Interprofessional attitudes amongst undergraduate students in the health professions: a longitudinal questionnaire survey

Background: Interprofessional education (IPE) introduced at the beginning of pre-registration training for healthcare professionals attempts to prevent the formation of negative interprofessional attitudes which may hamper future interprofessional collaboration. However, the potential for IPE depends, to some extent, on the readiness of healthcare students to learn together. Objectives: To measure changes in readiness for interprofessional learning, professional identification, and amount of contact between students of different professional groups; and to examine the influence of professional group, student characteristics and an IPE course on these scores over time. Design: Annual longitudinal panel questionnaire survey at four time-points of pre-registration students (n = 1683) drawn from eight healthcare groups from three higher education institutions (HEIs) in the UK. Results: The strength of professional identity in all professional groups was high on entry to university but it declined significantly over time for some disciplines. Similarly students’ readiness for interprofessional learning was high at entry but declined significantly over time for all groups, with the exception of nursing students. A small but significant positive relationship between professional identity and readiness for interprofessional learning was maintained over time. There was very minimal contact between students from different disciplines during their professional education programme. Students who reported gaining the least from an IPE course suffered the most dramatic drop in their readiness for interprofessional learning in the following and subsequent years; however, these students also had the lowest expectations of an IPE course on entry to their programme of study. Conclusion: The findings provide support for introducing IPE at the start of the healthcare students’ professional education to capitalise on students’ readiness for interprofessional learning and professional identities, which appear to be well formed from the start. However, this study suggests that students who enter with negative attitudes towards interprofessional learning may gain the least from IPE courses and that an unrewarding experience of such courses may further reinforce their negative attitudes.

Educational gaming in the health sciences: systematic review

Educational gaming in the health sciences: systematic review. Aim. This paper is a report of a review to investigate the use of games to support classroom learning in the health sciences. Background. One aim of education in the health sciences is to enable learners to develop professional competence. Students have a range of learning styles and innovative teaching strategies assist in creating a dynamic learning environment. New attitudes towards experiential learning methods have contributed to the expansion of gaming as a strategy. Data sources. A search for studies published between January 1980 and June 2008 was undertaken, using appropriate search terms. The databases searched were: British Education Index, British Nursing Index, The Cochrane Library, CINAHLPlus, Medline, PubMed, ERIC, PsychInfo and Australian Education Index. Methods. All publications and theses identified through the search were assessed for relevance. Sixteen papers reporting empirical studies or reviews that involved comparison of gaming with didactic methods were included. Results. The limited research available indicates that, while both traditional didactic methods and gaming have been successful in increasing student knowledge, neither method is clearly more helpful to students. The use of games generally enhances student enjoyment and may improve long-term retention of information. Conclusion. While the use of games can be viewed as a viable teaching strategy, care should be exercised in the use of specific games that have not been assessed objectively. Further research on the use of gaming is needed to enable educators to gaming techniques appropriately for the benefit of students and, ultimately, patients.

Autism in the air: using Point of View Video Priming and Natural Environment Teaching to help children with autism travel by plane

This paper describes a study that used video materials and visits to an airport to prepare children on the autism spectrum for travel by plane. Twenty parents and carers took part in the study with children aged from 3 to 16 years. The authors explain that the methods they used were based on Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) research; a video modeling technique called Point-Of-View Video-priming and during visits to an airport they used procedures known as Natural Environment Teaching. The findings suggest that using video and preparing children by taking them through what is likely to happen in the real environment when they travel by plane is effective and the authors suggest these strategies could be used to support children with autism with other experiences they need or would like to engage in such as visits to the dentist or hairdressers and access to leisure centres and other public spaces.

'Rules of engagement’: how experiential learning facilitates the formation of a public–private partnership in Russia

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate to what extent one can apply experiential learning theory (ELT) to the public-private partnership (PPP) setting in Russia and to draw insights regarding the learning cycle ' s nature. Additionally, the paper assesses whether the PPP case confirms Kolb ' s ELT. Design/methodology/approach – The case study draws upon primary data which the authors collected by interviewing informants including a PPP operator ' s managers, lawyers from Russian law firms and an expert from the National PPP Centre. The authors accomplished data source triangulation in order to ensure a high degree of research validity. Findings – Experiential learning has resulted in a successful and a relatively fast PPP project launch without the concessionary framework. The lessons learned include the need for effective stakeholder engagement; avoiding being stuck in bureaucracy such as collaboration with Federal Ministries and anti-trust agency; avoiding application for government funding as the approval process is tangled and lengthy; attracting strategic private investors; shaping positive public perception of a PPP project; and making continuous efforts in order to effectively mitigate the public acceptance risk. Originality/value – The paper contributes to ELT by incorporating the impact of social environment in the learning model. Additionally, the paper tests the applicability of ELT to learning in the complex organisational setting, i.e., a PPP.

