Thanks for the feedback: Multiple perspectives in group design processes

PROBLEM Group design projects are used in design disciplines at capstone level to mimic a real-world scenario of professional practice. Professional practice is varied, messy, iterative, non-linear and full of failure – attributes that grate against the safety of the university classroom. In small group projects there are multiple perspectives of the trajectory that a project should run and individual’s role in maintaining this trajectory. PLAN To provide an opportunity for students to have a transitional experience of professional practice, we have developed a flexible mode of expectations that balances the need for delivering an outcome to a client and the need to undertake sound professional practice techniques. The model allows for projects in different domains and at different project maturity levels to be valued in equal ways. Students report on their project process in an action-learning cycle of reviews, modelled on a 360-degree review process. Through this feedback, teams are provided with information about the state of their project from the perspective of their own team, their peers, their instructors and their client. ACTION Students provide qualitative and quantitative feedback three times during semester on their own project, and a project that they are following throughout the semester. Students begin to use this feedback to benchmark their team’s performance, and their own performance within the team. Differences in the quantitative feedback from different perspectives and the qualitative feedback allow the team to self-correct their trajectory throughout the design project. REFLECTION The objective ‘truth’ in a group de¬sign project is difficult to see. Through using feedback to guide the trajectory of projects, teams become collaborative and eager to share their progress with their peers

Use of Novel Anthropomorphic Breast Ultrasound Phantoms for Radiology Resident Education

Purpose: This study evaluated the training and assessment role of anthropomorphic breast ultrasound phantoms which simulated both the morphological and sonographic characteristics of breast tissue, including lesions, in a group of radiology residents at a large academic medical center. Methods: This was a prospective study involving 9 residents across all years (2nd–4th year) of a radiology residency program. Baseline assessments of all residents ability to detect and characterize lesions in P-I were carried out, followed by a two-hour teaching session on the same phantom. All residents underwent a post-training, final assessment on P-II to evaluate changes in their lesion detection rate and ability to correctly characterize the lesions. The two devices (Phantom 1 (P-I) and Phantom 2 (P-II)) were designed and constructed to produce similar realistic sonographic images of breast morphology with a range of embedded pathologies to provide a realistic training experience. Results: The results demonstrated there was a significant increase in both the pooled detection and correct characterization score for all residents pre- and post-training of 26±14% and 17±8%, pConclusions: This study suggests that there is a benefit in including a simulation training workshop with a novel anthropomorphic breast ultrasound training device to a radiology resident education program. Finally, the phantoms used in this study are useful for training and assessment purposes as they provide a life-like simulation of breast tissue to practice ultrasound imaging without direct exposure to patients, in a non-pressured environment

Use of Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs and Attitudes to Pain in Pasture-Based Dairy Cows: A Comparative Study of Farmers and Veterinarians

Pain is a significant welfare concern within the dairy industry. Recognizing and managing pain are important factors for safeguarding animal welfare. A questionnaire was sent via post to Irish dairy farmers and large animal veterinarians to assess attitudes to pain and the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in pasture-based dairy cows. The questionnaire could also be completed online. A total of 1,002 surveys were received from dairy farmers and 116 from livestock veterinarians. Veterinarians and farmers generally perceived the same conditions and procedures as the most painful. However, farmers scored surgical procedures significantly higher than veterinarians, and veterinarians scored lameness-related conditions, mastitis (clots in milk only) and hock hair loss significantly higher than farmers. Higher pain scores for conditions and procedures given by dairy farmers and veterinarians were associated with increased NSAID use. However, the use of NSAIDs was low, relative to the pain score, for Burdizzo castration (farmers and veterinarians), white line separation (farmers and veterinarians) and abscess (veterinarians), mastitis with clots in milk only (farmers) and calving with no assistance (farmers). Veterinarians who graduated less recently had significantly lower odds of using NSAIDs, and farmers that completed the survey online, had a larger herd size, completed education up to level four or five (as opposed to level three) and those who seemed to have less knowledge on analgesics, had significantly lower odds of using NSAIDs. Empathy was not found to be associated with NSAID use and no correlation was found between pain and empathy scores. Veterinarians perceived cost as more of a barrier than farmers did; therefore, NSAIDs should be offered more readily. For those working with dairy cows, there is a need to continue education on the benefits of analgesia, especially for conditions and procedures that have low NSAID use relative to pain score. The habituation of humans to pain in animals needs to be prevented to enable pain to be recognized and managed appropriately. Pain scores can be used as a benchmark for veterinarians and farmers to determine how their perception of pain compares to others, and see how this may influence their NSAID use

