Formal Learning in an Informal Setting – The First Semester Student Learning Experience Outside the Classroom.

During a visit to the Centre for Active Learning at the University of Gloucestershire by members of the Information and Learning Service staff, a common interest in the student learning experience outside the formal classroom setting was identified. Both universities were undertaking extensive work on their provision of informal learning environments and it was felt a joint project to investigate the students’ learning experience and preferences would be useful to inform these developments with a specific focus on e-learning and active learning

Calling the GP surgery: patient burden, patient satisfaction, and implications for training

BACKGROUND: Good communication is central to the effectiveness of general practice (GP) service provision, as well as to patient satisfaction with surgeries, but very little is known about the actual communication that occurs between patients and surgeries. AIM: This study was carried out to examine, for the first time, how receptionists interact with patients on the telephone, in order to identify features of communication associated with efficacy and patient satisfaction. DESIGN AND SETTING: We conducted a qualitative conversation analysis of incoming patient telephone calls, recorded ‘for training purposes’, in three English GP surgeries. METHODS: Data were analysed qualitatively to identify effective communication, then coded to establish the relative prevalence of communication types across each surgery. RESULTS: Analysis identified a burden on patients to drive calls forward and achieve service. ‘Patient burden’ occurred when receptionists failed to offer alternatives to patients whose initial requests could not be met, or to summarize relevant next actions (e.g., appointment, call-back, etc.) at the end of calls. Coding revealed that ‘patient burden’ frequency differed across the services. Increased ‘patient burden’ was associated with decreased satisfaction on published satisfaction survey scores. CONCLUSION: Patients in some practices have to push for service when calling GP surgeries. Conversation analysis specifies what constitutes (in)effective communication. Findings can then underpin receptionist training and improve patient experience and satisfaction

Patient burden during appointment-making telephone calls to GP practices

Objective: This study addresses, for the first time, the effectiveness of receptionists handling incoming calls from patients to access General Practice services. Methods: It is a large-scale qualitative study of three services in the UK. Using conversation analysis, we identified the issue of ‘patient burden’, which we defined based on the trouble patients display pursuing service. We quantified instances of ‘patient burden’ using a coding scheme. Results: We demonstrate how ‘patient burden’ unfolds in two phases of the telephone calls: (i) following an initial rejection of a patient’s request; and (ii) following a receptionist’s initiation of call closing. Our quantitative analysis shows that the three GP services differ in the frequency of ‘patient burden’ and reveals a correlation between the proportion of ‘patient burden’ and independent national satisfaction scores for these surgeries. Conclusion: Unlike post-hoc surveys, our analysis of live calls identifies the communicative practices which may constitute patient (dis)satisfaction. Practice Implications: Through establishing what receptionists handle well or less well in encounters with patients, we propose ways of improving such encounters through training or other forms of intervention

Conceptualising Primary-Secondary School Transitions:A Systematic Mapping Review of Worldviews, Theories and Frameworks

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Improving indoor air quality and occupant health through smart control of windows and portable air purifiers in residential buildings

Indoor exposure to PM2.5 (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 μm) has a substantial negative impact on people’s health. However, indoor PM2.5 can be controlled through effective ventilation and filtration. This study aimed to develop a smart control framework that (1) combines a portable home air purifier (HAP) and window control system to reduce indoor PM2.5 concentrations whilst maintaining thermal comfort; (2) evaluates the associated health impacts and additional energy use. The proposed framework was demonstrated through a simulation-based case study of a low-energy apartment. The simulation results showed that joint control of HAP and window openings has great potential to not only maintain thermal comfort but also achieve effective PM2.5 removal which, consequently, can lead to considerable health benefits at a low additional energy cost. Compared to similar previous studies, the strength of the proposed control framework lies in combining window operations and HAPs in the same system and including both thermal comfort and indoor PM2.5 as the control targets. This work also introduces a novel concept of linking a building control system with a health impact assessment, an important and innovative step in the creation of holistic and responsive building controls. Practical application: This study proposes a novel control framework that jointly controls portable home air purifiers (HAPs) and windows to maintain thermal comfort and achieve effective PM2.5 removal. The simulation results suggest that such a hybrid control strategy can result in considerable health benefits at low additional energy costs

Late style and speaking out: J A Symonds's In the Key of Blue

This article examines In the Key of Blue (1893)—an essay collection by John Addington Symonds—as a case study in queer public utterance during the early 1890s. Viewed through the critical lens of late style, as theorised by Edward Said, the evolution of this project, from compilation through to reader reception, reveals Symonds's determination to “speak out” on the subject of homosexuality. Paradoxically, In the Key of Blue was thus a timely and untimely work: it belonged to a brief period of increased visibility and expressiveness when dealing with male same-sex desire, spearheaded by a younger generation of Decadent writers, but it also cut against the grain of nineteenth-century social taboo and legal repression. Symonds's essay collection brought together new and previously unpublished work with examples of his writing for the periodical press. These new combinations, appearing together for the first time, served to facilitate new readings and new inferences, bringing homosexual themes to the fore. This article traces the dialogic structure of In the Key of Blue , its strategies for articulating homosexual desire, and examines the response of reviewers, from the hostile to celebratory

International insights into how can we improve children’s emotional wellbeing over primary-secondary school transitions?

The transition from primary to secondary school provides children with opportunities and challenges that can impact their emotional experiences. Recognising that to date there is limited research which focuses on children's emotional experiences of primary-secondary school transition, a group of transitions researchers participated in a symposium at the British Psychological Society Psychology of Education Section Conference 2022, addressing this important topic. The purpose of the symposium was to bring together four international studies, which used different research designs to examine children’s emotional well-being over primary-secondary school transition. Through these talks and discussions which occurred during the symposium, current thinking, developments, and practice in this area, in addition to considering some of the challenges and opportunities present within primary-secondary school transitions research, are explored in order to better understand and support children’s emotional wellbeing over primary-secondary school transitions