Coventry University: E-Journals
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Building Up to Collaboration: Evidence on Using Wikis to Scaffold Academic Writing
Get PDF Use of a wiki tool as a space for collaborative writing may be an effective way to expand the practice of academic writing, where working in groups to produce a collective text is a common occurrence in higher education. Evidence suggests wikis to be flexible tools which may improve collaboration and provide students with new skills. However, some research has shown that collaboration in wikis may be superficial and that their use may lead to increased workload for students and instructors. Because a great deal of academic writing is accomplished in groups, helping students build their collaborative writing skills is an important academic writing endeavor. This article provides evidence revealing both the potential of wikis to foster collaborative writing and important factors to consider before incorporating a wiki into an academic writing course. Scaffolding tasks to build up to cooperative group writing and introducing new ideas regarding text ownership can make wikis an effective space to practice academic writing. Weighing the evidence provided in this article may help instructors determine whether incorporating a wiki in their own context could constitute an additional space for students to develop their academic writing skills.
Editorial: Selected Papers from the 8th Conference of the European Association for the Teaching of Academic Writing, Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia, June 2015
Get PDFWhat is the Impact of Feedback as a Central Part of Formative Assessment on Physiotherapy Students Who Have Multiple Educators?
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to gain insight into physiotherapy students experience of feedback as an integral part of formative assessment on placements. A purposive sample of nine physiotherapy students from a pre-registration problem-based learning programme and four physiotherapy practice-based educators was selected. An interpretative phenomenological approach was adopted using in depth semi-structured interviews. Reflective logs and theme boards (memory collages) were used to promote student participants reflection prior to interview. Five main themes emerged from the data: feeling overloaded, challenges of multiple educators, problem-based learning influences, fulfilling experiences, learning through relationships. This paper will focus on two of the main themes:* challenges of multiple physiotherapy educators,* learning through relationships.Lack of communication between educators in a multiple physiotherapy educator model resulted in conflicting feedback that was challenging for students on placement. However, participants valued feedback from other health professionals. Potential exists for more effective use of interprofessional team members to provide feedback as part of ongoing formative assessment. In a changing practice environment where practice educators inevitably face increasing time constraints, use of other team members and peers to provide student feedback should be promoted to facilitate interprofessional ways of working
‘Stepping Out’: Enabling Community Access to Green Space through Inter-disciplinary Practice Learning in Plymouth, UK
Get PDFThis paper presents a small-scale action research study of public health nursing and social work students’ practice-based learning. The study aimed to identify collaborative opportunities to improve access to green space for community residents in Plymouth, in the United Kingdom (UK). The student experience was nested within ‘Stepping Stones to Nature’ (SS2N), a city-wide initiative enabling local residents’ access to green space. A local health impact assessment (HIA) provided an over-arching partnership framework. The pedagogical aim was for students to learn and work together to make a real contribution to people’s lives. This innovation was enabled through the Plymouth University’s Teaching and Learning Strategy (2009–2012) and the Social Work programmes established structures for student’s learning in Community Development Projects (CDP). Through the action research methodology, we explored the potential for community development as a framework for inter-disciplinary learning. Our findings suggest that an inter-disciplinary pedagogy emerges through a community development framework for students’ practice-basedlearning.Inter-disciplinary learning was achieved through student-centred learning networks; a key shared concept was ‘Wellbeing and Sustainability’. Within this new practice-based context student learning is tenuously situated, yet positively achieved. Through changing health and social behaviours, student participation demonstrates: a) professional knowledge and skills, b) collaborative working, and c) change agency. SS2N partnerships enabled student’s evidence-based practice and highlighted that a student’s individual relationship to green space was critical to their engagement. Pedagogy that places inter-disciplinary practice learning at the core of teaching and learning about sustainability, environment and access to green space is indicated, alongside collaborative working to enable students to actively contribute to reducing health inequalities
Using a Self-assessment Wheel to Facilitate Reflection
Get PDFAs a life coach I have modified a commonly utilised tool – the Wheel of Life (Whitworth, L., Kimsey-House, H. and Davies, S. Co-active Coaching. Palo Alto, Ca: Davies-Black, 1998) and developed a self-assessment wheel. The purpose of this paper is to share my experience of developing and using the self-assessment wheel to facilitate reflection amongst practice educators.Reflective practice is an important skill to master and often the challenge for many practitioners is where to start and how to develop the necessary skills in order to reflect in a meaningful way.By discussing the link between self-assessment and reflection it is proposed that the self-assessment wheel it can help practitioners to overcome their reticence to begin the reflective process. Links are made throughout the paper with other reflective models and the flexibility of the tool is discussed alongside potential uses for the future
Professional Confidence: A Powerful Enabling Mechanism in the Transition to Becoming a Specialist RN: Qualitative Findings from a Mixed Method Study
