Facilitation of student-staff partnership in development of digital learning tools through a special study module

A student-staff partnership was formed as part of a final year special study module to provide dental students the opportunity to work closely with faculty to produce high-quality e-learning resources in areas of the curriculum identified by the students as particularly difficult. The student-staff team identified the following themes as major influences on the success of the project: student-staff interaction, ownership, managing expectations, time pressures, and co-creation partnership benefits. This partnership resulted in a valuable learning experience for both the students and staff involved. The resource developed was evaluated by junior dental students in second and third year of the five year Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) degree programme at Glasgow Dental School and showed a high degree of acceptability by those in both groups. The quality assurance built into the process has resulted in an e-learning resource that has been incorporated directly into our flipped classroom model for pre-clinical skills teaching

Student Partnership in E-learning: the Development of Online Resources for Students by Students in Dentistry

Dentistry is a dynamic and ever changing specialty that has been strongly influenced by developments in technology and therefore our teaching strategies must evolve to keep pace with these changes. E-learning has become an integral part of the dental curriculum, with a marked increase in use over recent years. However dental students have up until now been the recipients rather than active participants in the development of dental e-learning resources. Bovill et al (2011) conclude that it is incumbent upon us to reconsider students' roles in their education and reposition students to take a more active part - as co- creators of teaching approaches, course design and curricula. In this paper the presenters will outline the design and product of a self- selected study module (SSM) offered to year five dental students in e-learning. The SSM offers the opportunity for students to work as small teams with the school learning technologist and academic staff to identify, design, develop and evaluate quality-assured e-learning objects. Each group (n=2) with the guidance and quality assurance of academic staff will create a resource that can be integrated within the current University of Glasgow BDS curriculum for future years. It will become a useful revision resource that will supplement the learning and teaching received elsewhere within the course and will be accessible to all dental students in Scotland via the Scottish Dental Education Online (SDEO) programme. The SSM provides the opportunity of student participation in learning with technology and designing aspects of the curriculum, and aligns with the University's Learning and Teaching strategic objective of building staff-student partnerships to promote student engagement with learning

Staff/Student Partnership to Encourage Active and Blended Learning

This poster and GASTA talk are a reflective commentary on the steps and collaboration undertaken to redevelop the VLE pages of the University of Glasgow Dental Programme. There are two primary aims of this project, the first is to improve the usability of Moodle by altering the structure and layout. The secondary aim is to facilitate creativity from academic staff by removing barriers that are present in the confines of the current platform and enabling them with a more tailored and functional Moodle. Staff will receive support in the development of more interactive teaching methods, such as interactive videos, flipped classroom, active and blended learning techniques. Moodle is currently primarily used as a repository for lecture slides and lacks a sense of cohesion as each lecturer formats their folders in different ways. Staff experience confusion over what they are responsible for and which files belong to which academic, resulting in increased clutter over many years. For some time, students – through staff/student liaison committees – and staff have complained about the difficulty of navigating and finding resources within our Moodle section. Also, as the current layout does not lend itself well to enabling staff wishing to try innovative active or use blended learning approaches only a few early adopters have tried. So, at the beginning of academic year 2018/19 a decision was made to consider a full redevelopment of programme Moodle structures with a ‘blank slate’ philosophy. Utilising Adekola et al’s (2017) framework for guiding transitions into blended and online education we identified the key factors, stakeholders, and barriers & enablers to making this scale of change. As part of engaging stakeholders, the project would initially be carried out as a collaboration between early innovator academics, technical support, and students. The Dental School already has many years of experience in engaging students in e-learning development (McKerlie et al, 2016) so could engage with the student experience through our established Technology Enhanced Learning & Teaching Partnership staff/student forum. As we also already had extensive School experience in the use of flipped classroom techniques (Crothers et al, 2017) we could use these structures and lessons learned as a starting point from which to develop templates. Using the ABC Learning Design technique (Young & Perovic, 2016) to support lecturers to build their content around the Biggs (2003) model of Constructive Alignment the aim was to utilise the Clinical Dentistry course to create Moodle pages organised both chronologically and by subject, with active and blended learning elements embedded throughout. With the development of these structures and templates we expect more lecturers will find it easier to engage with and utilise TELT techniques. This poster and session will reflect on the journey and experience of collaborating to redevelop the Clinical Dentistry section into the new model and offer insights into how to support academic staff to utilise creative approaches through online and blended learning

