities, the risk taker and the problem solver. The irony? As I left the hospital that night I observed the same clinician strategically positioned in a secluded hospital doorway drawing heavily on a cigarette. Hypocrite? No, invincible late 20’s male? Maybe. Smoking was someone else’s problem – at least today.

In my 16 years as a clinician such scenarios are common. Clinical practice based predominantly on problem solving potentiates hegemonic masculine approaches to treating men in clinical practice, often justified by limited health resources and increasing patient acuity. Ironically, Problem-based Learning (PBL) curriculums commonly used in health sciences higher education encourages, nurtures and rewards such problem solving approaches. As a teaching academic with current clinical practice it occurs to me that health science education and PBL has an opportunity if not obligation to empower clinicians to establish holistic approaches to male health presentations.

This paper explores the interconnections of Problem-based Learning (PBL) curriculums, health promotion, male nurses’ health-related behaviours and the implications and specificities of masculinity. The pilot study offers an insight into the perceptions of three male nurses that completed undergraduate nursing studies in PBL curriculums. The data obtained introduces some connections that could be illuminated by further research.

The knowledge economy, the techno-preneur and the problematic future of the university

Knowledge economy policies are currently very powerful drivers of change in contemporary university approaches to research. They typically orientate universities to a national innovation system which both positions knowledge as the key factor of economic growth and sees the main purpose of knowledge as contributing to such growth. In this article, the authors explain the economic logic informing such policy interventions in university research and look at the conceptualisation of national innovation systems in various national and international policy sites around the world. Their interest is in what these particular sets of policies have in common, not in how they differ. They introduce three key themes of such systems and the academics they seek to produce. These themes are their techno-scientific orientation, network characteristics and commercial imperatives. The corresponding implied subjects are the techno-scientist, the knowledge networker and the entrepreneur. The authors make the case that evident in such constructions of the future of universities are some unacknowledged and under-acknowledged problems, one of which is a failure to recognise the power of the gift economies of academic culture.

The influence of guarantee compensation and fix on service recovery

This study employed a 3 x 2 full-factorial, between-subjects design experiment examining the influence of service guarantee compensation and fix on hotel guests’ satisfaction following invocation of a service guarantee. The study involved a sample of 390 online panel members. As expected, satisfaction is enhanced when the problem is corrected, however overcompensating guests beyond what was initially promised does not enhance satisfaction evaluations. Increasing compensation from the low to the medium (promised) level results in stronger satisfaction ratings when the problem is fixed versus when it is not.

Assessing sustainability : a technical fix or a means of social learning?

The contextual nature of sustainability makes it extremely difficult to measure. Across the world each region has a specific environment and history that has shaped values and perceptions of the local community. In response, a wide range of tools has been developed that employ differing techniques to measure sustainability. These have a range of applications from global to site-specific scales. However, it is yet to be resolved whether assessments made using these tools reflect a technical focus with no close links to the knowledge and perceptions of stakeholders, community and management decisions, or whether the assessments reflect the knowledge and perceptions of local stakeholders and the community. In the southwest region of Victoria, Australia, a sustainability index called AIRS (An Index of Regional Sustainability) has recently been developed. This tool is based on indicators selected by stakeholders and considers relationships between the indicators. The aim of this paper is to report an ex-post evaluation of the AIRS sustainability assessment conducted at a subcatchment scale. The evaluation assesses AIRS's ability to assess regional sustainability and compares and contrasts the subcatchment assessments with the knowledge and perceptions of stakeholders and the community. A participatory approach that acknowledges key stakeholders was used for the evaluation process. Representatives from four stakeholder groups were interviewed to elicit their views of the AIRS assessment, its relevance, quality, applicability and priorities for future development. Strengths and weaknesses of AIRS are revealed and its contribution to social learning is highlighted.

