Potential Learning Opportunities Research Articles

Nanotechnology and knowledge relatedness: how to identify optimal regional partners in EU innovation networks?

Abstract Research & Innovation (R&I) policy initiatives employed by the European Union (EU) across its regional economies are important instruments to ensure the scientific and technological progress along with the associated benefits. One relevant aspect in this regard is to encourage and enable collaboration between regional partners to enhance potential learning opportunities and to ensure cohesive long-term development patterns. Furthermore, frequently these initiatives are also targeted at specific technology sectors, such as the EU R&I policy actions towards nanotechnology. Based on an advance theoretical framework and data from the official EU project databases as well as regionalized European Patent Office data, the present study develops a methodological tool through which it is possible to identify effective collaboration settings, while providing policymakers and evaluators with a practical tool that will enable them to predict the possible outcomes of such critical EU-funded R&I projects from the onset.

The disproportionate impact of peer learning on emergency radiology.

The use of peer learning methods in radiology continues to grow as a means to constructively learn from past mistakes. This study examined whether emergency radiologists receive a disproportionate amount of peer learning feedback entered as potential learning opportunities (PLO), which could play a significant role in stress and career satisfaction. Our institution offers 24/7 attending coverage, with emergency radiologists interpreting a wide range of X-ray, ultrasound and CT exams on both adults and pediatric patients. Peer learning submissions entered as PLO at a single large academic medical center over a span of 3years were assessed by subspecialty distribution and correlated with the number of attending radiologists in each section. Total number of studies performed on emergency department patients and throughout the hospital system were obtained for comparison purposes. Data was assessed using analysis of variance and post hoc analysis. Emergency radiologists received significantly more (2.5 times) PLO submissions than the next closest subspeciality division and received more yearly PLO submissions per attending compared to other subspeciality divisions. This was found to still be true when normalizing for increased case volumes; Emergency radiologists received more PLO submissions per 1000 studies compared to other divisions in our department (1.59 vs. 0.85, p = 0.04). Emergency radiologists were found to receive significantly more PLO submissions than their non-emergency colleagues. Presumed causes for this discrepancy may include a higher error rate secondary to wider range of studies interpreted, demand for shorter turn-around times, higher volumes of exams read per shift, and hindsight bias in the setting of follow-up review.

Exploring teacher learning through a hybrid cross-cultural lesson study in China and the United States

PurposeThis study aimed to explore teachers' learning processes through a hybrid cross-cultural lesson study (LS) because little is known about the learning process through this novel and promising LS approach.Design/methodology/approachThis cross-cultural LS lasted over six months focusing on developing a research lesson (RL) related to linear functions/equations by addressing a commonly concerned student learning difficulty. The data collected were lesson plans, videos of RLs, cross-culture sharing meetings and post-lesson study teacher interviews. A cultural-history activity theory (CHAT) perspective (Engeström, 2001) was used as a theoretical and analytical framework, and contradictions were viewed as driving forces of teachers' learning. The data were analyzed to identify contradictions and consequent teachers' learning by resolving these contradictions.FindingsThe results revealed four contradictions occurring during the hybrid cross-cultural LS that are related to the preferred teaching approach, culturally relevant tasks, making sense of the specific topic and enactment of the RL. By addressing these contradictions, the participating teachers perceived their learning in cultural beliefs, pedagogical practice and organization of the lesson.Research limitations/implicationsThis study details teachers' collaborative learning processes through hybrid cross-cultural LS and provides implications for effectively conducting cross-cultural LS. However, how the potential learning opportunity revealed from this case could be actualized at a larger scale in different cultures and the actual impact on local practices by adapting effective practices from another culture are important questions to be investigated further.Originality/valueThis study expands teacher learning through cross-cultural LS by focusing on contradictions cross-culturally as driving forces.

"Learning with each other, about each other": Interdisciplinary learning among genetic counseling students and clinical health psychology residents.