Staff/Student Partnership to Encourage Active and Blended Learning

This poster and GASTA talk are a reflective commentary on the steps and collaboration undertaken to redevelop the VLE pages of the University of Glasgow Dental Programme. There are two primary aims of this project, the first is to improve the usability of Moodle by altering the structure and layout. The secondary aim is to facilitate creativity from academic staff by removing barriers that are present in the confines of the current platform and enabling them with a more tailored and functional Moodle. Staff will receive support in the development of more interactive teaching methods, such as interactive videos, flipped classroom, active and blended learning techniques. Moodle is currently primarily used as a repository for lecture slides and lacks a sense of cohesion as each lecturer formats their folders in different ways. Staff experience confusion over what they are responsible for and which files belong to which academic, resulting in increased clutter over many years. For some time, students – through staff/student liaison committees – and staff have complained about the difficulty of navigating and finding resources within our Moodle section. Also, as the current layout does not lend itself well to enabling staff wishing to try innovative active or use blended learning approaches only a few early adopters have tried. So, at the beginning of academic year 2018/19 a decision was made to consider a full redevelopment of programme Moodle structures with a ‘blank slate’ philosophy. Utilising Adekola et al’s (2017) framework for guiding transitions into blended and online education we identified the key factors, stakeholders, and barriers & enablers to making this scale of change. As part of engaging stakeholders, the project would initially be carried out as a collaboration between early innovator academics, technical support, and students. The Dental School already has many years of experience in engaging students in e-learning development (McKerlie et al, 2016) so could engage with the student experience through our established Technology Enhanced Learning & Teaching Partnership staff/student forum. As we also already had extensive School experience in the use of flipped classroom techniques (Crothers et al, 2017) we could use these structures and lessons learned as a starting point from which to develop templates. Using the ABC Learning Design technique (Young & Perovic, 2016) to support lecturers to build their content around the Biggs (2003) model of Constructive Alignment the aim was to utilise the Clinical Dentistry course to create Moodle pages organised both chronologically and by subject, with active and blended learning elements embedded throughout. With the development of these structures and templates we expect more lecturers will find it easier to engage with and utilise TELT techniques. This poster and session will reflect on the journey and experience of collaborating to redevelop the Clinical Dentistry section into the new model and offer insights into how to support academic staff to utilise creative approaches through online and blended learning

All in the Name: A Review of Current Standards and the Evolution of Histopathological Nomenclature for Laboratory Animals

The need for international collaboration in rodent pathology has evolved since the 1970s, and was initially driven by the new field of toxicologic pathology. First initiated by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer for rodents, it has evolved to include pathology of the major species (rats, mice, guinea pigs, nonhuman primates, pigs, dogs, fish, rabbits) used in medical research, safety assessment and mouse pathology. The collaborative effort today is driven by the needs of the regulatory agencies in multiple countries, and by needs of research involving genetically engineered animals, for “basic” research, and for more translational preclinical models of human disease. These efforts led to the establishment of an international rodent pathology nomenclature program. Since that time, multiple collaborations for standardization of laboratory animal pathology nomenclature and diagnostic criteria have been developed, and just a few are described herein. Recently, approaches to a nomenclature that is amenable to sophisticated computation have been made available and implemented for large-scale programs in functional genomics and ageing. Most terminologies continue to evolve as the science of human and veterinary pathology continues to develop, but standardization and successful implementation remain as critical for scientific communication, now as ever in the history of veterinary nosology.Government of Canada through Genome Canada and Ontario Genomics (OGI-051), Commission of the European Community QLRI-1999-CT-0320, the Ellison Medical Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health (CA34196, CA089713, and AG038070-05

A Review of Current Standards and the Evolution of Histopathology Nomenclature for Laboratory Animals.

