Researching Medical Education Conference 21 November 2012, RIBA, London

Call For Papers

Doctoral discussant sessions

We invite submission of abstracts from colleagues undertaking doctoral study (PhD/EdDs) who would like the opportunity to discuss their work-in-progress - particularly their approach to conducting research including, for example, research questions, methodology, data analysis and theory building.

15 minutes is allowed for presentation with 15 minutes for comment and feedback

The facilitated sessions will serve as a forum for discussion on the pros and cons of different methodologies to address specific research questions, providing feedback to the presenters as well as possible new perspectives for attendees.

Doctoral posters

We invite submission of abstracts from colleagues undertaking doctoral study (PhD/EdDs) who would like the opportunity to present a piece of work which is near completion. This might be a thesis, or one study from a doctorate thesis. In keeping with the conference theme, the abstract and posters should emphasis the conduct of the research. The poster session will serve as a forum for showcasing work and providing feedback to the presenters. There will be an opportunity for presenters to speak about their posters during the conference (during coffee breaks and over lunch).

Guidelines

• Work should address issues concerning researching medical education.
• The Abstract should include:
• The research topic and, if decided, the conceptual framework/theoretical perspective
• The research question(s)
• The methodological approach/study design
• A statement of the point reached to date, including any methodological issues arising. (discussant session only)
• Your questions for the audience (up to three questions), who will act as "critical friends" (discussant session only)
• The abstract should not be more than 300 words in length + up to 3 questions (discussant session only)
• Deadline for submission of abstracts is 5pm Friday 1st June 2012

Abstracts accepted for the doctoral discussant and poster sessions will appear in the background papers for the conference, and also on the ASME website.

A panel of assessors will judge submitted abstracts on their contribution to a range of research issues of potential interest to the likely conference audience. Decisions will be communicated by 31st July 2012.

Please note that the scheduling of presentation slots will be determined by the conference organisers and once allocated cannot be altered. We cannot accept individual requests for specific timings due to scheduling complexities. Please note: amendments to abstracts cannot be made after the closing date.

Authors of accepted submissions must register & pay for the conference as delegates & be ASME members (one per submission)

Please click on the Abtract Submission tab to view the form.

Abstract Submission

Format to be used: Arial, font 12, single line spacing. Please do not use headers or footers or put footnotes in your document. Quoted references cited in abstracts should be listed at the end and the Harvard reference style should be followed. Please limit references to five.

The abstract should be presented in the following format: Title, Author(s) names, Corresponding Author’s name and full address, abstract, and finally any relevant references.

Please download our demo abstract to help you ensure your document is properly formatted.

Title of Paper:

Consideration Please select ... Doctoral Discussant Session Doctoral Poster Session

Corresponding author/contact details (this contact will receive all correspondence relating to the submission):

Title: Mr. Mrs. Miss. Ms. Dr. Prof.

First Name:

Surname:

Address:

City

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Co-Authors:

I/we confirm that the abstract has not been published elsewhere: Yes No

The abstract has been published elsewhere and written copyright is attached: Yes No

Name of Presenter
(If accepted as a presentation).

Your Abstract:
Please browse for your abstract and ensure it meets the criteria set out above.

Copyright Permission:
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Programme

Workshops

10.30am

Beginners’ Workshops

Strand 1: How to write a research question - Jane Stewart & Jean McKendree

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

Statistics can strike fear into the hearts of many new researchers.  However, depending on your research question and methodology, statistical analysis may be a necessity (or a necessary evil!).  This workshop is designed for those who need to know how statistics work, but assumes no expert knowledge.  It will cover levels of measurement and provide an introduction to the first basic steps of statistical analysis, using descriptive and inferential statistics.

Advanced Workshops

Strand 3: E and M Research: Carrying out research online- Henry Potts

We increasingly hear about e-learning and now m-learning (learning using mobile phones and other devices), but how do we carry out research on and in this new virtual environment. And are there useful e- and m-techniques for investigating learning in traditional contexts? This workshops explores different ways of carrying out online learning, including using log data, analysing online content, carrying out interviews by e-mail or Skype, and online questionnaires. We will also consider using mobile phones in research.
 

Strand 4: Integrating theory into study designs: How can research in medical education have greater impact on practice? How can practice inform theory development? - Sarah Yardley & Lin Norton

If you have ever asked ‘how can research in medical education have a greater impact on practice?’ or ‘How can practice inform theory development?’ then this workshop is for you. We propose that a bi-directional approach to the simultaneous use of theory to guide and interrogate empirical data and the use of empirical data to refine theory through an action research framework, may be a way forward.   ‘The fundamental purpose of pedagogical action research is to systematically investigate one’s own teaching/learning facilitation practice with the dual aim of modifying practice and contributing to theoretical knowledge’.

We will give a brief introduction of what integration should mean illustrated with clinical and pedagogical experiences drawn from our own work before considering how this works in action research. We will offer participants the opportunity to conduct small group work on scenarios involving research questions that require application of the bi-directional approach to integration, using this exercise to further our collective discussions.

