How ‘Networked’ are Online Collaborative Concept-Maps? Introducing Metrics for Quantifying and Comparing the ‘Networkedness’ of Collaboratively Constructed Content

With the growing role of online multi-participant collaborations in shaping the academic, professional, and civic spheres, incorporating collaborative online practices in educational settings has become imperative. As more educators include such practices in their curricula, they are faced with new challenges. Assessment of collaborations, especially in larger groups, is particularly challenging. Assessing the quality of the collaborative “thought process” and its product is essential for both pedagogical and evaluative purposes. While traditional quantitative quality measures were designed for individual work or the aggregated work of individuals, capturing the complexity and the integrative nature of high-quality collaborative learning requires novel methodologies. Network analysis provides methods and tools that can identify, describe, and quantify non-linear and complex phenomena. This paper applies network analysis to the content created by students through large-scale online collaborative concept-mapping and explores how these can be applied for the assessment of the quality of a collective product. Quantitative network structure measures are introduced for this purpose. The application and the affordances of these metrics are demonstrated on data from six large-group online collaborative discussions from academic settings. The metrics presented here address the organization and the integration of the content and enable a comparison of collaborative discussions

Creativity is Connecting Things: The Role of Network Topology in Fostering Collective Creativity in Multi-Participant Asynchronous Online Discussions.

Creativity derives from the ability to form new meaningful combinations out of available resources. Collective creativity is the product of a collaborative process, consisting of multiple interactions between group members and the shared content, which lead to the emergence of novel shared meanings. This exploratory research addresses the expression of collective creativity in multi-participant asynchronous online discussions, by proposing interactivity and emergence as key features of the collaborative creative process. The ability to connect posts in a non-sequential manner ("cross-linking") is suggested as the basis for the formation of emergent community-structures within the content, which reflect collectively constructed novel combinations. Initial indications for this process are presented by applying a combination of network analysis and qualitative inquiry to data from a multiparticipant virtual discussion, held as part of an online academic course. A methodology for extracting emergent themes is described

A Discussion of Virtual Reality As a New Tool for Training Healthcare Professionals

Background: Virtual reality technology is an exciting and emerging field with vast applications. Our study sets out the viewpoint that virtual reality software could be a new focus of direction in the development of training tools in medical education. We carried out a panel discussion at the Center for Behavior Change 3rd Annual Conference, prompted by the study, “The Responses of Medical General Practitioners to Unreasonable Patient Demand for Antibiotics––A Study of Medical Ethics Using Immersive Virtual Reality” (1). Methods: In Pan et al.’s study, 21 general practitioners (GPs) and GP trainees took part in a videoed, 15-min virtual reality scenario involving unnecessary patient demands for antibiotics. This paper was discussed in-depth at the Center for Behavior Change 3rd Annual Conference; the content of this paper is a culmination of findings and feedback from the panel discussion. The experts involved have backgrounds in virtual reality, general practice, medicines management, medical education and training, ethics, and philosophy. Viewpoint: Virtual reality is an unexplored methodology to instigate positive behavioral change among clinicians where other methods have been unsuccessful, such as antimicrobial stewardship. There are several arguments in favor of use of virtual reality in medical education: it can be used for “difficult to simulate” scenarios and to standardize a scenario, for example, for use in exams. However, there are limitations to its usefulness because of the cost implications and the lack of evidence that it results in demonstrable behavior change

The Efficacy of Fractional {CO}2 Laser in the Treatment of Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause. A Large Prospective Observational Study

Background: Genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM) majorly caused by the physiological decline in estrogen, affects up to 90% of menopausal women. Hormonal therapy seems to be an effective treatment, often not executable for contraindication or patient's low compliance to local or systemic medical therapy. Fractional CO2 laser therapy is an emerging and effective choice for women affected by vulvo-vaginal atrophy (VVA), promoting collagen regeneration and improving blood flow of the vaginal mucosa and elasticity of tissues. Methods: Ninety-two menopausal Patients affected by vulvo-vaginal atrophy (VVA) were considered for the present prospective observational study. All women were treated with Fractional CO2 laser Lumenis AcuPulse in a fractionated sequential mode laser pulse. Patients were requested to complete questionnaires regarding the Female Sexual Functional Index (FSFI), Female Sexual Distress Scale (FSDS) and severity of Most Bothersome Symptoms (MBS) at baseline (T0) and at three-month following three-treatment-sessions (T1). Results: Data indicated a significant improvement of MBS (vaginal itching (p < 0.0001), post-coital vaginal bleeding (p < 0.002), vaginal dryness (p < 0.0001), dyspareunia (p < 0.0001) and dysuria (p < 0.0001), higher Vaginal Health Index Score (VHIS) (4.1 +/- 1.21; 95% CI = 3.84-4.35) and reduces pH (-0.53 +/- 0.24; 95% CI = 0.48-0.58) after CO2 laser treatment. A significantly improvement of FSFI Total score (p < 0.0001) and FSDS (p < 0.0001) have been demonstrated. Conclusions: Fractional CO2 laser improves vaginal health as well as signs and symptoms associated with GSM, while significantly elevating quality of life and sexual functionality among postmenopausal symptomatic women

A Discussion of the Use of Virtual Reality for Training Healthcare Practitioners to Recognize Child Protection Issues

Background: Virtual reality technology is a rapidly developing tool which has been shown to have exciting prospects in the field of medical education. In a recent, subsequent study, Pan et al. consider the potential of the same technology in the realm of child protection training and safeguarding issues. To build upon the Pan et al. study, a panel discussion was held at The Centre for Behavior Change Annual Conference 2018 to discuss the question "Can a virtual reality communication scenario be used to teach General Practitioners and trainees how to recognize and manage child protection issues?" Methodology: The above study comprised an immersive virtual reality consultation, in which the ability of 63 doctors to pick up covert safeguarding cues was tested in the context of a consultation with an adult patient, where the patient's child happened to be present as well. The study and its findings were discussed at the Centre for Behavior Change 4th Annual Conference, and this paper summarizes the opinions of both the panel and the audience. Viewpoint: Safeguarding is a challenging area of practice where we must listen to the child, and tackle difficult conversations with parents. Within medical training, role play is the gold standard for teaching how to communicate in difficult scenarios. Given the ethical questions surrounding children being asked to role play such abuse, the use of virtual reality characters could have a key role in upgrading current practices in medical education on safeguarding

Mind the Gap. From Typical LMS Traces to Learning to Learn Journeys.

Many universities aim to improve students’ 'learning to learn' (LTL) skills to prepare them for post-academic life. This requires evaluating LTL and integrating it into the university’s curriculum and assessment regimes. Data is essential to provide evidence for the evaluation of LTL, meaning that available data sources must be connected to the types of evidence required for evaluation. This chapter describes a case study using an LTL ontology to connect the theoretical aspects of LTL with a university’s existing data sources and to inform the design and application of learning analytics. The results produced by the analytics indicate that LTL can be treated as a dimension in its own right. The LTL dimension has a moderate relationship to academic performance. There is also evidence to suggest that LTL develops at an uneven pace across academic terms and that it exhibits different patterns in online as compared to face-to-face delivery methods