The Role of BDNF, Leptin and Catecholamines in Reward Learning in Bulimia Nervosa

Background: A relationship between bulimia nervosa (BN) and reward-related behavior is supported by several lines of evidence. The dopaminergic dysfunctions in the processing of reward-related stimuli have been shown to be modulated by the neurotrophin brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and the hormone leptin. Methods: Using a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design, a reward learning task was applied to study the behavior of 20 female subjects with remitted BN (rBN) and 27 female healthy controls under placebo and catecholamine depletion with alpha-methyl-para-tyrosine (AMPT). The plasma levels of BDNF and leptin were measured twice during the placebo and the AMPT condition, immediately before and 1 h after a standardized breakfast. Results: AMPT-induced differences in plasma BDNF levels were positively correlated with the AMPT-induced differences in reward learning in the whole sample (p = 0.05). Across conditions, plasma BDNF levels were higher in rBN subjects compared to controls (diagnosis effect; p = 0.001). Plasma BDNF and leptin levels were higher in the morning before compared to after a standardized breakfast across groups and conditions (time effect; p < 0.0001). The plasma leptin levels were higher under catecholamine depletion compared to placebo in the whole sample (treatment effect; p = 0.0004). Conclusions: This study reports on preliminary findings that suggest a catecholamine-dependent association of plasma BDNF and reward learning in subjects with rBN and controls. A role of leptin in reward learning is not supported by this study. However, leptin levels were sensitive to a depletion of catecholamine stores in both rBN and controls.

Emotions and the Engineering of Adaptiveness in Complex Systems

A major challenge in the engineering of complex and critical systems is the management of change, both in the system and in its operational environment. Due to the growing of complexity in systems, new approaches on autonomy must be able to detect critical changes and avoid their progress towards undesirable states. We are searching for methods to build systems that can tune the adaptability protocols. New mechanisms that use system-wellness requirements to reduce the influence of the outer domain and transfer the control of uncertainly to the inner one. Under the view of cognitive systems, biological emotions suggests a strategy to configure value-based systems to use semantic self-representations of the state. A method inspired by emotion theories to causally connect to the inner domain of the system and its objectives of wellness, focusing on dynamically adapting the system to avoid the progress of critical states. This method shall endow the system with a transversal mechanism to monitor its inner processes, detecting critical states and managing its adaptivity in order to maintain the wellness goals. The paper describes the current vision produced by this work-in-progress.

Emotions and the Engineering of Adaptiveness in Complex Systems

A major challenge in the engineering of complex and critical systems is the management of change, both in the system and in its operational environment. Due to the growing of complexity in systems, new approaches on autonomy must be able to detect critical changes and avoid their progress towards undesirable states. We are searching for methods to build systems that can tune the adaptability protocols. New mechanisms that use system-wellness requirements to reduce the influence of the outer domain and transfer the control of uncertainly to the inner one. Under the view of cognitive systems, biological emotions suggests a strategy to configure value-based systems to use semantic self-representations of the state. A method inspired by emotion theories to causally connect to the inner domain of the system and its objectives of wellness, focusing on dynamically adapting the system to avoid the progress of critical states. This method shall endow the system with a transversal mechanism to monitor its inner processes, detecting critical states and managing its adaptivity in order to maintain the wellness goals. The paper describes the current vision produced by this work-in-progress.

Response-reinforcement learning is dependent on N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor activation in the nucleus accumbens core

The nucleus accumbens, a site within the ventral striatum, is best known for its prominent role in mediating the reinforcing effects of drugs of abuse such as cocaine, alcohol, and nicotine. Indeed, it is generally believed that this structure subserves motivated behaviors, such as feeding, drinking, sexual behavior, and exploratory locomotion, which are elicited by natural rewards or incentive stimuli. A basic rule of positive reinforcement is that motor responses will increase in magnitude and vigor if followed by a rewarding event. It is likely, therefore, that the nucleus accumbens may serve as a substrate for reinforcement learning. However, there is surprisingly little information concerning the neural mechanisms by which appetitive responses are learned. In the present study, we report that treatment of the nucleus accumbens core with the selective competitive N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) antagonist 2-amino-5-phosphonopentanoic acid (AP-5; 5 nmol/0.5 μl bilaterally) impairs response-reinforcement learning in the acquisition of a simple lever-press task to obtain food. Once the rats learned the task, AP-5 had no effect, demonstrating the requirement of NMDA receptor-dependent plasticity in the early stages of learning. Infusion of AP-5 into the accumbens shell produced a much smaller impairment of learning. Additional experiments showed that AP-5 core-treated rats had normal feeding and locomotor responses and were capable of acquiring stimulus-reward associations. We hypothesize that stimulation of NMDA receptors within the accumbens core is a key process through which motor responses become established in response to reinforcing stimuli. Further, this mechanism, may also play a critical role in the motivational and addictive properties of drugs of abuse.

