Developing inclusive pedagogies in HE through an understanding of the learner-consumer : promiscuity, hybridisation, and innovation

Abstract: This article contributes to debates about how to respond to the changing profile of Higher Education (HE) students, and the marketisation of HE, by challenging prevailing views about student engagement, in order to develop learner-centric and inclusive pedagogies which are relevant to the twenty-first century. The concepts of ‘participatory culture’ and ‘co-creativity’ are often associated with the digital world in which the current generation of students have grown up. But it is a mistake to assume that some learning styles are inherently more participatory than others: participation is not an effect of the medium or form, (analog vs digital), or the space (actual vs virtual), or the mode of interaction a (face-to-face vs networked) through which the learner participates – it is an effect of the practices involved. Students engage with a complex network of both digital and analog texts and spaces, and it is this postdigital hybrid setting within which student engagement takes place. Marketisation provides an opportunity to actively demonstrate our commitments to student-centredness and inclusive practice, by transcending the binary opposition between ‘Student as Partner’ and ‘Student as Consumer’ and recognizing that students are learner-consumers, and allowing students’ diversity to drive innovation, rather than continuing to disempower students by bolstering practices which privilege some learning styles above others, informed by the assumption that innovation is technology-led

Polyfunctional T-Cell Responses Are Disrupted by the Ovarian Cancer Ascites Environment and Only Partially Restored by Clinically Relevant Cytokines

Host T-cell responses are associated with favorable outcomes in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), but it remains unclear how best to promote these responses in patients. Toward this goal, we evaluated a panel of clinically relevant cytokines for the ability to enhance multiple T-cell effector functions (polyfunctionality) in the native tumor environment.Experiments were performed with resident CD8+ and CD4+ T cells in bulk ascites cell preparations from high-grade serous EOC patients. T cells were stimulated with α-CD3 in the presence of 100% autologous ascites fluid with or without exogenous IL-2, IL-12, IL-18 or IL-21, alone or in combination. T-cell proliferation (Ki-67) and function (IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-2, CCL4, and CD107a expression) were assessed by multi-parameter flow cytometry. In parallel, 27 cytokines were measured in culture supernatants. While ascites fluid had variable effects on CD8+ and CD4+ T-cell proliferation, it inhibited T-cell function in most patient samples, with CD107a, IFN-γ, and CCL4 showing the greatest inhibition. This was accompanied by reduced levels of IL-1β, IL-1ra, IL-9, IL-17, G-CSF, GM-CSF, Mip-1α, PDGF-bb, and bFGF in culture supernatants. T-cell proliferation was enhanced by exogenous IL-2, but other T-cell functions were largely unaffected by single cytokines. The combination of IL-2 with cytokines engaging complementary signaling pathways, in particular IL-12 and IL-18, enhanced expression of IFN-γ, TNF-α, and CCL4 in all patient samples by promoting polyfunctional T-cell responses. Despite this, other functional parameters generally remained inhibited.The EOC ascites environment disrupts multiple T-cell functions, and exogenous cytokines engaging diverse signaling pathways only partially reverse these effects. Our results may explain the limited efficacy of cytokine therapies for EOC to date. Full restoration of T-cell function will require activation of signaling pathways beyond those engaged by IL-2, IL-12, IL-18, and IL-21

Economic impact of screening for X-linked Adrenoleukodystrophy within a newborn blood spot screening programme.

BACKGROUND: A decision tree model was built to estimate the economic impact of introducing screening for X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD) into an existing tandem mass spectrometry based newborn screening programme. The model was based upon the UK National Health Service (NHS) Newborn Blood Spot Screening Programme and a public service perspective was used with a lifetime horizon. The model structure and parameterisation were based upon literature reviews and expert clinical judgment. Outcomes included health, social care and education costs and quality adjusted life years (QALYs). The model assessed screening of boys only and evaluated the impact of improved outcomes from hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in patients with cerebral childhood X-ALD (CCALD). Threshold analyses were used to examine the potential impact of utility decrements for non-CCALD patients identified by screening. RESULTS: It is estimated that screening 780,000 newborns annually will identify 18 (95%CI 12, 27) boys with X-ALD, of whom 10 (95% CI 6, 15) will develop CCALD. It is estimated that screening may detect 7 (95% CI 3, 12) children with other peroxisomal disorders who may also have arisen symptomatically. If results for girls are returned an additional 17 (95% CI 12, 25) cases of X-ALD will be identified. The programme is estimated to cost an additional £402,000 (95% CI £399-407,000) with savings in lifetime health, social care and education costs leading to an overall discounted cost saving of £3.04 (95% CI £5.69, £1.19) million per year. Patients with CCALD are estimated to gain 8.5 discounted QALYs each giving an overall programme benefit of 82 (95% CI 43, 139) QALYs. CONCLUSION: Including screening of boys for X-ALD into an existing tandem mass spectrometry based newborn screening programme is projected to reduce lifetime costs and improve outcomes for those with CCALD. The potential disbenefit to those identified with non-CCALD conditions would need to be substantial in order to outweigh the benefit to those with CCALD. Further evidence is required on the potential QALY impact of early diagnosis both for non-CCALD X-ALD and other peroxisomal disorders. The favourable economic results are driven by estimated reductions in the social care and education costs

