A Gaming Laboratory to Study Distributed Collaboration Processes.

Current events present many examples of situations where a fast and coordinated response is required from many and diverse organizations and stakeholders. Technology-mediated communication and collaboration may be the only option for getting things done in situations like these. There is a real need for research on the kinds of environments and processes that best support fast response on urgent tasks for virtual teams. The paper presents the development and initial test of a gaming laboratory to study such processes. The laboratory is adaptable to different kinds of situations. We discuss the design principles and implementation of the laboratory environment, along with lessons learned from the first experiences with it

A systematic review of postgraduate training programmes directed at pharmacists entering primary care

This systematic review explores the international postgraduate education and training programmes designed to provide or develop knowledge or skills focused on enabling pharmacists to work in a general practice setting. Four thousand, eight hundred and seventy-one (4,871) articles were identified from database searches of SCOPUS, EMBASE, Medline, CINAHL, IPA, Web of Science and ERIC. After removal of duplicates and article screening, seven articles were included. Educational content, setting, contact time and methods of assessment varied across all studies. There is paucity of published literature relating to the development and evaluation of education programmes directed at pharmacists entering into general practice. A combination of work and classroom-based education provided by general practitioners and pharmacists already working in primary care is deemed most beneficial coupled with systematic debriefing sessions at the completion of training courses. The findings suggest future training should focus on specific disease states

Technical and Environmental Challenges of Collaboration Engineering in Distributed Environments

Collaboration in distributed settings has become a reality in organizational life. Yet we still have much to learn about issues inherent to distributed collaboration. One important area of study is the integration of Collaboration Engineering in distributed virtual teams for helping them in structuring their interaction. The field of Collaboration Engineering offers promising guidelines for process structures, but its application in distributed arenas is just beginning to be studied. We report on the design and development of a new collaboration environment for the incorporation of Collaboration Engineering principles, as well as the results of an initial study that examined leadership and process structure effects on the development of shared understanding. The paper describes the research motivation, the environment, and the results of the study, including an analysis of participants’ feedback and their message exchanges. We discuss both technical and environmental challenges for research on Collaboration Engineering in distributed environments

Research as Teaching and Teaching as Research: Reflections on a Virtual Team Project

In the academic world, the transition from student to researcher is often a difficult step. Novice researchers are often hindered by a lack of mentorship and lack of awareness of the demands of research. The challenges are especially interesting in the study of collaboration and virtual teams, given the added layer of technology and tools that are an essential part of conducting such research. To address these issues, we designed and implemented an experiential doctoral seminar for advanced students in Information Technology. This paper describes the seminar, which focused on the research topic of virtual teams. The paper provides supporting theories for the approach and discusses experiences encountered during the first offering of the seminar

Collaboration engineering in distributed environments

Collaboration in distributed settings has become a reality in organizational life, yet we still have much to learn. One important area of study is the integration of Collaboration Engineering (CE) in distributed, or virtual, teams. Collaboration Engineering offers promising guidelines for process structure, but its application in distributed environments is just beginning to be studied. We conducted a study in the design science tradition with the goal of examining whether and how the principles and techniques of Collaboration Engineering can be taken into a distributed setting. We report on the design, development, and feasibility test of a prototype environment that implements CE techniques for distributed teams. The study examined leadership and process structure effects on the development of shared understanding in student teams working in a simulated organizational environment. Content analysis of qualitative data was combined with descriptive statistics of quantitative data to gain insight into participants\u27 activities. We discuss the challenges of Collaboration Engineering in distributed environments and offer lessons learned and opportunities for future research

Can a reflective rubric be applied consistently with raters globally? A study across three countries

