Understanding Of Professional Practice Research Articles

Using Scenario-Based Assessment in the Development of Students’ Digital Communication Skills and Professional Competence

In this discussion, we consider how the use of scenario-based assessment (SBA) can provide students with a way of developing the digital communication skills that business communication research has found they will need for the workplace, alongside other aspects of professional competence. This is because SBA can be employed to engage learners in the same types of authentic performance tasks in a situated context that they will likely encounter in their professional lives. In addition, SBA can also be used to maximize the integrity of an assignment by harnessing the positive effects of using generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, while simultaneously mitigating against the misappropriation of AI by students. SBA allows learners to practice both their digital, and other, communication skills as well as contributing to their understanding of professional practice, and it also provides instructors with a powerful form of formative assessment. Our aim is to put forward a motivating and effective way of helping our students to develop the skills that they will need to become successful communicators in a postpandemic professional world.

Learning to Become Professional in Policing: From Artisan to Professional

This qualitative narrative research was conducted with an Australian police jurisdiction. The paper draws on practice theory to interpret the narratives of a group of traditionally trained police officers’ perceptions of policing practices, professional practice, learning and professionalism within the context of police professionalisation. Thirty-six police officers from various ranks, including senior management, participated in semi-structured interviews. Many police officers’ understanding of professional practice and learning is centred on technique, technical knowledge, image, uniform, and reputation. Our research reveals, the practices of police are embedded in the discursive practices of policing and the institutional constraints of the organisation, that maintain and perpetuate past stories contrary to the agenda to professionalise policing. The research is set in the broader context of national and international agendas driving the professionalisation of policing which sits alongside prevailing conceptions of policing as a craft or trade, learned on-the-job, and police officers as artisans.

Promoting Students' Sense of Coherence in Medical Education Using Transformative Learning Activities.

ObjectiveTransformative learning theory offers medical educators a particularly relevant insight into student learning. Transformative learning involves critically reflecting on assumptions and actions using empirical research methods and participating in a continuing discourse to validate the best reflective judgement and act according to new insights. The purpose of this paper is to investigate medical students’ experiences with transformative learning activities and empirically and theoretically explain how these activities contribute to their understanding of the interplay between theoretical knowledge and professional practice, thereby creating a sense of coherence in medical education.MethodsThis paper analyzes the data from interviews with 40 medical students derived from a qualitative longitudinal research project in Norway from 2012 through 2018.ResultsStudents characterize linking theoretical knowledge with professional practice, experiencing authentic placement situations with real patients, and discussing and critically reflecting on cases and professional practice with experienced doctors as learning activities that transformed their understanding of professional practice. These transformative learning activities influenced students’ perceptions of educational content and demands as being comprehensible, manageable, and meaningful, which are the core components of “sensing coherence” in professional education. Moreover, experiencing a lack of knowledge in either case-based learning on campus or when meeting patients in clinical placements motivates students to pursue further theoretical studies.ConclusionMedical education includes rich opportunities to use transformative learning activities both on campus and at clinical placement sites, but it is not given that these types of learning activities are present in the teaching offered at all the various learning sites; thus, enhanced awareness of why and how to promote transformative learning is required among medical educators.

P72-T Extended roles for physiologists. A case for autonomous physiologist reporting

Changes to healthcare delivery have become a resounding call over the last 20 years, driven by a multitude of documents (Dept of Health, 2000a; DoH, 2000b,2000c; Dod, 2004), particularly as part of a 10 year plan to reform the NHS. Continuous attention is being paid to training, employment and development of health care professionals promoting collaborative working and role expansion. Demands for a change in healthcare delivery have brought the needs for new understandings of professional practice into sharp focus. Professions need to evolve. Can physiologists evolve to encompass a more clinical role? In many departments highly specialised physiologists reporting on normal EEGs is common practice. In a department without consistent clinical cover, expanding the role of highly experienced physiologists is a possible solution. In preparation towards this goal, this pilot study examines the concordance between physiologist and consultant determined ’normal’ EEGs. Two physiologists (both highly specialised) with a combined experience of >55 years have recorded and peer reviewed adult EEGs they consider to be ’normal’. These results were then correlated in retrospect with consultant opinion. Normal EEG as defined by Neidermeyer and Lopes. This is a study in progress. To date with almost 50 ‘normal’ adult patients reviewed, concordance is 100%. This is a preliminary step towards introducing role expansion into our neurophysiology department. It is hoped that the results of this study will show the competence of the staff involved. The aim being to show that physiologists are capable of undertaking extended roles regarding EEG reports.