Interprofessional collaborative healthcare is known to improve provider satisfaction and retention, as well as patient safety and quality of care. The specific knowledge, skills, and attitudes required to work in these environments are best taught interprofessionally. Despite having considerable overlap in training, orientation, and populations served, it is rare for trainees from genetic counseling and clinical health psychology to interact and learn together. In 2017, we developed an innovative week-long clinical health psychology rotation for students in the University of Manitoba MSc in Genetic Counselling Program, which aims to enrich psychotherapeutic/counseling knowledge and skills, as well as gain familiarity with the work of clinical psychologists. This rotation incorporates didactic teaching, observation, and structured reflection. Didactic teaching includes topics such as psychological assessment, adaptation to life-altering news, skills for managing intense emotional responses, and counseling for change. Observations of clinical health psychologists and clinical health psychology residents occur in a range of health settings. Structured reflection is practiced in both oral and written formats. Finally, both groups of trainees participate in an interprofessional case seminar series. Feedback from this experience has been very promising, and it was identified as a strength in the program's accreditation review. Adaptations over time include refining the clinical exposures to increase breadth and relevance, increasing the contact between the trainees from the two professions and enhancing the case seminar series to be more learner-driven and to focus on explicit interprofessional skills and themes. In addition to expected results, this rotation has led to some unanticipated findings, including an emergent emphasis on the social determinants of health and the need to work collaboratively for systemic change. Further, psychology residents have identified that it benefits them to learn more about genetic counseling and expressed interest in potential reciprocal learning opportunities in genetics clinics.

Communicating risk during early phases of COVID-19: Comparing governing structures for emergency risk communication across four contexts.

Emergency risk communication (ERC) is key to achieving compliance with public health measures during pandemics. Yet, the factors that facilitated ERC during COVID-19 have not been analyzed. We compare ERC in the early stages of the pandemic across four socio-economic settings to identify how risk communication can be improved in public health emergencies (PHE). To map and assess the content, process, actors, and context of ERC in Germany, Guinea, Nigeria, and Singapore, we performed a qualitative document review, and thematically analyzed semi-structured key informant interviews with 155 stakeholders involved in ERC at national and sub-national levels. We applied Walt and Gilson's health policy triangle as a framework to structure the results. We identified distinct ERC strategies in each of the four countries. Various actors, including governmental leads, experts, and organizations with close contact to the public, collaborated closely to implement ERC strategies. Early integration of ERC into preparedness and response plans, lessons from previous experiences, existing structures and networks, and clear leadership were identified as crucial for ensuring message clarity, consistency, relevance, and an efficient use of resources. Areas of improvement primarily included two-way communication, community engagement, and monitoring and evaluation. Countries with recurrent experiences of pandemics appeared to be more prepared and equipped to implement ERC strategies. We found that considerable potential exists for countries to improve communication during public health emergencies, particularly in the areas of bilateral communication and community engagement as well as monitoring and evaluation. Building adaptive structures and maintaining long-term relationships with at-risk communities reportedly facilitated suitable communication. The findings suggest considerable potential and transferable learning opportunities exist between countries in the global north and countries in the global south with experience of managing outbreaks.

SimAIRR: simulation of adaptive immune repertoires with realistic receptor sequence sharing for benchmarking of immune state prediction methods.

Machine learning (ML) has gained significant attention for classifying immune states in adaptive immune receptor repertoires (AIRRs) to support the advancement of immunodiagnostics and therapeutics. Simulated data are crucial for the rigorous benchmarking of AIRR-ML methods. Existing approaches to generating synthetic benchmarking datasets result in the generation of naive repertoires missing the key feature of many shared receptor sequences (selected for common antigens) found in antigen-experienced repertoires. We demonstrate that a common approach to generating simulated AIRR benchmark datasets can introduce biases, which may be exploited for undesired shortcut learning by certain ML methods. To mitigate undesirable access to true signals in simulated AIRR datasets, we devised a simulation strategy (simAIRR) that constructs antigen-experienced-like repertoires with a realistic overlap of receptor sequences. simAIRR can be used for constructing AIRR-level benchmarks based on a range of assumptions (or experimental data sources) for what constitutes receptor-level immune signals. This includes the possibility of making or not making any prior assumptions regarding the similarity or commonality of immune state-associated sequences that will be used as true signals. We demonstrate the real-world realism of our proposed simulation approach by showing that basic ML strategies perform similarly on simAIRR-generated and real-world experimental AIRR datasets. This study sheds light on the potential shortcut learning opportunities for ML methods that can arise with the state-of-the-art way of simulating AIRR datasets. simAIRR is available as a Python package: https://github.com/KanduriC/simAIRR.

Empowering Families Through Research-based Museum Exhibits on Child Development: Impacts on Caregivers and Implications for Researcher–Museum Partnerships

ABSTRACT Increased recognition of the need to study child development outside of research labs in naturalistic contexts has led to the formation of partnerships between researchers and museums. Researcher–museum partnerships provide researchers access to families and naturalistic contexts in museums to study learning and social development. Although benefits for researchers are well established, benefits for the museum and museum visitors are less clear. To investigate the potential benefits of research exhibits for museum visitors, we compared the impacts of a research toy exhibit and permanent museum exhibits on parents and caregivers attending a children’s museum. Although caregivers reported that their children had less fun at the research exhibit, caregivers learned more at the research exhibit and reported that the research exhibit raised more questions and had greater relevance to them compared with permanent exhibits. Caregivers who visited research exhibits were also more likely to be reminded of and to apply ideas from the exhibit to their daily life compared to those who visited permanent exhibits. Our findings support the unique benefits of research exhibits for caregivers and indicate a need to showcase potential learning opportunities for visitors in future researcher–museum partnerships.

