Hypothesis Formation and Evaluation in Medical Diagnosis

This thesis describes some aspects of a computer system for doing medical diagnosis in the specialized field of kidney disease. Because such a system faces the spectre of combinatorial explosion, this discussion concentrates on heuristics which control the number of concurrent hypotheses and efficient "compiled" representations of medical knowledge. In particular, the differential diagnosis of hematuria (blood in the urine) is discussed in detail. A protocol of a simulated doctor/patient interaction is presented and analyzed to determine the crucial structures and processes involved in the diagnosis procedure. The data structure proposed for representing medical information revolves around elementary hypotheses which are activated when certain disposing of findings, activating hypotheses, evaluating hypotheses locally and combining hypotheses globally is examined for its heuristic implications. The thesis attempts to fit the problem of medical diagnosis into the framework of other Artifcial Intelligence problems and paradigms and in particular explores the notions of pure search vs. heuristic methods, linearity and interaction, local vs. global knowledge and the structure of hypotheses within the world of kidney disease.

Reflective writing: The student nurse's perspective on reflective writing and poetry writing.

Summary Background Reflective writing is a mandatory part of nurse education but how students develop their skills and use reflection as part of their experiential learning remains relatively unknown. Understanding reflective writing in all forms from the perspective of a student nurse is therefore important. Objectives To explore the use of reflective writing and the use of poetry in pre-registered nursing students. Design A qualitative design was employed to explore reflective writing in pre-registered nursing students. Setting A small university in Scotland. Participants BSc (Hons) Adult and Mental Health Pre-registration Student Nurses. Methods Two focus groups were conducted with 10 student nurses during March 2012. Data was analysed thematically using the framework of McCarthy (1999). Results Students found the process of reflective writing daunting but valued it over time. Current educational methods, such as assessing reflective accounts, often lead to the ‘narrative’ being watered down and the student feeling judged. Despite this, reflection made students feel responsible for their own learning and research on the topic. Some students felt the use of models of reflection constricting, whilst poetry freed up their expression allowing them to demonstrate the compassion for their patient under their care. Conclusions Poetry writing gives students the opportunity for freedom of expression, personal satisfaction and a closer connection with their patients, which the more formal approach to reflective writing did not offer. There is a need for students to have a safe and supportive forum in which to express and have their experiences acknowledged without the fear of being judged.

Marking and providing feedback face-to-face: staff and student perspectives.

The setting, marking and providing feedback on assessments forms an important part of a tutor’s role. Studies into the use of feedback and how it is interpreted by students indicate a mismatch between what students are looking for and what tutors think they are giving. Tutors comment that students are more interested in the mark than the feedback, and yet students indicate that they do not get enough feedback, or that it is not useful. This study investigates student and staff perceptions of the linking of marking and feedback in face-to-face sessions. A cohort of year one university students were given the option of receiving either written feedback or a 15 minute meeting with one of their tutors to have their essay marked with them. Forty nine students chose face-to-face marking, the remaining 35 students received written feedback. Focus groups were used to investigate the student experience. Staff members were also asked to reflect on the process. Students and staff found the experience of face-to-face marking beneficial and positive. Both felt that the time spent together allowed for a feedback dialogue about the piece of work, and that staff could explain and justify why marks were given.

Student use of electronic information services in further education

Urquhart,C., Thomas, R., Spink, S., Fenton, R., Yeoman, A., Lonsdale, R., Armstrong, C., Banwell, L., Ray, K., Coulson, G. & Rowley, J. (2005). Student use of electronic information services in further education. International Journal of Information Management, 25(4), 347-362. Sponsorship: JISC

Comparing Student Software Designs Using Semantic Categorization

Eckerdal, A. McCartney, R. Mostr?m, J.E. Ratcliffe, M. Zander, C. Comparing Student Software Designs Using Semantic Categorization. Proceedings of the Fifth Finnish/Baltic Sea Conference on Computer Science Education, 2005

Understanding student information behavior in relation to electronic information services: lessons from longitudinal monitoring and evaluation Part 1

Rowley, J.& Urquhart, C. (2007). Understanding student information behavior in relation to electronic information services: lessons from longitudinal monitoring and evaluation Part 1. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 58(8), 1162-1174. Sponsorship: JISC

Understanding student information behavior in relation to electronic information services: lessons from longitudinal monitoring and evaluation Part 2

Urquhart, C. & Rowley, J. (2007). Understanding student information behavior in relation to electronic information services: lessons from longitudinal monitoring and evaluation Part 2. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 58(8), 1188-1197. Sponsorship: JISC

Data-driven fuzzy rule generation and its application for student academic performance evaluation

K. Rasmani and Q. Shen. Data-driven fuzzy rule generation and its application for student academic performance evaluation. Applied Intelligence, 25(3):305-319, 2006.

Subsethood-based Fuzzy Rule Models and their Application to Student Performance

K. Rasmani and Q. Shen. Subsethood-based Fuzzy Rule Models and their Application to Student Performance Classification. Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Fuzzy Systems, pages 755-760, 2005.

Through the eyes of instructors: a phenomenographic investigation of student success

Kinnunen, P., McCartney, R., Murphy, L., and Thomas, L. 2007. Through the eyes of instructors: a phenomenographic investigation of student success. In Proceedings of the Third international Workshop on Computing Education Research (Atlanta, Georgia, USA, September 15 - 16, 2007). ICER '07. ACM, New York, NY, 61-72.

Intention and Causation in Medical Non-Killing: The impact of criminal law concepts on euthanasia and assisted suicide

null RAE2008

Mount Vernon Student Association

A collection of materials concerning the Mount Vernon Student Association during 1967-1969 maintained by the School of Theology Library and Archives.

By the equator's snowy peak a record of medical missionary work and travel in British East Africa by E May Crawford

http://www.archive.org/details/equatorssnowype00crawuoft

World-wide evangelization the urgent business of the church; addresses delivered before the fourth international convention of the Student volunteer movement for foreign missions, Toronto, Canada, February 26-March 2, 1902.

http://www.archive.org/details/worldwideevangel00unknuoft

How far to the nearest doctor? Stories of medical missions around the world, by Edward M. Dodd.

http://www.archive.org/details/howfartotheneare012020mbp