Seeing is believing: Primary generalist pre-service teachers’ observations of physical education lessons in Ireland and Switzerland

Primary generalist pre-service teachers (PSTs) rarely have the opportunity to observe teachers teaching authentic physical education (PE) lessons let alone reflect with the teachers, their lecturer or their peers following the lesson. Observation of, and reflection on, quality lessons can have a powerful influence on shaping the PSTs’ soon-to-be-teachers professional identities and can also help them to develop reflective and critical thinking skills. A qualitative framework utilising critical incidents, described as ‘events identified by student teachers as significant in making progress toward becoming a better teacher’ guided the PSTs’ observations in this study. One primary PE initial teacher educator and four PSTs, from Ireland, participated in the study and data comprised of a planning discussion, 40 critical incident observations of 10 lessons in two European countries and two reflective discussions. Each set of observations was followed by a group discussion to provide opportunities for reflection-on-action. Examination of the data showed that PSTs extended their understanding of professional practice in: (a) questioning and demonstrating; (b) inclusion; (c) organisation and management; and (d) feedback and were surprised that practice in both countries was more similar than different. Critical incidents were a useful method of focusing reflections for the PSTs and the opportunity to engage in the process of observing, and reflecting on, quality lessons impacted the PSTs’ perceptions towards becoming better teachers.

Commissioning and Producing Public-Service Content: British Arts Television

This article analyzes the commissioning and production of arts television in the United Kingdom. It identifies the drivers that shape output, including regulatory and economic forces, linking professional practices to the form and content of the programs that emerge. The research uses interviews with senior staff within the major broadcasters (BBC, Channel 4, and Sky Arts), the independent production sector, and arts organizations to critically interrogate changes in production practices. In particular, the research focuses on the decline in specialist independent producers and the ongoing emphasis on partnerships to reveal a genre ecology at a moment of crisis that necessitates complex modes of competition, codependence, and negotiation. The precariousness of the genre has implications for all public-service genres that are “at risk” of disappearing from our screens. Therefore, in what is a period of profound change, this article extends and deepens our understanding of professional practices within the contemporary television industry.

Repositioning artistic practices: a sociomaterial view

ABSTRACTPractices, positioned through a sociomaterial lens make visible everyday work, often challenging our understanding of practices in consequence. Artists, and the world of contemporary art offer interesting contexts to explore practices through a sociomaterial lens and render visible everyday work important in the accomplishment of art. As such, this paper presents a distinctive sociomaterial exploration of practices that reconfigures our understanding of professional practices and their pedagogies in art. Drawing on theoretical resources of practice and materiality, I present findings from an art-based ethnographic study of conceptual artists that combined art and practice-oriented perspectives to look beyond discipline-based processes of artmaking to practices as they happen. I present these findings first, and innovatively, as a series of photo-collages and then, using words, as mundane practices of looking, studio-making and pause, around which other practices coalesce including peer-support, self-promotion, pedagogy and movement-driven. The photo-collages, visually and literally, reposition artistic practices as those necessary in the accomplishment of everyday work, preserving a relationality sometimes lost in written accounts of sociomaterial practices. The paper thus presents novel and necessary insights into the professional development of artists; methodological insights for relational studies of practices; and questions for professional education broadly.

Preservice Special Education Teachers' Reflections on Their Developing Professional Awareness Via In-Context Learning

ABSTRACTThe highly complex demands of the profession often overwhelm new teachers. Burnout and attrition are known consequences of inadequate preparation, burdening the education system with costly turnover and schools with disproportionate numbers of inexperienced teachers, including special educators. Many teacher preparation programs embed field experiences as a formative aspect of professional development with the intention of exposing candidates to the realities and demands of the profession. Little is known, however, about the ways in which preservice teachers’ professional awareness develops via in-context learning through field-based experiences. Using an exploratory, qualitative approach we analyzed end of course reflections of 31 special education preservice teachers for insights into the development of their professional awareness (professional roles and responsibilities) following a strategically aligned field experience. Findings suggest that participants expressed a growing understanding of professional practices, teacher dispositions, and professional relationships. A discussion of the findings and implications for teacher preparation are presented.