Enhancing the Design and Analysis of Flipped Learning Strategies

There are numerous calls in the literature for research into the flipped learning approach to match the flood of popular media articles praising its impact on student learning and educational outcomes. This paper addresses those calls by proposing pedagogical strategies that promote active learning in 'flipped' approaches and improved practice of educational design in ICT supported learning environments. This paper makes two main contributions. It situates flipped learning strategies within a pedagogical framework, thus linking them to higher-level pedagogy. Additionally, it proposes an approach to both analysing and designing flipped learning strategies. This exploratory approach provides a guide for educators to map how their tactics fit amongst other instances of flipped learning. Examples of flipped learning approaches are provided to illustrate this mapping. The Flipped Learning Matrix, developed by this SoTL inquiry, is a tool for both critical reflection of existing approaches and course design, empowering the educator to design their own flipped version that is pedagogically sound and fit for purpose

Equivalence of Narcissistic Personality Inventory constructs and correlates across scoring approaches and response formats

The prevalent scoring practice for the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) ignores the forced-choice nature of the items. The aim of this study was to investigate whether findings based on NPI scores reported in previous research can be confirmed when the forced-choice nature of the NPI’s original response format is appropriately modeled, and when NPI items are presented in different response formats (true/false or rating scale). The relationships between NPI facets and various criteria were robust across scoring approaches (mean score vs. model-based), but were only partly robust across response formats. In addition, the scoring approaches and response formats achieved equivalent measurements of the vanity facet and in part of the leadership facet, but differed with respect to the entitlement facet

Mesh adaptation on the sphere using optimal transport and the numerical solution of a Monge-Ampère type equation

An equation of Monge-Ampère type has, for the first time, been solved numerically on the surface of the sphere in order to generate optimally transported (OT) meshes, equidistributed with respect to a monitor function. Optimal transport generates meshes that keep the same connectivity as the original mesh, making them suitable for r-adaptive simulations, in which the equations of motion can be solved in a moving frame of reference in order to avoid mapping the solution between old and new meshes and to avoid load balancing problems on parallel computers. The semi-implicit solution of the Monge-Ampère type equation involves a new linearisation of the Hessian term, and exponential maps are used to map from old to new meshes on the sphere. The determinant of the Hessian is evaluated as the change in volume between old and new mesh cells, rather than using numerical approximations to the gradients. OT meshes are generated to compare with centroidal Voronoi tesselations on the sphere and are found to have advantages and disadvantages; OT equidistribution is more accurate, the number of iterations to convergence is independent of the mesh size, face skewness is reduced and the connectivity does not change. However anisotropy is higher and the OT meshes are non-orthogonal. It is shown that optimal transport on the sphere leads to meshes that do not tangle. However, tangling can be introduced by numerical errors in calculating the gradient of the mesh potential. Methods for alleviating this problem are explored. Finally, OT meshes are generated using observed precipitation as a monitor function, in order to demonstrate the potential power of the technique

Examining Continuous Variables in SPSS (Quiz and Practical)

In this descriptive statistics e-book we will use straightforward techniques to describe the features continuous variables

Correlations in SPSS (Quiz and Practical)

In this e-book we investigate whether there is a relationship between two variables by looking how correlated they are