Developing knowledge work skills in a university course

In this paper, we present a blended university course whose design is inspired by the Trialogical Learning Approach and its six Design Principles. The structure, activities, and content of the course are described in detail. The course description is followed by an explorative case-study conducted on data collected during the 2017-2018 edition of the course. The general aim was to understand the impact of the course on students’ perceptions of their acquisition of knowledge work skills and on their overall appreciation of the course. One hundred and nine psychology students (27 male, 82 female, aged 20-23 years) voluntarily participated in a course titled ‘Experimental Pedagogy’ held at Sapienza, University of Rome (IT). The data collection was informed by the trialogical design principles that inspired the course and defined the knowledge work skills to be observed, i.e. collaboration, continuous improvement, and digital skills. Two self-report anonymous questionnaires were administered; one was completed at the end of the course and one at the end of each of the three modules composing the course. Data was analysed using a mixed-methods (qualitative and quantitative) approach. Results indicated that the course was perceived to effectively promote the majority of the intended skills. Moreover, students appreciated the possibility to concretely work on a project-based learning activity that allowed them to create a shared and meaningful object and reflect their actual learning as intended by the theoretical approach

Group Singing as a Resource for the Development of a Healthy Public

A growing body of evidence points to a wide range of benefits arising from participation in group singing. Group singing requires participants to engage with each other in a simultaneous musical dialogue in a pluralistic and emergent context, creating a coherent cultural expression through the reflexive negotiation of (musical) meaning manifest in the collective power of the human voice. As such, group singing might be taken – both literally and figuratively – as a potent form of ‘healthy public’, creating an ‘ideal’ community which participants can subsequently mobilise as a positive resource for everyday life. The experiences of a group of singers (n=78) who had participated in an outdoor singing project were collected and analysed using a three-layer research design consisting of: distributed data generation and interpretation, considered against comparative data from other singing groups (n=88); a focus group workshop (n=11); an unstructured interview (n=2). The study confirmed an expected perception of the social bonding effect of group singing, highlighting affordances for interpersonal attunement and attachment alongside a powerful individual sense of feeling ‘uplifted’. This study presents a novel perspective on group singing, highlighting the importance of participant experience as a means of understanding music as a holistic and complex adaptive system. It validates findings about group singing from previous studies - in particular the stability of the social bonding effect as a less variant characteristic in the face of environmental and other situational influences, alongside its capacity for mental health recovery. It establishes a subjective sociocultural and musical understanding of group singing, by expanding on these findings to centralise the importance of individual experience, and the consciousness of that experience as descriptive self-awareness. The ways in which participants describe and discuss their experiences of group singing and its benefits points to a complex interdependence between a number of musical, neurobiological and psychosocial mechanisms which might be independently and objectively analysed. An emerging theory is that at least some of the potency of group singing is as a resource where people can rehearse and perform ‘healthy’ relationships, further emphasising its potential as a resource for healthy publics

Teaching technology-mediated collaborative learning for trainee teachers

In a knowledge driven society, secondary education should let students develop appropriate and meaningful skills to live, think and work. To this aim, teachers require specific knowledge and competences about technology-mediated collaborative learning strategies while overcoming preconceptions and general sense of inadequacy towards these learning approaches. This exploratory study focuses on a learning path based on the “Trialogical” Learning Approach to consider the role of technology mediated collaborative learning in the educational development and classroom practices of trainee teachers. A multi-methods approach was used to analyse the collected data. Results indicate a good level of active participation in the activities leading to a general perception of effective learning. Participants report having acquired knowledge and skills, which will improve their professional practice. The positive value of introducing collaboration and technology in the learning path is highlighted

The COVIDTrach prospective cohort study on outcomes in 1982 tracheostomised COVID-19 patients during the first and second UK pandemic waves

COVIDTrach is a UK-wide, prospective cohort study evaluating tracheostomised COVID-19 patient outcomes and operator disease transmission. Early in the pandemic controversy surrounded optimal timing of tracheostomy insertion, however meta-analyses have since addressed this uncertainty. We report on our cohort’s data and outcomes to help inform the management of this disease and compare our findings to the literature. Our inclusion criteria were COVID-19 patients aged ≥ 18 undergoing tracheostomy following invasive ventilation. We recorded relevant characteristics, clinical parameters, intra-operative details and outcome data. Predictors for mortality and time to ventilatory wean were determined. Among 1982 patients, there was a 21% post-tracheostomy mortality and median intubation to tracheostomy time of 15 days (IQR 11–21). The median time to successful ventilatory wean post-tracheostomy was 12 days (IQR 7–20). Advancing age, greater FiO2 and PEEP requirements and inotrope or anticoagulant use were associated with increased mortality (p < 0.05) and time to wean success (p < 0.01). Higher CRP predicted increased mortality (p < 0.05), while NIV use and extended pre-tracheostomy ventilation predicted prolonged wean time (p < 0.01). The death risk for tracheostomy performed ≤ 7 or ≥ 14 days of ventilation was equivocal (OR 1.01, 95% CI [0.37–2.72]) but lower between 8 and 14 days (OR = 0.64, 95% CI [0.47–0.86]) (p = 0.01). Eight operators tested positive within two weeks of performing a tracheostomy. Our mortality rates were similar to cohort studies but lower than early versus late tracheostomy designs. In contrast to the literature, we found reduced mortality when tracheostomy was performed 8–14 days post-intubation, with more favourable wean time and wean and decannulation rates

Towards a new era of flexibility: student and staff reflections on online learning

Higher Education is in the midst of a digital revolution, with institutions bidding to harness the potential of technology. Periods of online learning experienced during recent times have accelerated the move towards widespread adoption, affording institutions the opportunity to evaluate and reflect on digitally mediated approaches. This report focuses on student (n = 584) and staff (n = 54) experiences of online teaching and learning in a large UKHEI Psychology department. Findings from mixed methods surveys suggest that while staff and students were largely satisfied with the online teaching and learning experience, differences were evident in undergraduate and postgraduate perceptions. Further, a thematic analysis identified emergent themes from staff (teaching and working online, student engagement with online learning and looking to the future) and student (experiences of emergency provision, accessing support, and teaching methods) qualitative responses. This paper reflects on how the perceptions and experience of online learning will influence the future success of flexible online learning in a post-pandemic era of Higher Education