Developing an App to aid decision-making about pharmacy over-the-counter consultations
Background/introduction:
A fundamental role of the community pharmacist involves recommending over-the-counter (OTC) medicines. As this market grows, pharmacists have greater scope to manage more conditions but also added responsibility to demonstrate they are competent healthcare professionals who deliver high quality, evidence-based care yet doubts have been cast about such advice provided. We therefore aimed to develop an app about OTC pharmacy consultations (to aid with clinical decision-making) thereby advancing pharmaceutical education for both professional and public benefit. There are no similar apps available. While information is published by providers such as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and in textbooks, it is not specifically tailored for pharmacy use or quickly goes out of date following changes in practice.
Methods:
Initially, external funding was secured; this was achieved in May 2016. Secondly, we liaised with BlueMonkee Digital to design the app. In terms of content, we wanted to provide users i.e. pharmacists, pre-registration trainees, pharmacy students and pharmacy counter staff with information on common ailments (clinical features, typical timeframe, and referral criteria) and give appropriate evidence-based management (pharmacological and non-pharmacological measures). The literature was appraised for pertinent information relating to each condition (n=72 conditions). Several colleagues and pharmacy graduates peer reviewed the app and provided feedback.
Results/conclusion:
The app was published via Apple and Android stores in Feb 2017 but we do not have user data to date. As the app is accessible on mobile devices, it allows for rapid access to information in practice and will be useful for training students (future pharmacists) in university and on placements. Projected benefits include: support for clinical decision-making and increased confidence that recommendations are aligned with current best practice, positive healthcare outcomes for people (whilst reducing the time and money wasted on inappropriate options) and improved standardisation of care.
Digital Technologies in Teaching Geography
From Level 1 and introductory Geographic Information Systems, through Level 2 and remote sensing, GPS surveying, through Level 3 and Advanced GIS, remote sensing for climate change, erosion studies, Geoforensics, population modelling, digital lab and field technologies are now core to the modern Geography degree, which Queen's is pioneering. In addition, the GIS Laboratory supports field collection of digital data and its subsequent processing, via GPS, laser scanning, drone data, geophysical data. An example from glacier modelling is provided.
Students' Perspectives on Anatomy Teaching
The purpose of the study is to examine the perception of n=59 1st year and n=54 2nd year dental students towards different teaching methods of Anatomy. This study is in the context of exploring effective teaching system from a student’s perspective. Different pedagogical approaches will be investigated and their effect on improving classroom / laboratory teaching will be studied. This paper will conclude with a set of recommendations for the development of more effective teaching methods of Anatomy in the future.
The curriculum for initial teacher education programmes typically includes a number of block placements during which student teachers are assessed by on all aspects of their classroom practice. This experience can often prove quite challenging for students who may have to date only be assessed in written format. This presentation describes how the online video analysis tool VideoAnt has been used effectively during teaching seminars in College and during student placements and evidences how this meets the criteria for best practice in formative assessment and facilitates learner self-regulation.
The on-campus use of VideoAnt was based on a series of micro-teaching activities with a cohort of 92 B.Ed (Primary Education) students. The recently reported decline in the amount of primary science being taught in primary schools is likely to result in student teachers having limited opportunities to observe or teach science during placement. Such a reductive cycle could be disastrous for the future. It is therefore important that pre-service teachers have the opportunity to develop their practice and confidence in teaching science within the supportive environment of a college campus. Over the course of two cycles of microteaching, the student teachers used VideoAnt to self-evaluate their practice and to collaborate and share feedback with their peers. All of the students found the opportunity to view and engage in online discussions of their teaching with their tutor and peers to be extremely useful. They also found exchanging ideas and analyses with peers helped develop their confidence and sense of agency. The presentation will also report on the experiences of a group of 11 student teachers who used VideoAnt to self-evaluate their practice during their school placement. This allowed the students to receive more detailed and regular feedback from the course tutor. All students found this approach to be highly effective. The presentation will also consider how these findings may inform thinking on best practice regarding assessment within initial teacher education.
LEFTS Using Real-time Feedback to Enhance Student Learning Experience
Lectures can often lack interaction between the audience of students and the lecturer. This can make it difficult for the lecturer to gauge the level of understanding in the room, for example topics that are causing issue, and conversely topics that are well understood and should not be labored. Because of this lack of interaction, the student learning experience in lectures is not very dynamic. This lack is often caused by a reluctance to speak out in front of a large number of people/peers, and the perceived embarrassment of being potentially incorrect. From a lecturer’s viewpoint, it is often the case that time constraints do not allow to regularly ask for feedback to gauge understanding. In an effort to alleviate this issue, we designed an online feedback system to be used during lectures. This system enables students to post fully anonymized feedback which can viewed through an easy-to-use interface in real-time while the class is in progress. Periods of time can optionally be tagged by the lecturer under a number of categories to make data analyses more intuitive. Students may rate the content and presentation. Besides providing a real-time experience, the system stores feedback securely for further analyses. This means feedback can either be acted upon immediately, for example by elaborating on a concept, or analyzed at a later date. The end result of using the system shall be a better appreciation of student understanding and retention. It should lead to a more dynamic learning experience and should help to ensure that time is spent more efficiently where it is mostly needed. This talk presents the LEcture Feedback Tracking System (LEFTS) and discusses on the results of its evaluation that is being conducted during Computer Science modules at Queen’s University Belfast.
