Doctoral students' writing profiles and their relations to well-being and perceptions of the academic environment

We explored doctoral students’ writing profiles using a person-centred approach. We also studied differences between profiles in terms of experienced well-being and perceptions of the learning environment. The participants of our study (n = 664) were PhD students from three faculties at the University of Helsinki, Finland. The Writing Process Questionnaire (Lonka et al. Journal of Writing Research, 5(3), 245-269 2014) was used to measure writing conceptions and problematic writing. Well-being was measured by MED NORD, adapted to the doctoral context (Lonka et al. Medical Teacher, 30, 72-79 2008; Stubb et al. Studies in Continuing Education, 33(1), 33–50 2011), and Perceptions of the learning environment, using specific items from Dahlin et al. Medical Education, 39, 594–604 (2005). PhD students with similar patterns of writing variables were identified through latent profile analysis (LPA). We conducted one-way ANOVAs to examine group differences with respect to well-being and perceptions of learning environment. We identified three writing profiles: Growth-Transforming (51%), Ambivalent (40%), and Fixed-Blocking (9%) groups. The Fixed-Blocking group reported a lack of interest the most often and also reported receiving the least feedback. The Growth-Transforming group was the most and the Fixed-Blocking group the least satisfied with their studies. It appeared that epistemic beliefs related to research writing were most decisive in differentiation among PhD students. Blocks were related to beliefs in innate ability. We concluded that although problems in writing are quite common, epistemic beliefs may be even more decisive in terms of successful research writing.Peer reviewe

A collaborative learning platform to assess the use of agile methodologies in engineering studies

The success of using agile methodologies for collaborative work in industry, has led to adopt these methodologies for teaching Software Engineering. The curricula has evolved in recent years in order to introduce the use of agile development, so that the students practice their use and train the required skills for project-based collaborative work. Agile methodologies are characterized by being iterative and incremental, with short cycles, constant deliveries and a high level of interaction among team members. These characteristics constitute a challenge for educators and students since, in short periods of time, it is necessary to evaluate and provide feedback to individual and group work, regarding aspects like methodology usage, tools management, and collaboration within the team. For that reason, a Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) environment has been developed to assist academics in evaluating and providing feedback to students. The CSCL environment is based on the collaborative platform GitLab, which has been adapted to implement concepts associated to SCRUM, an agile methodology widely adopted. Additionally, the use of GitLab allows to automatically collect information regarding individual and team work of students. Using GitLab data collected, a Learning Analytics platform has been developed in order to analyse group and individual work during the execution of student projects using SCRUM. The objective is to determine if SCRUM helps students to elaborate better software, by evaluating methodology adoption and quality of the resulting software. A prototype of the platform was developed and used in a Software Engineering undergrad course at a Spanish University, in which 79 students divided into groups of 3-4 people, developed two independent projects. Preliminary results show that the proposed CSCL environment helps in providing insight for evaluating and giving feedback to students. Additionally, the data collected by the CSCL environment showed a good correlation of SCRUM adoption by students and quality of resulting software

Students’ perceptions, process and product in a CSCL experience

Following up students’ progress in collaborative activities is a crucial element in the teaching task if we want to properly scaffold learning and assess students’ performance. Considering this, a Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) environment was created in the subject Middleware, devoted to the development of collaborative software projects delivered to undergraduates from Computer Engineering in a Spanish university. Students (n= 46) were asked to work in teams using the SCRUM methodology and the GitLab software. In order to analyse their individual performance, a Learning Analytics platform was created and an online survey was designed to complement the results obtained collecting students’ perceptions. One of the aims in our project was toexplore the relationships between students’ outcomes and their perceptions about teamwork and the tools used. Specifically, we analysedthe relationship between students’ final mark, students’ perceptions of teamwork and their SCRUM competence. Their sense of flow during the collaborative activity was measured as well. Results show correlations among these variables. Further discussion is provided around the students’ perceptions as a key aspect for understanding students’ behaviour and performance

Successful engraftment of gene-corrected hematopoietic stem cells in non-conditioned patients with Fanconi anemia

International audienceFanconi anemia (FA) is a DNA repair syndrome generated by mutations in any of the 22 FA genes discovered to date1,2. Mutations in FANCA account for more than 60% of FA cases worldwide3,4. Clinically, FA is associated with congenital abnormalities and cancer predisposition. However, bone marrow failure is the primary pathological feature of FA that becomes evident in 70–80% of patients with FA during the first decade of life5,6. In this clinical study (ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03157804; European Clinical Trials Database, 2011-006100-12), we demonstrate that lentiviral-mediated hematopoietic gene therapy reproducibly confers engraftment and proliferation advantages of gene-corrected hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in non-conditioned patients with FA subtype A. Insertion-site analyses revealed the multipotent nature of corrected HSCs and showed that the repopulation advantage of these cells was not due to genotoxic integrations of the therapeutic provirus. Phenotypic correction of blood and bone marrow cells was shown by the acquired resistance of hematopoietic progenitors and T lymphocytes to DNA cross-linking agents. Additionally, an arrest of bone marrow failure progression was observed in patients with the highest levels of gene marking. The progressive engraftment of corrected HSCs in non-conditioned patients with FA supports that gene therapy should constitute an innovative low-toxicity therapeutic option for this life-threatening disorder