COVID-2019 Impacts on Education Systems and Future of Higher Education

The rapid outbreak of the COVID-19 has presented unprecedented challenges on education systems. Closing schools and universities and cancelling face-to-face activities have become a COVID-19 inevitable reality in most parts of the world. To be business-as-usual, many higher education providers have taken steps toward digital transformation, and implementing a range of remote teaching, learning and assessment approaches. This book provides timely research on COVID-19 impacts on education systems and seeks to bring together scholars, educators, policymakers and practitioners to collectively and critically identify, investigate and share best practices that lead to rethinking and reframing the way we deliver education in future

The praxis and research of human anatomy through autoethnography.

Doctoral Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.This thesis is in manuscript format, as per the guidelines of the College of Health Sciences of the University of KwaZulu Natal. It comprises five manuscripts that have been submitted to accredited journals for publication (one manuscript is currently in press and the others are awaiting final status after revisions were completed). The use of autoethnography as an approach is an emerging transformative field of study within the Health Sciences at Higher Education institutions and is a move away from the key traditional positivist models of research in the domain of anatomical education. This study with praxis and research at the nucleus, aimed to investigate the following: (i) challenges experienced in the teaching and learning of human anatomy; (ii) the views and perceptions of fellow colleagues regarding research in the domain of clinically applied anatomy and how this has impacted on their teaching practices; (iii) the opinions of senior anatomy instructors regarding the state of anatomical knowledge at their respective institutions; (iv) student attitudes and experiences regarding human cadaveric dissection through an analysis of their journal-reflective writings; and (v) the use of mobile devices by learners at a selected medical school. Each of these aims stated above were achieved through the articles which comprised the manuscript of this study. In the first manuscript, Bits, bytes and bones: An Autoethnographic Account of Challenges in Anatomy Education: Perceptions Emanating from a Selected South African University I describe the methodological approach of autoethnography, specifically as it applies to reflection and memory work, and describe how this style enabled me to interrogate the current challenges and dilemmas underpinning the research, teaching and learning practices within this discipline. This was done through the use of an exclusive autoethnographic approach which is a qualitative method of research that seeks to describe and examine personal experience to comprehend cultural practice. The autoethnographic study highlighted challenges experienced, and these included the shortage of cadaveric material for teaching and research, the subsequent implementation of medical software applications, deficiencies in the curriculum and the teaching of anatomy by scientist anatomists. The second manuscript was entitled Communities of Practice: a new methodology in anatomical research and teaching. In this the notion of collaborative autoethnography as a research method is introduced. In this approach, researchers worked in tandem with me to gather autobiographical material to analyse and understand their data collectively with each contributing to an understanding of the sociocultural phenomena. This type of research allowed for in-depth learning about the self and others and fostered collaboration among researchers in this field of applied anatomy. The use of semi-structured interviews with coauthors (n=10) on co-written papers formed the essential method used in generating this article. The collaborative autoethnographic study revealed four important themes namely: the value of research collaboration; the impact of human anatomical variations; the association with medical and non-medical collaborators; and teaching practice emanating from collaborative research. In manuscript 3, Views of South African Academic Instructors regarding the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Anatomy Education, a reflective design is presented and it is understood that reflecting on teaching is commonly referred to as an essential practice for personal and professional development. Open-ended questionnaires were distributed to senior anatomy faculty based at the eight national medical schools in South Africa. The emerging argument in this paper is that educational research into the scholarship of teaching and learning anatomy includes engaging in discipline-specific literature on teaching, reflecting on individual pedagogical methods and communicating these findings to peers. In medical education, reflection has been considered to be a core skill in professional ability. Faculty teaching anatomy highlighted several challenges such as time constraints within the medical curriculum, the lack of cadavers to reinforce knowledge and lack of appropriately qualified staff in the delivery of the subject. The anatomy laboratory is an ideal setting for faculty/student interaction and provides important occasions to investigate active learning and reflection on anatomical knowledge. This forms the basis of the Manuscript 4, Reflective Journals: Unmasking student perceptions of anatomical education, in which seventy-five journals from medical and allied Health Science students were collected and analysed. Through the use of journal-reflective writing as a technique, student attitudes and experiences of human cadaveric dissection of anatomy were analysed. Student reflective journals highlighted the following themes which included (a) Dissecting room stressors, (b) Educational value of dissection , (c) Appreciation, Gratitude, Respect & Curiosity for the cadaver , (d) Positive and negative sentiments expressed in the dissecting room , (e) Benefit of alternate teaching modalities, (f) Spirituality/Religious Beliefs, (g) Shared humanity and emotional bonds, (h) Acknowledgement of human anatomical variations, (i) Beauty and complexity of the human body, and (j) Psychological detachment . For the final manuscript which forms this compilation, Anytime, Anywhere’: Tablet technology in Medical education, a questionnaire comprising both open and closed- ended questions was analysed from 179 (60 male; 119 female) second year medical students registered for the Anatomy course to establish the use of mobile devices by learners at a selected medical school. The themes that emerged from m-learning included students’ ideas on mobile device engagement, and propositions related to the advantages and challenges affecting use of mobile devices. The use of autoethnography as a research approach can be considered dissident, and an ‘anatomical turn’ in the praxis and research in the domain of anatomical education. This study highlights relevant contributions to the research, praxis (teaching and learning) of human anatomy through views of all significant role players – students, researchers and educators. The conceptual framework which was abstracted from the articles and the thesis in its entirety, offers significant understandings regarding the praxis and research of human anatomy within the context of educational theory.Thesis by manuscript