A Modeling Framework for Assessing the Value of Learning in Dynamic Adaptive Planning: Application to Green Infrastructure Investment Evaluation

AbstractTo cope with the uncertainty of green infrastructure planning, many cities take an adaptive approach and use learning‐by‐doing to improve estimates of the cost and efficacy of stormwater management practices (SMPs) and use that information to improve stormwater plans. However, deciding whether that learning is worth its expense has been a challenge for practitioners. We propose a modeling framework to assess the economic value of learning. Methodologically, we present a generalized adaptive planning method that includes learning from direct and indirect investments and multiple degrees of learning. The formulation enables users to specify possible knowledge gains from near‐term actions and quantify its value by assessing its impacts on subsequent decisions and their performance. Further, we quantify the values of both learning and adaptability by calculating differences in expected system performance between three types of decision making: non‐adaptive (no learning between decisions), passive adaptive (adaptive planning that passively accepts incidental learning), and active adaptive (adaptive planning that considers potential learning opportunities when choosing investments). For illustration, we apply the framework to an example inspired by a real stormwater management setting in Philadelphia, PA. In the example, the ability of SMPs to reduce runoff is evaluated by hydrological simulation. The literature and expert opinions inform estimates of costs, SMP performance deterioration over time, and predictions of possible knowledge gains. The results show that active adaptive planning supported by stochastic optimization can achieve substantial cost savings.

The teachers challenges in teaching safety education in early childhood education: A vision 20: 20:30

The preschool age represents a critical period of rapid physical, cognitive and psychosocial development in children. The quality and intensity of the care, nutrition, and stimulation that children receive during this time largely determine the level of physical and cognitive development they can achieve. This paper examines the potential challenges and learning opportunities that self-directed learning environments offer teachers from the perspective of teaching safety education in early childhood education. The challenges facing the early childhood education sector in the country today are the lack of educational facilities in schools, the lack of a structured curriculum, inadequate funding and the quality of teacher training and qualifications. This white paper addresses these challenges. Suggestions have been made to address these issues.

Considering Dignity of Risk in the Care of People with Intellectual Disabilities: A Clinical Perspective

The dignity of risk implies respect for individuals' right to make their own decisions, to participate in a broad range of desired activities, even if those activities have risk, and to expose themselves to potential consequences or learning opportunities. Historically, a more paternalistic approach, done as a benevolent assurance of safety, has been taken with individuals with intellectual disabilities. While optimizing safety, this approach can limit opportunity and, more importantly, limit the dignity of the individual. However, the concern for safety and the sense of responsibility to keep individuals with intellectual disabilities from harm is solidly entrenched and is not without some merit. "Supported decision-making" can offer an alternative to guardianship for some individuals, providing structured processes to enhance full participation. Strategies to involve individuals with intellectual disabilities in their own decision-making and to optimize the safety of those decisions include expanding the discussion of the concept of dignity of risk with family members and care providers of individuals with intellectual disabilities before they turn 18 years old; providing social-skills training and other educational opportunities that promote the likelihood of success in activities and decision-making; and maintaining guardrails when needed to prevent serious harms.

Disrupting the Disruption: A Digital Learning HeXie Ecology Model

Broad societal disruptions (i.e., the industrial revolution, digitalisation, and globalisation) have created a need for an increasingly adaptive higher education system in recent decades. However, the response to these disruptions by universities has generally been slow. Most recently, online learning environments have had to be leveraged by universities to overcome the difficulties in teaching and learning due to COVID-19 restrictions. Thus, universities have had to explore and adopt all potential digital learning opportunities that are able to keep students and teachers engaged in a short period. This paper proposes a digital learning HeXie ecology model, which conceptualises elements and relationships pertaining to the societal need for a more agile and digitally resilient higher education system that is better placed to confront disruptive events (such as pandemics) and that is able to produce graduates who are well-equipped to deal with disruption and uncertainty more broadly. Specifically, we propose a digital learning ecology that emphasises the role of self-directed learning and its dynamic interaction between formal, informal, and lifelong learning across a five-level ecosystem: the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem. This study contributes to the theoretical literature related to flexible learning ecologies by adopting and incorporating the Chinese HeXie concept into such ecologies.