Techno-literacy and learning in blended, multicultural course environments

For the last two decades, higher education institutions have been actively engaged in the use of online technology with the aim of transforming the way we teach and learn to improve students’ learning experiences and outcomes. However, despite significant investment in infrastructure and training and a wide-scale uptake of such technologies, the promised transformative effect on student learning is yet to be actualised outside of small pockets of innovation. In this paper, we argue that one of the factors contributing to lack of qualitative large-scale transformation is students’ lack of preparedness and experience in using online tools for learning purposes. Drawing on an ethnographic study of culturally diverse computing students and teachers within learning environments that blend online and face-to-face pedagogies, we argue that, although contemporary university students are largely operationally literate when using online learning tools, they often lack the cultural and critical skills required to use such technologies in a meaningful way to support powerful learning. We argue that, for online learning technologies to transform learning, students need to be supported to develop these higher order techno-literacy skills.

ipreps on ipads : exploring the visual/audio nexus of techno-literacy learners in an Australian classroom

This presentation reports on findings from a qualitative study on the use of iPads to support the literacy learning of a group of children who had just commenced their formal schooling in a regional Australian preparatory classroom. Specifically it looks at the affordances the iPad offered to enhance the oral-aural-visual communication of children not yet fluent in print based literacies. The children were interviewed about their techno-literacy learning and observed as they engaged with applications (apps). The researchers were able to video them as they demonstrated high levels of interest, energised learning and a range of independently acquired techno- literacy skills.
There is as yet little research on the use of portable personal computing devices such as the iPad in early years’ classrooms. The children in this study are shown as capable and articulate regarding their iPad use. Beyond the traditionally conceived struggle with passive print decoding when using iPads they become active creators of sophisticated multimodal artefacts that they consider worthy of acclaim, “I’m really proud of myself.” Findings from this study suggest the visual/listening nexus of popular apps potentially challenges print based literacy education approaches and existing paradigms of research and teaching/learning practice in Australian early years’ literacy education.

Broadband technologies, techno-optimism and the "hopeful" citizen

Using the internet to promote or facilitate learning has a relatively long history. As early as the mid-1980s, at a time when the internet itself was relatively experimental, a few early pioneers such as Hiltz were exploring the possibilities that networked computer communications technology could provide for education. Not only were universities the birthplace of the internet as a research network, they also had both staff with interests in using technology for learning as well as the critical infrastructure which might permit early development and adoption. But, with the widespread public uptake of the internet from 1994 onwards, online learning has become much more widespread-through traditional institutions of learning (schools, colleges, and universities), and also through the auto-didactic qualities of both the internet itself and many who use it; and finally through the opportunities which commercial “providers” of education and training imagine might be embedded in this new technology to deinstitutionalize learning.

You kind of want to fix it don’t you? Exploring general practice trainees’ experiences of managing patients with medically unexplained symptoms

Background
Much of a General Practitioner’s (GP) workload consists of managing patients with medically unexplained symptoms (MUS). GP trainees are often taking responsibility for looking after people with MUS for the first time and so are well placed to reflect on this and the preparation they have had for it; their views have not been documented in detail in the literature. This study aimed to explore GP trainees’ clinical and educational experiences of managing people presenting with MUS.
Method
A mixed methods approach was adopted. All trainees from four London GP vocational training schemes were invited to take part in a questionnaire and in-depth semi-structured interviews. The questionnaire explored educational and clinical experiences and attitudes towards MUS using Likert scales and free text responses. The interviews explored the origins of these views and experiences in more detail and documented ideas about optimising training about MUS. Interviews were analysed using the framework analysis approach.


Results

Eighty questionnaires out of 120 (67 %) were returned and a purposive sample of 15 trainees interviewed. Results suggested most trainees struggled to manage the uncertainty inherent in MUS consultations, feeling they often over-investigated or referred for their own reassurance. They described difficulty in broaching possible psychological aspects and/or providing appropriate explanations to patients for their symptoms. They thought that more preparation was needed throughout their training. Some had more positive experiences and found such consultations rewarding, usually after several consultations and developing a relationship with the patient.
Conclusion
Managing MUS is a common problem for GP trainees and results in a disproportionate amount of anxiety, frustration and uncertainty. Their training needs to better reflect their clinical experience to prepare them for managing such scenarios, which should also improve patient care.