Whither critical pedagogy in the neo-liberal university today? Two UK practitioners' reflections on constraints and possibilities

This paper, based on the reflections of two academic social scientists, offers a starting point for dialogue about the importance of critical pedagogy within the university today, and about the potentially transformative possibilities of higher education more generally. We first explain how the current context of HE, framed through neoliberal restructuring, is reshaping opportunities for alternative forms of education and knowledge production to emerge. We then consider how insights from both critical pedagogy and popular education inform our work in this climate. Against this backdrop, we consider the effects of our efforts to realise the ideals of critical pedagogy in our teaching to date and ask how we might build more productive links between classroom and activist practices. Finally, we suggest that doing so can help facilitate a more fully articulated reconsideration of the meanings, purposes and practices of HE in contemporary society. This paper also includes responses from two educational developers, Janet Strivens and Ranald Macdonald, with the aim of creating a dialogue on the role of critical pedagogy in higher education.

Increasing Informal Learning Opportunities for Teachers in the School Setting

This paper comprehensively defines how to implement informal learning strategies into the classroom setting using Marsick and Watkins’s Incidental Learning Model (2001). Existing barriers that stand between educators and informal learning in the school setting are explained. Implications for removing said inhibitors while increasing learning are explicated.

Study of the impact federated erubrics on assessing competences in the practicum

Presentation Research of the Practicum and externships has a long history and involves important aspects for analysis. For example, the recent changes taking place in university grades allot more credits to the Practicum course in all grades, and the Company-University collaboration has exposed the need to study in new learning environments. The rise of ICT practices like ePortfolios, which require technological solutions and methods supported by experimentation, study and research, require particular examination due to the dynamic momentum of technological innovation. Tutoring the Practicum and externships requires remote monitoring and communication using ePortfolios, and competence-based assessment and students’ requirement to provide evidence of learning require the best tutoring methods available with ePortfolios. Among the elements of ePortfolios, eRubrics emerge as a tool for design, communication and competence-assessment. This project aims to consolidate a research line on eRubrics, already undertaken by another project -I+D+i [EDU2010-15432]- in order to expand the network of researchers and Centres of Excellence in Spain and other countries: Harvard University in USA, University of Cologne in Germany, University of Colima in Mexico, Federal University of Parana, University of Santa Catarina in Brasil, and Stockholm University in Sweden(1). This new project [EDU2013-41974-P](2) examines the impact of eRubrics on tutoring and on assessing the Practicum course and externships. Through technology, distance tutoring grants an extra dimension to human communication. New forms of teaching with technological mediation are on the rise and are highly valuable, not only for formal education but especially in both public and private sectors of non-formal education, such as occupational training, unemployed education and public servant training. Objectives Obj. 1. To analyse models of technology used in assessing learning in the Practicum of all grades at Spanish Faculties of Education. Obj. 2. To study models of learning assessment measured by eRubrics in the Practicum. Obj. 3. To analyse communication through eRubrics between students and their tutors at university and practice centres, focusing on students’ understanding of competences and evidences to be assessed in the Practicum. Obj. 4. To design assessment services and products, in order to federate companies and practice centres with training institutions. Among many other features, it has the following functions CoRubric(3) 1. The possibility to assess people, products or services by using rubrics. 2. Ipsative assessment. 3. Designing fully flexible rubrics. 4. Drafting reports and exporting results from eRubrics in a project. 5. Students and teachers talk about the evaluation and application of the criteria Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used The project will use techniques to collect and analyse data from two methodological approaches: 1. In order to meet the first objective, we suggest an initial exploratory descriptive study (Buendía Eisman, Colás Bravo & Hernández Pina, 1998), which involves conducting interviews with Practicum coordinators from all educational grades across Spain, as well as analysing the contents of the teaching guides used in all educational grades across Spain. 55 academic managers were interviewed from about 10 faculties of education in public universities in Spain (20%), and course guides 376 universities from 36 public institutions in Spain (72%) are analyzed. 2. In order to satisfy the second objective, 7 universities have been selected to implement the project two instruments aimed at tutors practice centers and tutors of the faculty. All instruments for collecting data were validated by experts using the Delphi method. The selection of experts had three aspects: years of professional experience, number and quality of publications in the field (Practicum, Educational Technology and Teacher Training), and self-rating of their knowledge. The resulting data was calculated using the Coefficient of Competence (Kcomp) (Martínez, Zúñiga, Sala & Meléndez, 2012). Results in all cases showed an average experience of more than 0.09 points. The two instruments of the first objective were validated during the first half of 2014-15 year, data collected during the second half. And the second objective during the first half of 2015-16 year and data collection for the second half. The set of four instruments (two for each objective 1 and 2) have the same dimensions as each of the sources (Coordinators, course guides, tutors of practice centers and faculty) as they were: a. Institution-Organization, b. Nature of internships, c. Relationship between agents, d. Management Practicum, e. Assessment. F. Technological support, g. Training and h. Assessment Ethics. Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings The first results respond to Objective 1, where we find different conclusions depending on each of the six dimensions. In the case of internal regulations governing the organization and structure of the practicum, we note that most traditional degrees (Elementary and Primary grades) share common internal rules, in particular development methodology and criteria against other grades (Pedagogy and Social Education ). It is also true that the centers of practices in last cases are very different from each other and can be a public institution, a school, a company, a museum, etc. The memory with a 56.34% and 43.67% daily activities are more demands on students in all degrees, Lesson plans 28.18% 19.72% Portfolio 26.7% Didactic units and Others 32,4%. The technical support has been mainly used the platform of the University 47.89% and 57.75% Email, followed by other services and tools 9.86% and rubric platforms 1.41%. The assessment criteria are divided between formal aspects of 12.38%, Written expresión 12.38%, treatment of the subject 14.45%, methodological rigor of work 10.32%, and Level of argument Clarity and relevance of conclusions 10.32%. In general terms, we could say that there is a trend and debate between formative assessment against a accreditation. It has not yet had sufficient time to further study and confront other dimensions and sources of information. We hope to provide more analysis and conclusions in the conference date.

