416 research outputs found
Peer review of teaching and the TEF – We need more than a tick-box exercise to improve the quality of teaching.
No full textImproving teaching in universities is a worthy aim, but how will the Teaching Excellence Framework recognise and reward quality? Marty Chamberlain looks at how teaching is currently assessed. Peer review of teaching tends to operate superficially when it is decoupled from formal staff development and employee feedback processes. Further complicating matters, in professions underpinned by tacit knowledge, experts tend to rely on personal and often idiosyncratic judgements about competency
Ensuring the criminological skills of the next generation: a case study on the importance of enhanced quantitative method teaching provision
No full textAgainst the backdrop of contemporary debates surrounding the public role of criminology, this paper argues that a key barrier to ensuring that the next generation of criminologists are equipped with the skills necessary to engage in critical forms of citizenship, is the quantitative ‘skills-gap’ which undergraduate students possess as a consequence of the low curriculum profile afforded to numerically-informed forms of criminological practice. This paper presents new empirical evidence examining students’ statistical anxiety, which reinforces the need to increase their exposure to quantitative method teaching. It concludes that pedagogic change is necessary if we are also to address associated broader concerns about the future direction and rigour of the discipline
Performance appraisal for doctors: A case of paperwork compliance
Get PDFThis paper discusses the findings of research exploring the conduct of portfolio-based performance appraisal within medicine. Portfolios are now used throughout medical school and junior doctor training, in later specialist training, as well as to support the implementation of annual NHS appraisal of doctors as part of their employment contract. They will also play a role in the new medical governance quality assurance process known as revalidation, when it is implemented in 2010. The paper discusses how the growth of portfolio-based performance appraisal within medicine is bound up with the growth of managerial systems of surveillance and control within western health care systems. Theoretically, it draws upon a Governmentality perspective to analyse doctor's accounts of the appraisal process. This views appraisal as an information panopticon that to better enable social control seeks to construct appraisees as calculable and administrable subjects. However, the paper highlights how the doctors interviewed used the tacit dimensions of their expertise to engage in creative game-playing toward appraisal, adopting a stance of paperwork compliance toward it. Paperwork compliance leaves a paper trail that makes it appear doctors have complied with the technical requirements of performance appraisal when in fact they have not. The paper concludes that current reforms to medical governance introduced to ensure the general public is protected from medical error and malpractice, provide sociologists with an invaluable opportunity to undertake a dedicated research program into the performance management of medical work
The hearing of fitness to practice cases by the General Medical Council: current trends and future research agendas
Get PDFOver the last three decades a risk-based model of medical regulation has emerged in the United Kingdom. To promote a risk-averse operational culture of transparency and professional accountability the regulatory state has intervened in medical governance and introduced best-evidenced practice frameworks, audit and performance appraisal. Against this background the paper analyses descriptive statistical data pertaining to the General Medical Council's management of the process by which fitness to practice complaints against doctors are dealt with from initial receipt through to subsequent investigative and adjudication stages. Statistical trends are outlined regarding complaint data in relation to a doctor's gender, race and ethnicity. The data shows that there has been an increase in rehabilitative and/or punitive action against doctors. In light of its findings the paper considers what the long-term consequences may be, for both patients and doctors, of the increasing use of risk-averse administrative systems to reform medical regulation and ensure professional accountability
The sociology of medical regulation: an introduction
No full textThis book provides a comprehensive examination of the complex issues surrounding the regulation of the medical profession. It offers up-to-date information on the current legislative framework and institutional arrangements surrounding the regulation in the United Kingdom. Well organized and written in an accessible way, it offers an insight into key sociological theories surrounding medical regulation. It gives a historically situated analysis of the contemporary relationship between medicine, the state and the public, and an overview of relevant social scientific research. Case studies highlight the practical or applied circumstances in which issues can occur. Readers will gain insight into possible future directions for medical governance
Understanding criminological research: a guide to data analysis
No full textCriminological research lies at the heart of criminological theory, influences social policy development, as well as informs criminal justice practice. The ability to collect, analyse and present empirical data is a core skill every student of criminology must learn. Written as an engaging step-by-step guide and illustrated by detailed case studies, this book guides the reader in how to analyse criminological data. Key features of the book include:o Guidance on how to identify a research topic, designing a research study, accounting for the role of the researcher and writing up and presenting research findings. o A thorough account of the development of qualitative and quantitative research methodologies and data analysis within the field of criminology. o Relevant and up-to-date case studies, drawn from internationally published criminological research sources.o Clear and accessible chapter content supported by helpful introductions, concise summaries, self-study questions and suggestions for further reading.Understanding Criminological Research: A Guide to Data Analysis in invaluable reading for both undergraduate and postgraduate students in criminology and criminal justic
Medical regulation, fitness to practice and revalidation: a critical introduction
Get PDFMedical sociology has long been concerned with the role played by specialist forms of expertise in enabling the governance of ‘troublesome’ social groups – including those who are unwell, ‘deviant’ and criminally insane. However, only recently has it begun to explore how the state ensures the public is protected from acts of medical malpractice, negligence and criminality. Against the background of a series of high-profile scandals, including the case of Dr Harold Shipman who murdered over 200 of his patients, this topical and authoritative book examines how the regulation of doctors has been modernised by reforms to the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service and the introduction of the quality assurance process of medical revalidation. In doing so, it questions whether there is evidence to support the argument that revalidation serves the public interest by ensuring that individual doctors are fit to practise. Highlighting areas of good practice and areas for further research and development, the book is ideal for academics and postgraduates interested in medical sociology, socio-legal studies, medical law, medical education, health policy and related subjects
Marty on the Edge
Get PDFMarty Kaden can fly. A champion Taekwondoist with serious hopes and a good chance of making the United States team, propelling him all the way to the Olympic Games one day, he takes his chosen martial art seriously. Trouble looms on the horizon, however, and soon brings Marty down to Earth. After suffering defeat at the hands of an arch-rival, Marty spins out of control. Worse, his master instructor disappears under what Marty believes are mysterious circumstances. Yet no one will take him seriously—the police, his mother, his master\u27s assistant. None of them shares his concern. Marty\u27s despair sends him on a wild journey that threatens his life and his dream.
Watching her son suffer, his mother, Sarah, who hides a terrible secret about the tragic death of Marty\u27s father, finally joins forces with her estranged son. This leads the two on yet another journey, fraught with hope and despair, but ultimately pulls the two closer together.
Marty was written for young adult males, those who enjoy action novels, yet anyone of any age can find truths in the plight of a single mother and her 15-year-old son struggling to make it in a world gone mad.
The comprehensive introduction covers the process of the writing of the novel, the author\u27s background and a survey of literature important to the subgenre of boys\u27 action novels and novels outside the genre, including a book from the Harry Potter series, as well as books on the craft of fiction writing. Among others, these include Earnest Hemingway\u27s Death in the Afternoon and Eudora Welty\u27s One Writer\u27s Beginnings, both books on writing and fine embodiments of their own advice
Medicine, Risk, Discourse and Power
Get PDFThis book critically explores from a comparative international perspective the role medicine plays in constructing and managing natural and social risks, including those belonging to modern medical technology and expertise. Drawing together chapters written by professional practitioners and social scientists from the UK, South America, Australia and Europe, the book offers readers an insightful and thought-provoking analysis of how modern medicine has transformed our understanding of both ourselves and the world around us, but in so doing has arguably failed to fully recognize and account for, its unintended and negative effects. This is an essential read for social scientists, practitioners and policymakers who want to better understand how they can develop new ways of thinking about how modern medicine can promote social goods and enhance public health
- …