Get PDFAlthough the seminal work of Patricia Benner’s Novice to Expert clearly identifies the five levels of nursing practice, there is a paucity of research on the learning and transitional processes that occur between these levels. The objective of this paper is to explore the transition to Specialist Registered Nurse (RN) in the learning and professional context. The study utilises a concurrent nested design based on complementarity strategies as part of the mixed method design. The study was undertaken in a large tertiary hospital setting in Australia. Participants were RNs undertaking postgraduate specialist nursing courses (n = 39) with a nested cohort of Intensive Care Nursing Course participants (n = 7). The quantitative component investigated the influence of learner attributes (e.g. approach to learning, strategic control of study and self-efficacy) on the participants’ academic learning outcomes. Questionnaires were distributed to RNs on all specialist courses (n = 39). The qualitative component utilised a case study approach to explore and explain the learning and transitional experiences of the Intensive Care Nursing Course participants. The paper reports the key findings from the qualitative component of this study. The transition from RN to Specialist RN involved a qualitative cognitive shift in thinking, the development of competence and transformation in the level of nursing practice. Additional learning and cultural phenomena assisted the RNs’ patterns of learning and knowledge acquisition. The emergence of ‘professional confidence’ was at the heart of the learning and transitional process from a competent to proficient level of nursing practice (specialist RN). ‘Professional confidence’ emerged as an outcome and a property of learning in the professional context. ‘Professional confidence’ is a powerful enabling mechanism in the transition to become a Specialist RN. There are several implications for nursing and nursing education derived from this study
Telesupervision Benefits for Placements: Allied Health Students’ and Supervisors’ Perceptions
Get PDFTelesupervision (TS) uses Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for communication between university-based staff, clinical supervisors and students undertaking placements in the presence or absence of a clinical supervisor onsite. Despite examples of successful implementation (Carlin 2012, Chipchase et al. 2014, Dudding and Justice 2004, Hall 2013) there has been minimal uptake of TS in allied health. This study investigated students’ and clinical educators’ perceptions of the potential benefits and barriers of TS using readily accessible ICT during placements. During 2014-2015, telesupervision/telesupport was provided to a total of 54 Undergraduate and Graduate Entry Masters students from Speech Language Pathology (SLP), Occupational therapy (OT) and Physical therapy (PT) programs at one Australian and two Canadian universities and Exercise Physiology (EP) students at the Australian university. After receipt of TS, 39 students completed an online survey. Nine participating university-based clinical education coordinators (CECs) were interviewed about their experiences. Survey data were analysed using descriptive statistics and interview data were analysed using thematic analysis. Students valued regular TS contact/communication with their CEC to discuss challenges that arose during their placements. CECs believed students benefitted from the opportunities to discuss their placement experiences through TS sessions used for direct supervision and/or for complementing onsite supervision. Students used TS sessions to debrief and reflect on their placement experiences. CECs gained a better understanding of the students’ placement experiences. TS has the potential to develop greater connection between students and CECs and enhance student and supervisor experience of clinical education
Writing Centres as the Driving Force of Programme Development: From Add-on Writing Courses to Content and Literacy Integrated Teaching
Get PDFAcademic writing courses and subject-matter courses have been taught independently to a large extent at many European universities following a ‘study skills model’ (Lea and Street 1998). An integrated approach, however, both in students’ L1 (or their language of instruction) and in English (if this is not their L1), in accordance with Lea and Street’s ‘academic literacies model’ has a number of advantages. Introducing an academic literacies model, however, is difficult to implement since it requires the joint effort of both subject-domain teachers and language teachers and involves deviating from familiar teaching methods. To implement the changes required, a three-level approach has been developed at Justus Liebig University (JLU), Giessen/Germany, as one of several measures in a university-wide project. In this approach, the university’s writing centre and teaching centre take over the role of ‘motors’ of literacy development in all disciplines. The macro-level of this three-level approach encompasses central services provided by these centres as well as university-wide literacy development policies. The meso-level addresses programme development, and the micro-level, curriculum and syllabus adaptations for individual courses. The article provides insight into the measures to be taken at each of these levels based on a review of prior research on Integrating Content and Language in Higher Education (ICLHE) (Gustafsson 2011, Gustafsson and Jacobs 2013 and Wilkinson and Walsh 2015) and the central role that writing centres and teaching centres can play in this process
Using Student Lived Experience to Test the Theoretical basis of Work-based Learning
Get PDFThis paper draws on findings from a hermeneutic phenomenological study to identify whether a mismatch exists between the theoretical foundation of work-based learning and how work-based learning is experienced by work-based learners.Four models of work-based learning were compared against the lived experiences of former students who had been healthcare assistants (HCAs) working in acute clinical settings and employed within a large NHS hospital. All had completed a two-year Foundation degree in Health and Social Care (FdSc) course in preparation for becoming assistant practitioners (AP). Findings from interviews with participants were compared and contrasted with four models of work-based learning.While all four models capture the profoundly social nature of work-based learning, none of the models captured the challenge faced by Foundation degree student participants in making the transition from being a healthcare assistant and becoming a work-based learner to becoming an assistant practitioner. This finding was particularly significant to the lived experience of all participants in this study as the assistant practitioner role was completely new to workplace mentors, their departments and the NHS hospital Trust in which the research was undertaken.This paper suggests that there may be a gap in the literature in respect of a new model of work-based learning that captures the nature of work-based learning within clinical environments. Such a model might act as a differentiator between practice-based and work-based learning