Motivation and relationship of the student with the school as factors involved in the perceived learning

Motivation should be seen as a very important factor in the learning process. The motivated student has the inner strength to learn, to discover and capitalize on capabilities, to improve academic performance and to adapt to the demands of the school context. Contextual factors like the psychological sense of school membership may be also especially important to students’ classroom engagement, their motivation and learning success. So with this study we intend to examine how the sense of school belonging and intrinsic motivation influences perceived learning.A structural model reveals that the negative sense of school belonging has a negative impact on intrinsic motivation and on perceived learning. In turn, intrinsic motivation positively and significantly influences perceived learning in the course.

Rethinking the notion of culture in the national history curriculum

Major global changes are placing new demands on the Australian education system. Recent statements by the Prime Minister, together with current education policy and national curriculum documents available in the public domain, look to education’s role in promoting economic prosperity and social cohesion. Collectively, they emphasise the need to equip young Australians with the knowledge, understandings and skills required to compete in the global economy and participate as engaged citizens in a culturally diverse world. However, the decision to prioritise discipline-based learning in the forthcoming Australian history curriculum without specifically encompassing culture as a referent, raises the following question. How will students acquire the cultural knowledge, understandings and skills necessary for this process? This paper addresses this question by situating the current push for a national history curriculum, with specific reference to the study of Indigenous history and the study of Asia in Australia.

Assessing and learning in internships: Reflecting on pedagogy and progress

An elective internship unit as part of a work integrated learning program in a business faculty is presented as a case study. In the unit, students complete a minimum of 120 hours work placement over the course of a 13 week semester. The students are majoring in advertising, marketing, or public relations and are placed in corporations, government agencies, and not for profit organisations. To support and scaffold the students’ learning in the work environment, a range of classroom and online learning activities are part of the unit. Classroom activities include an introductory workshop to prepare students for placement, an industry panel, and interview workshop. These are delivered as three workshops across the semester. Prior to commencing their placement, students complete a suite of online learning modules. The Work Placement Preparation Program assists students in securing obtaining a placement and make a successful transition to the work environment. It provides an opportunity for students to source possible work placement sites, prepare competitive applications, develop and rehearse interview skills, deal with workplace issues, and use a student ePortfolio to reflect on their skills and achievements. Students contribute to a reflective blog throughout their placement, with feedback from academic supervisors throughout the placement. The completion of the online learning modules and contribution to a reflective blog are assessed as part of the unit. Other assessment tools include a internship plan and learning contract between the student, industry supervisor, and academic supervisor; job application including responses to selection criteria; and presentation to peers, academics and industry representatives at a poster session. The paper discusses the development of the internship unit over three years, particularly learning activities and assessment. The reflection and refinement of the unit is informed by a pedagogical framework, and the development of processes to best manage placement for all stakeholders. A model of best practice is proposed, that can be adapted to a variety of discipline areas.