Hackerspaces as technofeminist sites for experiential learning

ABSTRACT Hackerspaces are physical community spaces where technology enthusiasts meet. Despite the term ‘hacking’ being widely associated with cybercrime, hackerspaces are not only perfectly legal but resourceful, skilled communities: members cultivate digital expertise and technological craftsmanship in experiential learning practices. While the educational value of hackerspaces has been rightfully acknowledged, not everyone equally benefits from potential learning opportunities. Many hackerspaces struggle with issues related to communal homogeneity, being frequently dominated by white, male members. Underrepresented groups, notably women, non-binary, genderqueer, and transgender members, have experienced discrimination and harassment. In response, explicitly feminist hackerspaces emerged. How are learning approaches and involved technology different in such feminist hacking communities? More specifically, how do feminist hackerspaces choose, discuss, and shape technology in their learning practices and educational approaches? Methodologically drawing on a single case study approach, the paper argues that hackerspaces have the potential to act as intersectional, technofeminist sites for experiential learning.

Educative mentoring in sport coaching: a reciprocal learning process

ABSTRACT Educative mentoring positions mentors and mentees as co-learners within a collaborative relationship, while emphasising reciprocal learning. However, research exploring educative mentoring is limited to teacher-mentors, restricting our understanding of the potential learning opportunities an educative stance provides mentors in other occupational fields. Consequently, the aim of this research was to explore the learning of sport coach mentors, with a specific focus on whether they were able to learn reciprocally from their mentees in a two-way process. As part of a wider project, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 sport coach mentors employed by a sport governing body, with interview transcripts subject to reflexive thematic analysis. Findings indicate that when an educative stance is adopted by a sport coach mentor, they are able to engage with collaborative learning opportunities with their mentees, which results in possibilities for growth and professional development. Practical implications for sport coach mentor training are discussed.

Onboarding new hires: recognising mutual learning opportunities

PurposeThe onboarding stage of new hires represents a unique opportunity for mutual learning between the new hires and the organisation regardless of the company size. The current paper aims to address these learning opportunities.Design/methodology/approachThe authors reflect on current practice, draw on recent literature and their experience with recruitment and selection processes in the industry to generate new insights and identify opportunities for practitioners and new hires alike.FindingsToday's new hires expect onboarding experiences that allow for a much greater degree of flexibility, customisation and personalisation. Similarly, many new hires expect hiring, onboarding, and learning and development to be interconnected to generate new learning and career opportunities. However, these expectations require changes in the way in which onboarding is implemented, evaluated and connected to other human resource practices, specifically with the dramatic (and successful) increase in remote work arrangements in 2020 in response to the global impact of the pandemic.Originality/valueThe current paper provides readers with an overview of potential learning opportunities, outlines specific success factors and highlights a variety of pointers for practice and further professional development.

Utilizing a faculty-led student assessment team to evaluate international interprofessional service learning opportunities

IntroductionGlobalization, combined with health professional students increasingly seeking international interprofessional service learning (IISL) experiences, presents new challenges and opportunities for faculty establishing these programs. This paper describes the novel process of utilizing a faculty-led team of health professions graduate students to evaluate IISL opportunities with an international partner. MethodsAn interprofessional task force recruited student volunteers to travel abroad for the purpose of evaluating the potential learning opportunities at an international site. Faculty and students utilized an assessment tool adapted from the University of Minnesota's “Health and Safety Site Visit Checklist” to evaluate various aspects of the site. Findings were compiled, and students developed a program-specific list of potential collaborative opportunities with a corresponding evaluation of the value and feasibility of these learning experiences. ResultsFive students representing the schools of pharmacy, physical therapy, and physician assistant studies were accompanied by two faculty task force members. Compilation of faculty and student assessments revealed general congruence between both evaluation findings and subsequent recommendations for collaboration. There was an expected difference in the focus of faculty and student observations, though all evaluators were in agreement regarding the potential to develop a seven to 10 day IISL experience at the site. Overall, students provided positive feedback regarding their experience as part of the site evaluation team. ConclusionsIncorporating students as part of the site evaluation process is a valuable and effective method for assessing the logistical and educational characteristics of an IISL experience when developing a relationship with an international partner.

