It Takes a Village: Building Faculty Connections to Support Student Learning in the Education and Skills Training (ESTR) Program During COVID-19

Q: What do an ESTR Instructor, a Reference Librarian, a Coordinator of Educational Technologies and Innovation, and a Coordinator of Learning and Faculty Development have in common? A: A deep commitment to student learning! Due to COVID-19, ESTR students were unable to do in-community practica: instead, they engaged in transferable skill development in their safety bubbles. To broaden and enrich these experiences, small groups of students and their instructor had regular, structured consultations with a Reference Librarian. These sessions were, like all of the other content from the course, delivered virtually. While the technology and design of the course were ultimately the responsibility of the instructor, the development of both were supported and facilitated by the faculty development opportunities and one-on-one support offered by an Educational Technology Coordinator and a Coordinator from TRU’s Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT). Through the Facilitating Learning in Moodle course offered last summer, the Coordinator from CELT shared the Community of Inquiry Framework, which became the model for the ESTR Instructor’s course development. As well, the Educational Technology Coordinator provided training on the use of the WordPress platform, as well as other systems and tools—notably Moodle and H5P. Therefore, while the ESTR Instructor worked to build community with and for her learners, an informal faculty learning community was simultaneously forming around her and her course. In this session, we will share how our individual contributions built a whole that was greater than the sum of its parts. During the pandemic, faculty with various roles have done their part to ensure that students still have the best possible learning experience, and in the process we have discovered elements of virtual instruction that can be used to broaden and enrich educational experiences long after COVID-19. Finally, we have re-discovered how our roles are interconnected as we all work towards the common goal of student success

Evidencing the value of educational development: Charting a course on the waves and winds of change

Across higher education, educational developers and theirsupporting campus communities are being called upon to scale up evidence-informedpractices, to enhance student experiences, and to document the changes. Thisarticle builds on the work of scholars who have taken up this evaluativechallenge, by examining varied aspects of the evidencing process using anadaptation of Saunders’s (2000) RUFDATA framework for evidencing value.Reflections on emerging patterns and tensions in the evidencing of educationaldevelopment are subsequently discussed. We argue for making evidencing value apurposeful and intentional process, and we chart a path forward for creatingand implementing a vision for the age of evidence.https://doi.org/10.3998/tia.171542pubpub

The need for ethical guidance for the use of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in 2 research and clinical practice

To the Editor—Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are increasingly being used in clinical research to provide evidence of the benefits and risk of therapy from a patient perspective. PRO data from clinical trials can inform regulatory approvals and drug labeling, clinical guideline development and health policy1. Approximately one third of clinical trials include PROs collected through the use of patient questionnaires2. Beyond trials, PRO data are also increasingly captured in observational research and routine clinical care to provide information on the burden of disease and real-world evidence of treatment safety and effectiveness3, for audit and benchmarking1, and to monitor the status of patients and provide timely care tailored to individual needs. For instance, a study demonstrated that systematic web-based collection of information on symptoms led to improved health-related quality of life, survival and quality-adjusted survival, and fewer visits to the emergency room and hospitalization, among patients receiving chemotherapy for advanced solid tumors4. Patients value PRO trial results, as they can enhance clinician–patient communication about treatment options, which helps patients to feel more empowered in shared decision-making around their care5

The impact of immediate breast reconstruction on the time to delivery of adjuvant therapy: the iBRA-2 study

Background: Immediate breast reconstruction (IBR) is routinely offered to improve quality-of-life for women requiring mastectomy, but there are concerns that more complex surgery may delay adjuvant oncological treatments and compromise long-term outcomes. High-quality evidence is lacking. The iBRA-2 study aimed to investigate the impact of IBR on time to adjuvant therapy. Methods: Consecutive women undergoing mastectomy ± IBR for breast cancer July–December, 2016 were included. Patient demographics, operative, oncological and complication data were collected. Time from last definitive cancer surgery to first adjuvant treatment for patients undergoing mastectomy ± IBR were compared and risk factors associated with delays explored. Results: A total of 2540 patients were recruited from 76 centres; 1008 (39.7%) underwent IBR (implant-only [n = 675, 26.6%]; pedicled flaps [n = 105,4.1%] and free-flaps [n = 228, 8.9%]). Complications requiring re-admission or re-operation were significantly more common in patients undergoing IBR than those receiving mastectomy. Adjuvant chemotherapy or radiotherapy was required by 1235 (48.6%) patients. No clinically significant differences were seen in time to adjuvant therapy between patient groups but major complications irrespective of surgery received were significantly associated with treatment delays. Conclusions: IBR does not result in clinically significant delays to adjuvant therapy, but post-operative complications are associated with treatment delays. Strategies to minimise complications, including careful patient selection, are required to improve outcomes for patients

Like our Students’ Experience: Moving Faculty Development Online

As the TRU community moved to working remotely and teaching virtually, CELT’s coordinators of learning and faculty development moved programming online. Through these experiences of transitioning spaces and learning, we focused on guiding principles (flexibility, community, and reflexivity on our own teaching). We will share key learning that emerged through this experience of making lemonade (learning opportunity) from lemons (being remote and online)—learning that will continue to inform our faculty development offerings long after the pandemic is over

POSTER: Why Your Students Struggle With Assignments

Do you students have lots of questions when they work on your assignments? Or maybe they have few questions, but what they hand in doesn’t always meet your expectations? If either of these scenarios is familiar, this poster presentation is for you! In their poster, Carolyn and Jenna will provide tips and resources for assessment that both fosters and reflects better student learning. With the goal of increasing opportunities for critical thinking, accountability, and autonomy in our students, we will focus specifically on activities in the classroom that improve understanding and metacognitive awareness in relation to assignments; creating assignments with appropriate language, volume of information, and expectations; and giving useful, objective feedback that aligns with the goals in your rubric. Please bring questions about your own assignments with you

Transformative Curriculum Design through Open Educational Resource Creation

At their best, open educational resources (OER) are known to foster equity, accessibility, and flexibility for users and include multiple perspectives from a collaborative community for creators and contributors (Hylén, 2006). Therefore, when planning our university’s first offering of a week-long course (re)design workshop (based on Saroyan & Amundsen, 2004), recognizing we had been primarily using materials from other post-secondary institutions, we opted to create resources specific to our university through a one-day facilitated writing sprint. Moving beyond offering information simply for course design, we decided to create an OER that encompasses three main areas of curriculum planning and design: composition, mapping, and alignment of learning outcomes; choice and alignment of instructional strategies and learning activities; and alignment of outcomes assessment at all levels. During the OER content development stage, the group also recognized the opportunity to position the OER, named CRICKET, as a community building tool, focusing on learning re-design. The site not only hosts curriculum planning and design information, it also features an OER authoring tool that invites participants to share their work with their peers. Through our OER creation process, we determined that OER have the potential to transform not only how information is disseminated and used, but also how it is created

Evidencing the Value of Educational Development: Charting a Course on the Waves and Winds of Change

Across higher education, educational developers and their supporting campus communities are being called upon to scale up evidence-informed practices, to enhance student experiences, and to document the changes. This article builds on the work of scholars who have taken up this evaluative challenge, by examining varied aspects of the evidencing process using an adaptation of Saunders’s (2000) RUFDATA framework for evidencing value. Reflections on emerging patterns and tensions in the evidencing of educational development are subsequently discussed. We argue for making evidencing value a purposeful and intentional process, and we chart a path forward for creating and implementing a vision for the age of evidence