Teaching (about) Britishness? An investigation into trainee teachers' understanding of Britishness in relation to citizenship and the discourse of civic nationalism

This research was prompted by the developing political discourse proposing the teaching of Britishness and British values in the context of the United Kingdom. This discourse will be reviewed in the first part of the article, in the context of previous work which has sought to assess how Britishness and related concepts might be promoted through education. The second part will be based on questionnaire responses from a sample of students following post-graduate initial teacher training programmes in a number of higher education partnerships. It indicates that, while political discourse and educational policy have sensitised trainee teachers to the agenda, there remains a deep uncertainty and misgiving about this as an educational objective.

An Innovative teaching tool for students is it Appropriate?

Background: Clinical supervision takes place once the newly qualified nurse is employed in clinical practice. However, often the variety and diversity of nursing jobs can result in a hit and miss delivery of supervision training. By introducing training uniformly at undergraduate stage a more seamless transition may occur (McColgan K, Rice C. 2012).

There is an increased interest in higher education in the use of online learning resources for students. As part completion of a DNP an App. for training students in clinical supervision was developed.

Aim: The creation of a clinical supervision training App. for use in undergraduate nursing.

Objectives:
•To develop a teaching tool that is up to date, current and easily accessible to students.
•To introduce supervision training for undergraduate nursing students
•To motivate the undergraduate nursing student to identify examples from their clinical experience to encourage change and promote professional development.

Approach:
Stage 1
In 2010/11 informal inquiries with senior nurses regarding the introduction of supervision training in undergraduate nursing
Stage 2
A review of UK supervision training.
Stage 3
Template production of teaching tool.
Stage 4
Collaboration with a computer technician to transfer multimedia outputs onto an App.
Stage 5
App. piloted with lecturers (n=4) and post registration students (n=20).
Stage 6
Minor alterations made to App. design template
Stage 7
App. included in an experimental study looking at online learning versus blended learning June 2013 (n=61, n=63)

Conclusion: A collaborative approach to the development of any educational programme is essential to ensure the success of the final teaching product (McCutcheon 2013). The end result is that this App. could be:
•Made available to nurses in the UK.
•Adapted to suit other healthcare professionals and students.
•Used as a prototype for other healthcare related subjects.

McColgan K., Rice C. (2012) An online training resource for clinical supervision. Nursing Standard, 26(24) 35-39.
McCutcheon K. (2013) Development of a multi-media book for clinical supervision training in an undergraduate nursing programme. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 3(5) 31-38.

Evaluation of the contribution of theatre attendance to medical undergraduate neuroscience teaching - a pilot study.

Introduction: Medical students often attend the neurosurgical theatre during their clinical neurosciences attachment. However, few studies have been performed to objectively assess the value of this theatre-based learning experience. The main aim of this study was to explore student perceptions on the contribution of neurosurgical theatre attendance to clinical neuroscience teaching.

Materials and Methods: Third-year medical students undergoing their 2-week clinical neurosciences rotation at the Royal Hospitals Belfast were invited to participate in this study. A multi-method strategy was employed using a survey questionnaire comprising of closed and open-ended questions followed by semi-structured interviews to gain a greater 'in-depth' analysis of the potential contribution of neurosurgical theatre attendance to neuroscience teaching.

Results: Based on the completed survey responses of 22 students, the overall experience of neurosurgical theatre-based learning was a positive one. 'In-depth' analysis from semi-structured interviews indicated that students felt that some aspects of their neurosurgical theatre attendance could be improved. Better preparation such as reading up on the case in hand and an introduction to simple theatre etiquette to put the student at ease (in particular, for students who had never attended theatre previously), would improve the learning experience. In addition, having an expectation of what students are expected to learn in theatre making it more learning outcomes-based would probably make it feel a more positive experience by the student.

Conclusions: The vast majority of students acknowledged the positive learning outcomes of neurosurgical theatre attendance and felt that it should be made a mandatory component of the curriculum.

What Are the Effects of Teaching Evidence-Based Health Care (EBHC)? Overview of Systematic Reviews

Background

An evidence-based approach to health care is recognized internationally as a key competency for healthcare practitioners. This overview systematically evaluated and organized evidence from systematic reviews on teaching evidence-based health care (EBHC).

Methods/Findings

We searched for systematic reviews evaluating interventions for teaching EBHC to health professionals compared to no intervention or different strategies. Outcomes covered EBHC knowledge, skills, attitudes, practices and health outcomes. Comprehensive searches were conducted in April 2013. Two reviewers independently selected eligible reviews, extracted data and evaluated methodological quality. We included 16 systematic reviews, published between 1993 and 2013. There was considerable overlap across reviews. We found that 171 source studies included in the reviews related to 81 separate studies, of which 37 are in more than one review. Studies used various methodologies to evaluate educational interventions of varying content, format and duration in undergraduates, interns, residents and practicing health professionals. The evidence in the reviews showed that multifaceted, clinically integrated interventions, with assessment, led to improvements in knowledge, skills and attitudes. Interventions improved critical appraisal skills and integration of results into decisions, and improved knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviour amongst practicing health professionals. Considering single interventions, EBHC knowledge and attitude were similar for lecture-based versus online teaching. Journal clubs appeared to increase clinical epidemiology and biostatistics knowledge and reading behavior, but not appraisal skills. EBHC courses improved appraisal skills and knowledge. Amongst practicing health professionals, interactive online courses with guided critical appraisal showed significant increase in knowledge and appraisal skills. A short workshop using problem-based approaches, compared to no intervention, increased knowledge but not appraisal skills.

Conclusions

EBHC teaching and learning strategies should focus on implementing multifaceted, clinically integrated approaches with assessment. Future rigorous research should evaluate minimum components for multifaceted interventions, assessment of medium to long-term outcomes, and implementation of these interventions.

Teaching the physiology of adaptation to hypoxic stress with the aid of a classic paper on high altitude by Houston and Riley

Many pathological conditions exist where tissues exhibit hypoxia or low oxygen tension. Hypoxic hypoxia arises when there is a reduction in the amount of oxygen entering the blood and occurs in healthy people at high altitude. In 1946, research sponsored by the United States Navy led to the collection and subsequent publication of masses of data demonstrating the physiological consequences and adaptations of ascent to high altitude. This article describes how a figure from a 1947 paper from the American Physiological Society Legacy collection (Houston CS, Riley RL. Respiratory and circulatory changes during acclimatization to high altitude. Am J Physiol 149: 565-588) may be used to allow students to review their understanding of some of the generalized effects of hypoxia on the body. In particular, this figure summarizes some of the adaptive responses that take place in the oxygen transport system as a consequence of prolonged hypoxia.