Introduction Reflection is a powerful tool for assisting students to develop the skills to make better informed decisions. As a pharmacy competency standard, reliable and fair assessment strategies are required to measure reflective skills and support students in developing their reflective capacity. The aim of this research was to explore whether we can extend the applicability of a previously tested rubric to a range of educational settings, to account for diversity of pharmacy educators and curricula internationally. Methods Four raters from three countries applied a reflective rubric to assess a sample (n = 43) of reflective accounts, representing 41% of a cohort of 105 second-year undergraduate pharmacy students. The interrater reliability (IRR) was measured utilizing the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC), using a two-way random effects model with absolute agreement, to determine the level of agreement between the raters' absolute scores. Generalizability Theory analysis was used to estimate generalizability of raters and stages. Results Results indicated agreement of raters for (i) each of the seven stages of reflection and (ii) overall score for the reflective account, with moderate to substantial agreement (ICC = 0.55–0.69, p < 0.001); and high agreement for all raters for the overall score (ICC = 0.96, p < 0.001), respectively. The G-Study estimated a relative error coefficient of 0.78. Conclusion This additional analysis further confirms the reliability and applicability of the rubric to a range of rater academic backgrounds

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

The Relationship between Reflective Practice, Learning Styles and Academic Performance in Pharmacy Education

Introduction: Reflective thinking is conceptualised as a higher order thinking process that challenges one’s own beliefs and assumptions in order to come to new insights and understandings, thus making better informed decisions (Boud et al., 1985; Dewey, 1910; Dewey, 1933; Kolb, 1984; Mezirow, 1991; Schon, 1995; Tsingoset al., 2014). Developing reflective skills in pharmacy education is crucial, yet the current literature in this area is scant (Tsingos et al., 2014). AimsThis research aimed to (i) investigate reflective practices to enhance pharmacy education and, (ii) develop, test and evaluate a model which could be utilised to assess reflective practices in pharmacy education. MethodsPhase 1 involved conducting three literature reviews followed by Phase 2 with the undertaking of five research projects utilising both quantitative and qualitative measures. ResultsThe eight research projects within this Thesis demonstrated that reflective practice skills can be effectively taught through prompts and instruction; may assist in the deeper learning process; promote critical thinking skills to enhance future practice; have the potential to enhance students’ academic performance and can be reliably assessed by raters from different educational disciplines. ConclusionAmodel utilising a suite of reflective activities and a novel assessment strategy have been proposed, and have been integrated into an undergraduate Pharmacy curriculum

"Two heads are better than one" : pharmacy and nursing students' perspectives on interprofessional collaboration utilizing the RIPE model of learning

Background: Simulation is an effective strategy for enhancing interprofessional education (IPE) and collaboration (IPC). Objectives: A novel interprofessional learning model, The RIPE Model (Reflective Interprofessional Education Model) was applied for a pilot study during a simulation laboratory aimed to (i) enhance pharmacy and nursing students’ understanding of the roles and responsibilities of professions within the multidisciplinary healthcare team; and (ii) enhance the importance of working collaboratively in team-based care. Methods: The pilot study using a mixed-methods approach, including the administration of a 6-item student survey on a 6-point Likert-type scale as a pre-test (prior to participation in the simulation laboratory) and post-test (after participation in the simulation laboratory), and a debriefing session eliciting a follow up written reflective statement. Results: Sixty-four students (n = 56 pharmacy; n = 8 nursing) participated in the study which resulted n = 52 pharmacy students and n = 8 nursing students matched data to a pre-test and post-test survey, analyzed via paired t-tests. Statistically significant results (p < 0.05) reported a positive increase in pharmacy students' perceptions from the pre-test and post-test survey for all six items indicating the extent of agreement of IPC; and for one item on the nursing student survey. Qualitative analysis of reflective statements (n = 62) was conducted via thematic analysis utilizing Braun and Clarke's 6-phase process. Thematic analysis generated one overarching theme: IPC: Developing appreciation and respect for healthcare team members to improve patient outcomes; and three subthemes: (i) Enhanced decision-making; (ii) Communication and collaboration; (iii) New understandings of roles and responsibilities. Conclusions: Students perceived that utilizing the RIPE Model of learning involving simulation to enhance interprofessional collaboration assisted their understanding of the roles, functions and responsibilities of other healthcare professionals involved the patient care team. Effective collaboration was perceived to be beneficial to enhancing confidence with engagement and communication, appreciation and respect for the expertise of other healthcare professions