Researching Medical Education conference 2011 – Workshop Descriptions
10.15am
Beginners workshops
Strand 1: How to write a research question – Jen Cleland & Jean Ker
A good research question is essential to focus your research so the project is achievable. This means choosing a question that is:
· neither too broad or too narrow,
· actually researchable, and
· passes the “so what” test
The workshop will be interactive. We will introduce a pragmatic but systematic approach to apply to new research ideas to turn them into good research questions. The “raw material” for this workshop will be participants’ own research ideas.
Strand 2: Introduction to statistics – Katherine Woolf
An introduction to statistics will cover levels of measurement and provide an introduction to using descriptive and inferential statistics.
Advanced Workshops
Strand 3: Social Semiotics – Jeff Bezemer
Social semiotics explores how people learn through detailed analysis of communication. One its key assertions is that learning always ‘multimodal’, i.e. that learning always involves the simultaneous use of multiple ‘modes’ of communication, for instance gaze and speech, or image and writing. Taking multimodality as its starting point, social semiotics can provide medical education researchers with means of recognizing taken-for-granted, seemingly invisible and/or inaudible instances of learning in clinical practice. The workshop will introduce some of the key concepts in social semiotics, discuss its connections with other approaches to learning, and show how it has been applied in medical education, using examples from an ethnographic, video-based study of teaching and learning in the operating theatre.
Strand 4: Reading & understanding meta analysis – Mark Newman
Finding out more about what works for whom in what circumstances and why: The role of meta-analysis. Statistical meta-analysis is a technique that is widely used to explore the influencesof different aspects of the learning environment on student learning outcomes. It is useful part of the educational researchers toolbox and therefore useful for all educational researchers to be able to critically understand and interpret a meta-analysis. This workshop will provide an introduction to the underlying principles and techniques of the approach with a view to developing participant’s confidence in making use of meta-analysis results.
Learning outcomes/objectives
• To understand the role of research synthesis in identifying messages about ‘what works for whom in what circumstances’ from intervention research findings
• To understand the concept of effect size as a metric for comparing intervention research findings
• To be able to read and understand a forest plot of the results
• To understand the main issues that are considered when conducting meta-analysis
Theory Seminars
Strand 5: Philosophy of professionalism – Paul Standish
Details to follow
Seminars: applied theoretical approaches
Strand 6: Combining lived experience interviews with Foucauldian genealogical analysis - Tina Martimianakis
Goals and Objectives: In this workshop participants will have the opportunity to explore an approach for combining genealogical analysis and associated foucaudian discourse analysis techniques with phenomenological approaches to analyzing data collected through semi-structured interviews. Excerpts from various forms of archival texts including policy documents, popular press articles, interview texts, and images will be used in a series of interactive demonstrations of how the two approaches can be combined. Methodological implications, including advantages and limitations, will also be discussed. Suggestions for further reading will be provided. Format: Short didactic introduction,
Interactive demonstration, question and answer. Learning Objectives - By the end of this workshop participants will be able to:
· describe the difference between foucaudian discourse analysis and phenomenological analysis
· describe the advantages and disadvantages of combining the two approaches in a single study
Level: This workshops is intended for participants with some familiarity with qualitative research
Doctoral session
Strand 7: topic TBC (call for papers) – Chairs Barbara Cole & Patsy Stark
1.45pm
Beginners workshops
Strand 1: how to design a questionnaire – Sue Jamieson
There is a misconception that anyone with a clear grasp of English and a modicum of common sense can design an effective questionnaire” (Murray, 1999; Accid Emerg Nurse 7(3): 148-53). Well, how hard can it be?!! Thisbeginners' workshop will raise awareness of issues to be considered in questionnaire construction, such as questionnaire and question format, response scales, and validation.
Strand 2: Focus groups – Lesley Pugsley
The use (and abuse) of focus groups as a qualitative tool in educational and health research has grown in popularity over the past few decades. Originally used to explore the effectiveness of media messages and then as a tool in market research, this approach explicitly uses group interactions as part of the method. This workshop is aimed at helping those who are new to focus group research and will provide a general introduction to focus groups and their use as a research tool. As its central topics the workshop will consider the historical development of the focus group as a research method and the practicalities of planning and running the groups. By the end of the session participants should have a solid understanding of when, why and how focus groups can be used in qualitative research.
Advance workshops
Strand 3: A phenomenological approach to data analysis: stating the obvious? - Ann Griffin
Phenomenology is a philosophy which seeks to understand lived human experience. It has been increasingly appropriated by empirical researchers who seek to explore the subjective, life world of individuals. This workshop will look at one increasingly popular approach, Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) and will identify its key phenomenological principles and methods. Workshop participants will have an opportunity to practise applying these concepts and share their experiences using this methodology.
Stand 4: Appreciative inquiry – Glynis Cousin
The purpose of AI is to combine an exploration of the empirical with an exploration into the envisioning capacity of the mind. This session will begin with a description and theoretical rationale for this combination. I willinclude a discussion ofthe premise that the human imaginationcan be afield of inquiry. Many neuroscientists and social scientists have been aware for sometime that what we think, imagine and envision can have a powerful impact on our physical well-being. As King Canute discovered, there is no clear cause and effect relationship between willing something and its delivery but there is evidence that what we anticipate can influence what actually happens. Of particularrelevance hereare the placebo effect inthe field of medicine andthe Pygmalion effect in the field of education. Proponents of appreciative inquiry argue that if mind and body are mutually fatefull then it is best to seek solutions to problems that cohere with this. Contrary to popular readings AI is not a research approach which merely accentuates the positive, rather it is organised around a 'heliotropic hypothesis' that will be discussed in the light of a case study,conversation will be invited both about the abovepropositions and thepractical methods of AI.