Theory Seminar

Strand 5: Philosophy of professionalism – Paul Standish – TBC

Description to follow 

Strand 6: Seminars: Applied theoretical approaches – Working with the Dialogical - Ayelet Kupar

M. M. Bakhtin has emerged from relative obscurity during much of his lifetime to be lauded as one of the most important literary theorists and critics of the twentieth century. Bakthin’s concepts of the utterance and of dialogism were major influences on post-structuralist thinking, helping to theorize the move away from an objective understanding of language, texts and, ultimately, human interactions. In addition to his influence on the development of contemporary theory, his work has also been specifically taken up by social theorists working in areas relevant to medical education such as Dorothy Smith (the intersubjective creation of knowledge) and Arthur Frank (socio-narratology). Using Bakhtin as an entry point we will work through examples of dialogical work from the social sciences in order to highlight dialogism’s potential to inform medical education research theory and practice.
 

Strand7: Doctoral Sessions – (accepted call for papers) Topic to be confirmed

Description to follow 

2.00pm

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?!! This beginners' 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.

Advanced workshops

Strand 3: Using video to understand good practice in consultations involving interpreters - Clive Seale

Medical students are usually trained in communication through interpreters by means of role play and video recordings of actors demonstrating particular skills. But what is the reality like? This workshop will show videos of real-life interpreted consultations and invite comparisons with a simulation developed for training purposes. Participants will explore what different versions of ‘good practice’ might look like, and how training in these might be developed.
 

Strand4: Socio-cultural approaches to learning – Viv Cook & Clare Morris

This advanced workshop will provide an overview of the scope and potential of socio-cultural approaches to researching and enhancing work-based learning.  From these perspectives, learning is viewed as integral to participation in clinical environments and can be understood at the level of whole Activity Systems as well as the micro-processes of communicative practices. Examples of research will be presented and participants will be invited to consider the questions that emerge from socio-cultural approaches and consider the utility of such analytical tools for their own research and practice.

Strand 5: Researching simulation: from theory to practice – Caroline Pelletier

This workshop will raise several methodological issues arising from research on teaching and learning with simulation. It will report on a collaboration between social scientists and clinical educators and researchers in several London trusts, which set out to investigate the following questions: (1) what and how do clinical trainees learn about clinical practice in simulated settings; (2) how can the transfer of learning to 'real' clinical settings be accounted for; and (3) how can clinical educators draw on educational research to inform practices involving simulated settings. The workshop will explore the implications, benefits and challenges of drawing on social sciences concepts and methods to investigate pedagogic activities in clinical settings. It will also examine the experience of inter-disciplinary research-based collaborations between researchers and clinicians, including the extent to which such collaborations contribute to critical understanding and evaluation of education practices involving simulated settings. The workshop will be an occasion to reflect on practices such as joint data analysis between clinicians and educational researchers, and joint writing and publication. Presenters will organise the workshop to elicit comparative experiences from attendees.

 
Strand 6 Seminars: Applied theoretical approaches – Communities of practice: a social discipline of learning - Etienne Wenger

The learning challenges we face today urgently call for new models of how we can learn individually and collectively. Traditionally learning has been viewed as a process of acquiring a body of knowledge through the transmission of a curriculum. Yet both research and experience suggest that learning is a much broader phenomenon—an inherent part of life and a deeply social process. If we take this seriously, then we need a new “social discipline of learning” to help us foster learning. In this interactive workshop we explore such a perspective on learning and how it is relevant to the challenges faced by participants.
 

Strand 7: Doctoral Sessions – (accepted call for papers) Topic to be confirmed

Description to follow

4.00pm

Beginners’ 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 theUK.  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: Conceptual Inquiry – Judith Suissa

In this session we will look at the philosophical tradition of conceptual analysis.  Conceptual analysis involves breaking down or analyzing concepts into their constituent parts in order to gain knowledge or a better understanding of a particular issue.  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: Doing research with children and young people - Danielle Sime

This workshop will explore the ethical and methodological issues involved in conducting research and consultation activities with children and young people. Increasingly, their views in issues affecting their lives are sought to inform research and practice, for instance in the provision of services that children also use (education, health, leisure etc.). The session will look at examples of child-centred methods and the issues involved in using these with children, with examples from research conducted by the author with children in poverty and migrant children. We will also examine the key ethical issues involved in research with children and young people. Issues of consent, confidentiality, anonymity and others will be discussed in relation to direct examples from research.

Theory seminar:

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.

Strand 6: Seminars: Applied theoretical approaches – Communities of practice: a social discipline of learning - Etienne Wenger

The learning challenges we face today urgently call for new models of how we can learn individually and collectively. Traditionally learning has been viewed as a process of acquiring a body of knowledge through the transmission of a curriculum. Yet both research and experience suggest that learning is a much broader phenomenon—an inherent part of life and a deeply social process. If we take this seriously, then we need a new “social discipline of learning” to help us foster learning. In this interactive workshop we explore such a perspective on learning and how it is relevant to the challenges faced by participants.

Strand 7: Doctoral Sessions – (accepted call for papers) Topic to be confirmed

Description to follow 

Registration

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