The need for international collaboration in rodent pathology has evolved since the 1970s and was initially driven by the new field of toxicologic pathology. First initiated by the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer for rodents, it has evolved to include pathology of the major species (rats, mice, guinea pigs, nonhuman primates, pigs, dogs, fish, rabbits) used in medical research, safety assessment, and mouse pathology. The collaborative effort today is driven by the needs of the regulatory agencies in multiple countries, and by needs of research involving genetically engineered animals, for "basic" research and for more translational preclinical models of human disease. These efforts led to the establishment of an international rodent pathology nomenclature program. Since that time, multiple collaborations for standardization of laboratory animal pathology nomenclature and diagnostic criteria have been developed, and just a few are described herein. Recently, approaches to a nomenclature that is amenable to sophisticated computation have been made available and implemented for large-scale programs in functional genomics and aging. Most terminologies continue to evolve as the science of human and veterinary pathology continues to develop, but standardization and successful implementation remain critical for scientific communication now as ever in the history of veterinary nosology

A rapid transition to blended learning: the journey of a dental degree programme pivoting online

The University of Glasgow Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) degree programme is a practical clinical professionally regulated discipline. Given the mode of transmission of SARS Cov-2 the dental profession and associated programmes of study have been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, necessitating a rapid pivot to online and blended learning. This case study shows how the work of early adopters of technology enhanced learning and teaching (TELT) at the dental school, and a timely staff-student partnership helped to lay the foundations for this pivot in response to the challenges brought about by the pandemic. A large amount of teaching required modification and adaptation to support remote delivery and, through collaboration, innovation and supported creativity, we were able to produce some very effective models for learning and teaching. To illustrate this, two specific examples have been presented: a novel approach to support the delivery of essential local anaesthesia training for second year dental students using collaborative wikis and online learning; and the use Microsoft Teams to support student integration and a sense of community among our first year dental students through active, small group collaborative learning. The challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic have provided the opportunity to align the teaching of practical skills with technology and instil a positive shift in institutional practices. The effectiveness of this shift within the BDS degree programme and the impact on the development of our students will remain the focus of the school’s TELT partnership

Nanoimprinting of biomedical polymers reduces candidal physical adhesion

Management of fungal biofilms represents a significant challenge to healthcare. As a preventive approach, minimising adhesion between indwelling medical devices and microorganisms would be an important step forward. This study investigated the anti-fouling capacity of engineered nanoscale topographies to the pathogenic yeast Candida albicans. Highly ordered arrays of nano-pit topographies were shown to significantly reduce the physical adherence capacity of C. albicans. This study shows a potential of nanoscale patterns to inhibit and prevent pathogenic biofilm formation on biomedical substrates

The scholarship of teaching and learning: a university teacher learning community’s work in progress1

The understanding of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) has raised debate amongst many academics employed in Higher Education (HE). One way of exploring the issues surrounding SoTL in academic institutions has been through the establishment of learning communities (LCs). Very popular in HE establishments within the United States of America, LCs allow a comfortable environment in which academic staff may explore ways to develop professional scholarship in relation to individual disciplines. This can be achieved through sharing of ideas and fostering a multidisciplinary approach to SoTL by establishing contact with other academics who may not otherwise have the chance to meet.This paper examines the experience of exploring SoTL at the start of a newly formed LC that is composed of a relatively new breed of academic staff, entitled ‘University Teachers’ (UTs), at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. This LC, believed to be one of the first in existence in HE in the UK, will allow a diverse group of academics to explore SoTL in a community environment. This article explores the issues arising in the establishment of the newly formed LC, as well as raising the question of the potential impact of the LC on university policy for SoTL and UTs

The scholarship of teaching and learning: a university teacher learning community’s work in progress1

The understanding of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) has raised debate amongst many academics employed in Higher Education (HE). One way of exploring the issues surrounding SoTL in academic institutions has been through the establishment of learning communities (LCs). Very popular in HE establishments within the United States of America, LCs allow a comfortable environment in which academic staff may explore ways to develop professional scholarship in relation to individual disciplines. This can be achieved through sharing of ideas and fostering a multidisciplinary approach to SoTL by establishing contact with other academics who may not otherwise have the chance to meet.This paper examines the experience of exploring SoTL at the start of a newly formed LC that is composed of a relatively new breed of academic staff, entitled ‘University Teachers’ (UTs), at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. This LC, believed to be one of the first in existence in HE in the UK, will allow a diverse group of academics to explore SoTL in a community environment. This article explores the issues arising in the establishment of the newly formed LC, as well as raising the question of the potential impact of the LC on university policy for SoTL and UTs