The Design Postgraduate Journeyman: Mapping the relationship between design thinking and doing with skills acquisition for skilful practice

The relationship between knowing, doing and skillful practice resonate in industry and design education. The connection between creativity, design and successful innovation practices in industry has been debated much recently, heightened by realization in academe and governments that 'we need a different way of thinking and doing if we are to live well and prosper in the future' This paper addresses the question; how to understand more about the relationship of design thinking and doing with learning. It describes research to correlate design knowledge and skill with the pedagogy of skilful practice, thereby supporting pedagogical theory for the design practitioner learner. The research correlates Sennett's review of craftsmanship as skillful thinking and doing, with Dreyfus and dreyfus's model of mental activitiesin the transition of novice to masterful states of skilful practice. It concludes by illustrating the critical transition points to inform educational practice

Virtual reality simulation for the optimization of endovascular procedures : current perspectives

Endovascular technologies are rapidly evolving, often - requiring coordination and cooperation between clinicians and technicians from diverse specialties. These multidisciplinary interactions lead to challenges that are reflected in the high rate of errors occurring during endovascular procedures. Endovascular virtual reality (VR) simulation has evolved from simple benchtop devices to full physic simulators with advanced haptics and dynamic imaging and physiological controls. The latest developments in this field include the use of fully immersive simulated hybrid angiosuites to train whole endovascular teams in crisis resource management and novel technologies that enable practitioners to build VR simulations based on patient-specific anatomy. As our understanding of the skills, both technical and nontechnical, required for optimal endovascular performance improves, the requisite tools for objective assessment of these skills are being developed and will further enable the use of VR simulation in the training and assessment of endovascular interventionalists and their entire teams. Simulation training that allows deliberate practice without danger to patients may be key to bridging the gap between new endovascular technology and improved patient outcomes

Reinventing the Reference Librarian: Information Literacy as a change agent

With information literacy as their ticket, academic librarians have an opportunity to re-enter the teaching and learning arena in a new guise and carve out a challenging, unique role in the world of academia - that is, to reinvent themselves in a new image. As the emphasis shifts from discipline-rich teaching to one of process-oriented learning which emphasises the development of generic skills, academic librarians must accept and seize a more proactive teaching and learning role, and shoulder greater responsibility for pedagogical leadership in higher education. The change in their role will affect all those in the tertiary community as surely as it will affect the profession of librarianship itself. As librarians strive to re-engage as educators with educators, the traditional beliefs, understandings, expectations and practices of all involved will be challenged. It is now critical to re-examine the issues which arise as a result of such a transformation, and the strategies which must be considered in order to overcome some of the more entrenched complexities of the task ahead. This paper investigates, in greater detail, those processes, structures and procedures within library organisations and academic institutions which hinder, facilitate or create opportunities for the librarians who teach information literacy in higher education

On the complexity of collaborative cyber crime investigations

This article considers the challenges faced by digital evidence specialists when collaborating with other specialists and agencies in other jurisdictions when investigating cyber crime. The opportunities, operational environment and modus operandi of a cyber criminal are considered, with a view to developing the skills and procedural support that investigators might usefully consider in order to respond more effectively to the investigation of cyber crimes across State boundaries

Can acquisition of expertise be supported by technology?

Professional trainees in the workplace are increasingly required to demonstrate specific standards of competence. Yet, empirical evidence of how professionals acquire competence in practice is lacking. The danger, then, is that efforts to support learning processes may be misguided. We hypothesised that a systemic view of how expertise is acquired would support more timely and appropriate development of technology to support workplace learning. The aims of this study were to provide an empirically based understanding of workplace learning and explore how learning could be facilitated through suitable application of technology. We have used the medical specialist trainee as an exemplar of how professionals acquire expertise within a complex working environment. We describe our methodological approach, based on the amalgam of systems analysis and qualitative research methods. We present the development of a framework for analysis and early findings from qualitative data analysis. Based on our findings so far, we present a tentative schema representing how technology can support learning with suggestions for the types of technology that could be used

Fitness for purpose in anaesthesiology: a review

The purpose of this review is to explore how fitness for purpose can be defined for anaesthesiology graduates and to delineate the parameters of this concept for anaesthesiology. Newly qualified anaesthesiology graduates experience difficulties with the transition from trainee to specialist, with perceptions of unpreparedness especially in non-technical skills. This may be deleterious to the individual, the patient, colleagues and the workplace. It is possible that graduates may be deemed competent yet are unable to fulfil all their specialist roles. Fitness for purpose and its relationship with competence, expertise and excellence in anaesthesiology have been poorly defined in the literature. These concepts are not synonymous but provide a hierarchical framework for the development of a specialist from a beginner to an expert. The uncertainties surrounding competence are numerous, with generic competency frameworks not addressing all aspects unique to anaesthesiology. The applicability of such frameworks in areas outside which they were originally designed and, in particular, in anaesthesiology, is questionable and requires further investigation. Defining fitness for purpose in anaesthesiology will assist training departments, curriculum designers, assessors and regulators to produce specialists that are experts in their chosen field without any deficiencies and thus able to perform all their required roles.Keywords: anaesthesiology, fitness for purpose, medical educatio

Knowledge, attitudes and practices of medical staff towards obesity management in patients with spinal cord injuries: an International survey of four western European countries

Objective: To (1) examine the opinions of medical staff working in spinal cord injury (SCI) centres (SCICs); (2) evaluate their knowledge, attitudes and practices towards obesity prevention and management; (3) report the number of beds and dietitians available at each SCIC. Methods: A 37-item questionnaire was sent to 23 SCICs in the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium and the Republic of Ireland between September 2012 and January 2013. Results: Eighteen SCICs returned the questionnaires for analysis. All respondents stated that they had an interest in obesity treatment but only 2.3% of the respondents received training in obesity management. Sixty-one percent of staff did not consider body mass index (BMI) to be appropriate for use in SCI patients and subsequently less than half of the respondents use BMI routinely. The majority of respondents reported that they are confident in dealing with overweight (74.5%) and obese (66.1%) SCI adults, less than half (44.1%) are confident in treating overweight and obese SCI children. Respondents also indicated the need for nationally adopted guidelines and a lack of physical activity provision. There were 17.5 whole-time equivalent (WTE) dietitians recorded in 22 SCICs, equivalent to 47.8 beds per WTE dietitians (range 10–420). Non-UK SCIC dietitians are significantly better resourced than in UK SCICs (beds per WTE dietitian: 36 vs 124, P=0.035). Conclusion: Medical staff expressed the need to participate in obesity prevention and management. Appropriate training should be considered for all medical staff and the development of specific weight management guidelines and dietetic provision should be considered