Theory Seminars
Strand 5: Sociology of medical education – Caragh Brosnan
How do social structures shape what medical students learn? What role does medical education play in reproducing social structure? The sociology of medical education began addressing these questions 60 years ago, and has since contributed rich insights into our understanding of medical student culture, the institutional context in which learning takes place, and how broader social developments impact on medical education. This workshop will explore what is distinctive about the ‘sociological imagination’ and what it can and does add to the field of medical education research. Key theories, methods and findings from the sociology of medical education will be discussed and participants will be encouraged to consider how they might draw on this body of work in their own research and teaching.
Seminars: applied theoretical approaches
Strand 6: Using Bourdieu’s thinking tools – field, capital and habitus – Sandra Nicholson
Using Bourdieu's Thinking Tools -Field, Capital and Habitus This workshop introduces Bourdieu's conceptual tools of field, capital and habitus and illustrates how they can be used in analysing qualitative data. Participants will have the opportunity to see how such a theoretical framework has been used to explore both postgraduate and undergraduate medical professional development. In particular the self-constituting inter-relationships between the thinking tools will be discussed and how this facilitates our deeper understanding of the socialisation processes involved in moving from student to doctor.
Doctoral session
Strand 7: topic TBC (call for papers) – Chair Trudie Roberts
4.15pm
Beginner’s workshops
Strand 1: Using experimental design in medical education – Carol Torgerson
Relatively few randomised controlled trials have been undertaken in the field of medical education, particularly in the UK. However, the design is amenable to address effectiveness questions. This workshop will provide a basic introduction to the design and conduct of trials in medical education and demonstrate their feasibility using examples undertaken by the workshop leader. Issues such as recruitment and retention, design and rigour will be covered. The workshop is suitable for those wishing to undertake an evaluation of a medical education intervention using an experimental design or for those interested in learning how to critically appraise published RCTs in medical education in the literature.
Strand 2: Conceptualising theoretical enquiry – Judith Suissa
In this session we will look at the philosophical tradition of conceptual analysis. We will discuss the role and significance of conceptual inquiry in the social sciences and will explore some examples from the field of philosophy of education.
Advanced workshops
Strand 3: Narrative enquiry – Barbara Cole
The aim of the session is to explore some of the developments in and complexities of narrative research, a genre of qualitative research methodology which utilises a ‘storied’ approach to the collection, analysis and/or presentation of data. Narrative is certainly not ‘new’ but it is now developing as an important and challenging research approach in the social sciences. While still regarded with concern and even suspicion by its critics, it is increasingly being used to explore and illuminate complexity in issues around ‘voice’, marginalisation and intersectionality for example in a number of areas, including gender, disability, inclusion, ethnicity, race, age and sexuality, and even medicine! Narrative can be both process or product; it can be the means of collecting data or of presenting it, or both. The session will explore some of the issues around the use of narrative in social science research and in particular the role of the researcher within the production of narrative research.
Strand 4: Textual Analysis – Deborah Gill, Sophie Park, Ann Griffin
This workshop will illustrate two contrasting methodologies using textual data. Both methodologies have been used to understand ‘professionalism’ within a medical education context. We will showcase a widely available popular technology, Tag Clouds, that can be used in medical education research. In particular we will explore how medical policy documents can be rapidly analysed to demonstrate a changing professional discourse over time. Performative Narrative Analysis as a way of understanding meaning-making of professional identity within the context of undergraduate General Practice placements is the second contrasting example. The potential of Performative Narrative Analysis will be examined in the context of professional learning; involving both what we do but also who we are. The aim of the workshop will be to introduce participants to novel ways of working with textual data and to explore these two diverse approaches; comparing the virtues of each approach and the possible application to participants own research work.
Theory Seminars
Strand 5: Actor-network theory – Alan Bleakley
Actor-Network Theory (ANT) provides a radical approach to educational research. In this workshop, you will learn about ANT's relationship to sociocultural learning theories such as Activity Theory; staying close to the ground in local ethnographies; spotting a fault line in a work practice and following its trajectory; setting up a work-net through democratic symmetry between persons, objects and ideas; distinguishing between mediators and intermediaries; translating across mediators to strengthen networks; maintaining networks; and articulating network effects as a research outcome. Illustrative examples will be drawn from medical and surgical education research. No prior knowledge of ANT is necessary.
Seminars: applied theoretical approaches
Strand 6: Activity theory – Clare Morris
This workshop will explore some of the conceptual and methodological tools available to researchers undertaking work in the Cultural Historical Activity Theory tradition. The workshop will draw upon practical examples of researching medical student learning in the workplace and faculty development in postgraduate medical education to illustrate the potential usefulness of these tools. Opportunities to explore how you might draw upon AT principles to develop your own research interests will be provided.
Doctoral session
Strand 7: topic TBC (call for papers) Chairs: Miriam David & Jennifer Cleland