Applications and Experiences of Quality Control

The rich palette of topics set out in this book provides a sufficiently broad overview of the developments in the field of quality control. By providing detailed information on various aspects of quality control, this book can serve as a basis for starting interdisciplinary cooperation, which has increasingly become an integral part of scientific and applied research

An Ethnographic Exploration of Moral Agency in Emergency Medicine

This study examines the visibility of moral agency in the daily work and production of healthcare in emergency medicine at an urban emergency medical center in the United States. Through detailed ethnographic research, this study investigates how the work of paramedics, nurses and physicians within their professional practice spheres of emergency medicine constantly resolve challenges that make their moral agency visible. Several themes emerge from this study by examining and closely noting how these individuals interact and express less a principled bioethical script, but instead a personal one that is or is not explained by their professional role in treating patients. This study follows the daily conversations and interactions that embody the local moral worlds of emergency medicine in paramedics, nurses and physicians and how each of these professional groups work through and around medical and patient care issues to create care. As these individuals within their professional role address challenges in emergency care, it is their interactions and conversations that make visible the moral agency of the individual healthcare worker. By examining the domain of these work lives this study investigates the ongoing and new conflicts and resolutions for the healthcare workers and how they assert moral agency; the intersubjective local moral worlds of care; use of technology to mediate care; and the structure of medicine in emergency medical care

Friends for life: New partners in support of protected areas

The Vth IUCN World Parks Congress held in 2003 in Durban, South Africa was host to a stream of workshops dedicated to the broad topic of building support for protected areas. As a means of providing a more coherent picture, a separate set of workshops was held on communicating the benefits of protected areas. The collection of papers contained within this publication brings together the experience and wisdom of the leading thinkers and practitioners of protected area planning and management. The editor has successively integrated the disparate and often complex literature and debate around..

Development and validation of a psychological screening tool to assess pre-enlistment psychological factors likely to impact on military well-being and performance in the context of the Sri Lankan military

Military personnel who are directly involved in war face its most harmful consequences. However, research suggests that personality differences and characteristics might mitigate or exacerbate the impact on individual responses to war-related experiences. These characteristics could be either risk or protective factors.The current study aimed to develop and validate a psychological screening tool to assess pre-enlistment personality factors which can contribute to the well-being of military personnel and determine whether this tool can predict variables related to military well-being and performance.Two main studies were conducted to achieve these aims. Firstly, a cross-sectional descriptive survey was conducted with 960 junior military officers representing triforces in Sri Lanka for scale development and validation. A tool was developed combining Resilience Scale (RS25), Dispositional Resilience Scale (DRS15), and Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MTQ48). This tool was validated through EFA and CFA processes adopting a split sample cross validation method and resulting a scale with 42 items which was named as the “Resilience Inventory for Military (RIM)”. These 42 items comprised two factors. One consisted of 20 resilience items, the other consisted of 22 mental toughness items. Both subscales in this scale demonstated good validity and reliability levels.Secondly, a longitudinal study was carried out with 92 Cadet trainees to determine whether this scale can predict the turnover intention of the trainees, newcomer adjustment of trainees, training satisfaction,training performance and their general mental health condition. The results demonstrated that those who score high on the RIM scale have a greater adjustment, good level of mental health, are less likely to exibhit turnover intention and more satisfied with the training.The findings can help Sri Lankan military forces identify the most resilient candidates for military service and minimise negative behaviour outcomes among military personnel. Also, this research suggests how mental toughness, hardiness and resilience relate together.This approach might also be of use elsewhere in South Asia

Heritage Futures: Comparative Approaches to Natural and Cultural Heritage Practices

Preservation of natural and cultural heritage is often said to be something that is done for the future, or on behalf of future generations, but the precise relationship of such practices to the future is rarely reflected upon. Heritage Futures draws on research undertaken over four years by an interdisciplinary, international team of 16 researchers and more than 25 partner organisations to explore the role of heritage and heritage-like practices in building future worlds. Engaging broad themes such as diversity, transformation, profusion and uncertainty, Heritage Futures aims to understand how a range of conservation and preservation practices across a number of countries assemble and resource different kinds of futures, and the possibilities that emerge from such collaborative research for alternative approaches to heritage in the Anthropocene. Case studies include the cryopreservation of endangered DNA in frozen zoos, nuclear waste management, seed biobanking, landscape rewilding, social history collecting, space messaging, endangered language documentation, built and natural heritage management, domestic keeping and discarding practices, and world heritage site management

Heritage Futures

Preservation of natural and cultural heritage is often said to be something that is done for the future, or on behalf of future generations, but the precise relationship of such practices to the future is rarely reflected upon. Heritage Futures draws on research undertaken over four years by an interdisciplinary, international team of 16 researchers and more than 25 partner organisations to explore the role of heritage and heritage-like practices in building future worlds. Engaging broad themes such as diversity, transformation, profusion and uncertainty, Heritage Futures aims to understand how a range of conservation and preservation practices across a number of countries assemble and resource different kinds of futures, and the possibilities that emerge from such collaborative research for alternative approaches to heritage in the Anthropocene. Case studies include the cryopreservation of endangered DNA in frozen zoos, nuclear waste management, seed biobanking, landscape rewilding, social history collecting, space messaging, endangered language documentation, built and natural heritage management, domestic keeping and discarding practices, and world heritage site management. 'I suspect this book will prove to be a revolutionary addition to the field of heritage studies, flipping the gaze from the past to the future. Heritage Futures reveals the deep uncertainties and precarities that shape both everyday and political life today: accumulation and waste, care and hope, the natural and the toxic. It represents a uniquely impressive intellectual and empirical roadmap for both anticipating and questioning future trajectories, and the strange, unfamiliar places heritage will take us.’ - Tim Winter, University of Western Australi