Reflecting differently. New dimensions: reflection-before-action and reflection-beyond-action

Background: This article attempts to move reflection forward from what is currently identified as a two-dimensional process e.g. reflection-in and reflection-on-action, to a four-dimensional process e.g. reflection-before, reflection-in, reflection-on and reflection-beyond-action. In nursing clinical practice it is reflection-in-action that is the required skill, but it is often reflection-on-action that is advocated in nurse education through the application of reflective models into assignments. Nurse education draws on practice, but generally, when using reflective practice, applies some sort of method or guide to direct student learning. This approach does not fully recognise that much learning arises from individual students’ own clinical practice experiences. The notion that undertaking of reflection-on-action assignments develops the necessary reflection-in-action skills needed for clinical practice is not demonstrated. Yet it is reflection-in-action that can aid professional practice and enhance learning. This is why it is important to explore a broader approach to reflection. Aims: To show that more value can be gained from engaging with two additional dimensions of reflection that of reflection-before-action and reflection-beyond-action. To demonstrate how this idea draws on: the two additional concepts reflection-before-action and reflection-beyond-action referred to in few areas of current literature, links them to the already better known concepts reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action, my doctoral research, practice experience and practice development activities. Findings: Nursing reflection-on-action is more widely employed for a range of purposes, but restricting nurse education to just reflection-on-action does not realise the full potential of a broader application of reflection. A life-long application of refection can demonstrate the value of reflection for a more holistic and practical development approach. Conclusions: This article explores the value of using reflection more broadly in terms of developing a four-dimensional process e.g. reflection-before, -in, -on, and -beyond-action as ways of facilitating learning from practice and developing professional practice. Implications for practice: • The focus of the article is on reflection for student nurses and nurses • Reflection as a four-dimensional process can give access to improved professional practice that would otherwise remain hidden. • Through reflecting differently, nurses can process their reflection, -before-action, -in-action, -on-action, and -beyond-action as a means to expanding and deepening their understanding of professional practice (Figure 1). • Reflection-before, and –beyond-action are viewed as additional ways of aiding professional practice. • Allow nurses when engaging in reflection to be able to do so freely and without constraints.

Becoming pharmacists: Students’ understanding of pharmacy practice at graduation from an Australian University

BackgroundIn preparing graduates for practice, education programs must transform students into pharmacists based on authentic experiences that integrate knowledge and skills into a broad and deep understanding of what it is to be a pharmacist. AimThis qualitative study aimed to explore how students understood pharmacy practice, nearing completion of an undergraduate program. MethodOf the cohort of 252 final year students, 104 (41%) completed an online survey containing open ended questions relating to pharmacy practice. Responses were analysed using a phenomenological approach. ResultsDespite all students completing the same program, they understood the work of a pharmacist in diverse ways, ranging from dispensing and or providing counselling, information and advice to providing an accessible healthcare service to all members of the community as part of a healthcare team. The most common understanding, expressed by 34/104 (33%) of participating students, focused on dispensing and counselling, which aligns with traditional roles. The remaining understandings became progressively more inclusive, with 12 to 14% of students expressing each of them. Students reported that part-time work in pharmacies and experiential placements were highly influential in how they understood pharmacy practice. ConclusionGraduates’ understanding of professional practice is central to how they enact and develop practice. It is crucial, then, that educators consider and address the variation in how students understand professional practice and influences on how practice is understood. This is necessary to ensure that understanding what it is to be a pharmacist aligns with program goals and the vision for the profession.