The aim of this initiative was to restructure the delivery and teaching of research in a creative and innovative way to address student feedback and enhance the quality of undergraduate provision within the three year BSc (Hons) nursing programme. To achieve this ambition required a new way of thinking to transform and reinvigorate student and staff perceptions' of research. Existing didactic pedagogic approaches to research teaching utilised a teacher centred focus which did not engage or provide students with ownership of the learning process. To reshape the delivery and teaching of research required staff and students to embrace the implementation of a blended learning programme across the undergraduate programme.
To embed research in the curriculum three integrated Evidenced Based Nursing (EBN) research modules were developed to facilitate a continuous programme of work and foster a research ethos across the BSc programme. To engage students with the EBN modules a variety of teaching approaches were utilised to facilitate maximum participation and interaction. The flipped lecture approach was implemented to provide interaction and discussion in classroom based teaching. Students are given ownership of online learning prior to lectures and tutorials through the development of videos, peer assessed workbooks and discussion forums. The implementation of Mediasite provided flexible, interactive, personalised and engaging teaching and feedback videos for students. Staff development training in Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) and Mediasite ensured the delivery of high quality teaching and resources. Implementing an innovative, blended learning pedagogic approach to the delivery and teaching of research within the School of Nursing and Midwifery demonstrates the continual strive to produce flexible, interactive and personalised online learning for a digitally literate student body.
Reading on paper and screen: undergraduate attitudes and preferences
Increasingly, students are encouraged to read and engage with digital text during their studies. In general, educators give relatively little thought to the medium of presentation, with decisions about paper versus digital text being made for reasons such as cost, practicality, and convenience. Despite widespread adoption and integration of screen reading, relatively little attention has been paid to students’ views or preferences. The present research surveyed 103 undergraduate students between December 2015 and October 2016 as part of a pilot study on memory and comprehension of printed versus digital text. Students completed a ‘reading from paper and screens’ survey containing 19 multi-part items. The questions in the survey were compiled from studies by Smith (1991), Two Sides (2015) and Karim and Hasan (2007). Responses indicate that when given a choice, students prefer to read in print on paper. They believe that they understand and retain information better when they read printed text. When material is complicated or demanding, paper is the preferred medium. Note-taking and navigation were also judged to be better with printed text, and students believe they are more easily distracted when reading on screen than on paper. Reasons for choosing to read online relate to cost and availability. QUB students’ attitudes and preferences in this pilot study align with international findings. Future research should investigate if, given their perceptions, students adapt their reading and study behaviour according to the medium, and whether reading via one’s preferred medium is associated with better learning and retention.
Automating Assessing an Artefact
A key part of a lecturer's work is providing feedback to students regarding their work. The feedback can be when the students are performing a task (e.g. the lecturer observing a student carrying out an experiment), on marked assignments e.g. reports and essays, and to student answers in class tests and exams. In computing, students can build artifacts such as computer programs and databases to be evaluated to provide feedback. Performing tasks and building artifacts allow for authentic assessments but do not scale easily in terms of providing feedback.
This poster shows how we automated evaluating the servers that students had configured during labs. Students were asked to perform a number of typical real world tasks on a Windows Server computer. When students were finished, they ran a custom script that generated a snapshot of the system and stored it in a simple text file. The students then uploaded their system snapshots into an assignment submission tool (in this case QOL).
The text files were downloaded by the lecturer, and processed by a number of scripts, one for each task. The scripts examined each snapshot and produce an individualised report on the student’s performance on the task (such as what they did and how it differs from the expect result). For example, a task could be “create a RAID-1 volume that can store 128Mb of data”. Where a student created a RAID-0 (striped volume) which with 256Mb capacity the report would inform the student that “You created the wrong type of volume (a striped volume is RAID-0) but you did use the correct amount from the two hard-drives (128Mb each)”. The reports were then returned to the students.
Future includes automating downloading student submissions on a regularly basis (e.g. overnight) to enable students to get timely feedback on their performance.
Student Engagement in Quality Enhansment
Being responsive to mid-module student feedback can both improve the student perception of the value placed on their feedback to staff and enhance the students learning experience. By addressing common worries over assessment mode and assessment criteria (Lilly et al, 2010) and dealing with these worries promptly the student can recognise that they have a voice and that staff do listen and act.
This session will look at a core Maths module with 190 students which recently underwent a redesign of the module delivery. With four obvious disparate groups of students and others yet to be discovered it was important that the students had an opportunity to voice their concerns and their support of the series of initiatives being implemented, early enough in the process that we could change was wasn’t working. It also gave staff an opportunity to organise a range of extra support activities where needed.