Digital Science Notebooks: A Tool for Supporting Scientific Literacy at the Elementary Level

Traditional paper science notebooks have served the purpose of engaging learners in the scientific practices, however, as with many things, paper is being replaced by digital. This study examined the digital notebook entries of students to consider the affordances and limitations of digital science notebooks versus traditional paper science notebooks. Affordances were related to the use of audio, ability to copy and paste, take photographs, and include material from the internet. Limitations included the time it took students to write and/or draw tables, and the potential learning opportunities lost from close observation through drawing to photographs. This study highlights how a digital science notebook can also integrate technology in a manner that promotes active learning and critical thinking. Based on the notebook entries examined, we suggest that the affordances outweigh the limitations and encourage further research on digital science notebooks.

A closer look at the interactional construction of choral responses in South African township schools

In order to better understand literacy practices in high poverty L2 contexts, we use a conversation analytic approach to study two forms of chorusing in Grade 3 classrooms in South African township schools: choral reading and choral answering. Based on more than 6 hours of video recorded classroom interaction, we show that choral reading aloud is initiated by explicit and implicit instructions, combined with intonational cues. Choral answering is initiated by yes/no questions, designedly incomplete utterances or known-answer questions, producing short answers. Teacher feedback in both forms is extremely limited. Choral practices risk limited individual student engagement and restrict development of language and cognitive skills. However, we also show that students demonstrate a high awareness of the subtleties of a variety of interactional “rules”. They are occasionally encouraged to produce their own answers and are capable of reading new pieces of text aloud, showing potential learning opportunities through classroom engagement.

Stand Together and Deliver: Challenges and Opportunities for Rheumatology Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Stand Together and Deliver: Challenges and Opportunities for Rheumatology Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Humility Versus Humiliation: The Fine Line of Student Discomfort.

To the Editor: Caruso Brown1 acknowledges the important role discomfort plays in fostering humility within medicine. However, we do not believe there is a threatened loss of humility in medicine and we fear potential confusion between the innate discomfort of learning and practicing medicine and something more serious—medical student humiliation. It is important to identify what is meant by discomfort. On one hand, there is the discomfort felt in an unfamiliar situation, illustrated when Caruso Brown visited a Kenyan children’s hospital. This discomfort, from an internal source, stems from uncertainty and self-doubt, which is all too familiar to students. As medical students ourselves, we recognize the internal embarrassment of identifying a gap in our knowledge.2 With an overwhelming wealth of information to learn, medical students are burdened by fear of failure, worrying that their knowledge will never be enough. In reality, medicine is a career of lifelong learning and patients rarely present as “textbook” cases. Clinicians are frequently challenged by the discomfort of unfamiliar situations in which they do not know the answers. This form of discomfort in itself promotes a humility that is inherent within medicine. However, there is a fine line between this internal discomfort and the intentional discomfort created by teachers, which may be regarded as humiliation.2 Worse still is public humiliation, when teachers actively criticize students in front of other students, patients, or clinicians. This merely highlights a lack of knowledge, rather than utilizing the potential learning opportunity. While effective in the short term, research shows that scaring students into studying can lead to students missing teaching sessions, reduced motivation and self-esteem, burnout, psychiatric issues, and career change.3 Medical students are extremely impressionable; teachers are not only responsible for imparting their medical knowledge but also for acting as role models, shaping the types of doctors these students will become. Thus far, this power imbalance has perpetuated a vicious cycle of mistreatment and humiliation, which will only be interrupted by acknowledgment of the issue and evolution of new teaching styles. We must not reject the pursuit of a healthier teaching culture for fear of a loss of humility. Ruhi ShahFifth-year student, GKT School of Medical Education, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom; [email protected]Amirali FernandesFourth-year student, GKT School of Medical Education, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom.Sparsh ShahThird-year student, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, United Kingdom.

Parents' roles and question‐asking during pretend and real activities

AbstractAll activities—real and pretend—provide children opportunities to learn new facts and skills, and parents are often facilitators. Yet little is known about whether and how parents' roles and interactions differ during pretend versus real activities. Here, we examine whether parents self‐report adopting different roles during pretend and real activities and whether we observe changes in their behavior, in particular in their question‐asking; either could impact the potential learning opportunities available to children. Thirty‐two parents engaged their 4‐year ‐olds in one pretend and one real activity (cleaning and snacking, counterbalanced). They self‐reported their roles, and speech was transcribed and coded. Parents regarded their role as a partner in fun during pretend and as a teacher or monitor during real activities. Across pretend and real contexts, they mostly asked information‐seeking questions, followed by rhetorical and pedagogical questions. They asked significantly more questions during pretend than real activities, particularly rhetorical questions. During real activities, parents' roles were not related to the number or types of questions they asked. However, during pretend, their roles were related to the number of rhetorical questions they asked: Monitors asked significantly fewer than teachers. Possible complementary benefits of each activity based on patterns of roles and questions are discussed.