Becoming a pharmacist: the role of curriculum in professional identity formation

To understand how the formal curriculum experience of an Australian undergraduate pharmacy program supports students' professional identity formation. A qualitative ethnographic study was conducted over four weeks using participant observation and examined the 'typical' student experience from the perspective of a pharmacist. A one-week period of observation was undertaken with each of the four year groups (that is, for years one to four) comprising the undergraduate curriculum. Data were collected through observation of the formal curriculum experience using field notes, a reflective journal and informal interviews with 38 pharmacy students. Data were analyzed thematically using an a priori analytical framework. Our findings showed that the observed curriculum was a conventional curricular experience which focused on the provision of technical knowledge and provided some opportunities for practical engagement. There were some opportunities for students to imagine themselves as pharmacists, for example, when the lecture content related to practice or teaching staff described their approach to practice problems. However, there were limited opportunities for students to observe pharmacist role models, experiment with being a pharmacist or evaluate their professional identities. While curricular learning activities were available for students to develop as pharmacists e.g. patient counseling, there was no contact with patients and pharmacist academic staff tended to role model as educators with little evidence of their pharmacist selves. These findings suggest that the current conventional approach to the curriculum design may not be fully enabling learning experiences which support students in successfully negotiating their professional identities. Instead it appeared to reinforce their identities as students with a naïve understanding of professional practice, making their future transition to professional practice challenging.

When giving means taking: Public relations, sponsorship, and morally marginal donors

It is generally considered a positive social action to form relationships of support between organizations and publics. In public relations terms, such connections can lead to beneficial outcomes for both the organization, in terms of reputation and attributions of social responsibility, and publics, in terms of the ability to meet their own goals through financial contributions. It is less easy to understand what happens when these relationships detract from society holistically. In this paper the Tattersall's organization, Australia's “largest” privately owned company, is used as an example. Tattersall's has a history of community involvement, sponsorship, and benevolence. However, its sole business is gambling, and hence vulnerable gamblers fund its charitable donations. This article uses the writings of Pierre Bourdieu to discuss ethical practice and professionalism as well as the dynamics of sponsorship dependence of vulnerable groups. It suggests that although an underused theorist on the edges of mainstream public relations theory, Bourdieu's ideas have much to contribute to our understanding of professional practice.

Understanding professional practice: investigations before and after an educational programme1

During preparation for professional practice, the professional skill being developed is typically measured in the form of specific knowledge and skills. This study proposes an alternative to such measures, drawing upon research which demonstrates that our understanding of professional practice is central to how we both perform and develop that practice. The study investigates understanding of medical practice prior to and following a pre‐medical programme. On commencing the programme, students showed substantial variation in their understanding of medical practice. At the end of the programme much of this variation remained, indicating the students had developed varying forms of professional skill. The study calls into question the adequacy of a focus on detailed knowledge and skills as a base for professional practice. In line with previous research, an important implication of the study is that developing skilful practice requires focusing on understanding of that practice in and through its performance.

Professional practice in education: Research and issues

AS pointed out in my Introduction to this Special Issue, there have been various reasons for the recent increasing interest in researching and reforming professional practice. A major reason is our limited understanding of the nature of professional practice itself. Professional practice is a typical interdisciplinary topic which can be viewed, and has been viewed, from the perspective of a variety of disciplines and fields, such as sociology, cognitive psychology, philosophy, management theory, economics, and learning theory. As well, there are various literatures which are arguably relevant to an understanding of professional practice, even though their main foci are somewhat different. These include research on the nature of expertise, on workplace learning, on situated learning, etc. Hence research on professional practice represents a convergence of rather diverse literatures. This paper will provide a brief critical outline of the main findings of some of these relevant literatures and a discussion ...

Professional Practice in Education: Research and Issues

AS pointed out in my Introduction to this Special Issue, there have been various reasons for the recent increasing interest in researching and reforming professional practice. A major reason is our limited understanding of the nature of professional practice itself. Professional practice is a typical interdisciplinary topic which can be viewed, and has been viewed, from the perspective of a variety of disciplines and fields, such as sociology, cognitive psychology, philosophy, management theory, economics, and learning theory. As well, there are various literatures which are arguably relevant to an understanding of professional practice, even though their main foci are somewhat different. These include research on the nature of expertise, on workplace learning, on situated learning, etc. Hence research on professional practice represents a convergence of rather diverse literatures. This paper will provide a brief critical outline of the main findings of some of these relevant literatures and a discussion of the implications of these overall findings for professional practice.

An analysis of the effectiveness of public accounting internship programs at major New York city CPA firms

This study examines the effectiveness of public accounting internship programs at large CPA firms in New York City. It was found that these programs are effective in helping interns obtain a better understanding of professional practice except in the area relating to specialization.