Do no harm: Risk aversion versus risk management in the context of pedagogic frailty

Innovation in teaching ensures that education remains fit for purpose in a changing world. The model of pedagogic frailty (Kinchin, Alpay, Curtis, Franklin, Rivers & Winstone, 2016) proposes that educators may perceive innovation as risky, which may inhibit innovation, and thus reduce opportunities to update learning experiences. Within psychology, psychological literacy (the skills, knowledge and attributes acquired as outcomes of studying psychology) is becoming increasingly central to the curriculum. Educators are teaching more applied psychology, which requires new pedagogic approaches and are adopting and modelling core professional values espoused as components of psychological literacy, including evidence-based practice, ethics, and professional competence. We argue that psychology educators (and those from other disciplines) may assess the risk of innovation through the lenses of these professional values. The decision to maintain ‘safe’ practices may reflect a risk management approach, rather than frailty. We propose a model whereby frailty may depend on social context and risk in different educational circumstances. The professional values associated with psychological literacy and similar integrative disciplinary constructs, which at first seem to hinder innovation, may promote innovation which is creative and safe, and will facilitate the development of a rigorous evidence base to inform future practice

Integrative Disciplinary Concepts: The Case of Psychological Literacy

Formal education systems tend to emphasize the acquisition of knowledge to the detriment of other types of learning, but it is vital now to conceive education in a more encompassing fashion. (Learning: The Treasure Within, UNESCO, 1996) In 1996, a UNESCO report entitled Learning: The Treasure Within (Delors et al., 1996) identified four ‘pillars’ of learning that should inform curriculum development in the 21st Century: Learning to know (learning how to learn); Learning to do (learning vocational and professional skills, and how to apply knowledge beyond the classroom); Learning to be (learning to deploy independence, judgment, and personal responsibility); and Learning to live together (learning to understand diversity and respect in ways that can resolve challenges and conflicts). Importantly, the four pillars inform an approach to curriculum design that unites content and pedagogy through the use of integrative values, such as ‘democratic participation in society’, and ‘learning throughout life’. Such integration between discipline and pedagogy, where “the subject matter is selected, organised and formulated for the purpose of teaching and learning” (Deng, 2007: 504) can maximise outcomes for learners, but can also be of significant benefit to educators. In this chapter, we will introduce theoretical perspectives that integrate discipline and pedagogy, before presenting a specific integrative disciplinary concept (IDC), that of Psychological Literacy. In recent years, at least in the UK, US, and Australia, there have been moves to structure the psychology curriculum around this unifying concept (Halpern, 2010; Trapp et al., 2011). Psychological literacy represents a focus not only on immersing students in the subject matter of psychology, but also equipping them with the skills to apply psychology to all domains of life. As a result, pedagogy is intrinsically bound to the notion of discipline, as teaching and assessment decisions are made with a consideration of what graduates will do with what they learn from their psychology degree. We will then consider how an IDC such as psychological literacy might offer one way to minimise educators’ vulnerability to the effects of pedagogic frailty. We will close by offering some tentative recommendations for promoting the use of IDCs across the disciplines

Facilitating students’ proactive recipience of feedback with feedback portfolios

Feedback is most effective when students are active participants in the feedback process. However, students may need to be supported to become proactive recipients of feedback. This chapter discusses how feedback portfolios are potentially useful interventions that may facilitate students’ recipience skills of self-appraisal, goal-setting and self-regulation, and engagement and motivation. After reviewing the ways in which feedback portfolios appear to target recipience processes, we present a qualitative case study of students’ perceptions of a VLE-embedded feedback e-portfolio to understand more about the ways in which portfolios actually facilitate recipience skills, and whether any barriers are experienced by students. We also reflect on our student-staff partnership approach, particularly in relation to how this benefitted our case study data collection