Biomedical subjects

Jenny Morris

Publications and source records attributed to Jenny Morris.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

The value of an evidence based practice module to skill development.

BACKGROUND: A degree level EBP module is undertaken by students on post-qualifying programmes to develop critical appraisal skills gained at diploma level. Despite training in EBP skills, there is some suggestion that health care professionals lack confidence in this area and fail to make the links between evidence and practice. The purpose of this study was to investigate this issue further. AIMS: To identify how the EBP skills developed on the module were utilised in practice, and to identify what local barriers there were in using these skills. METHODS: A survey of all students who had completed the module within the past three years (n=393) followed by interviews to explore further issues that emerged from the survey. RESULTS: One hundred and ninety one completed questionnaires (48.6% response rate). The results showed that the students perceived themselves as 'quite skilled' or 'competent' with regard to the key EBP skills, and that completion of the module had contributed 'greatly' to this skill acquisition. Results from the interviews showed that time and cultural issues were the greatest barriers to using and developing further the EBP skills gained. CONCLUSIONS: The value of the module was apparent. For skills to be developed further in the work place, cultural changes need to occur.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMed2005

Genome-wide SNP discovery and linkage analysis in barley based on genes responsive to abiotic stress.

More than 2,000 genome-wide barley single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were developed by resequencing unigene fragments from eight diverse accessions. The average genome-wide SNP frequency observed in 877 unigenes was 1 SNP per 200 bp. However, SNP frequency was highly variable with the least number of SNP and SNP haplotypes observed within European cultivated germplasm reflecting effects of breeding history on genetic diversity. More than 300 SNP loci were mapped genetically in three experimental mapping populations which allowed the construction of an integrated SNP map incorporating a large number of RFLP, AFLP and SSR markers (1,237 loci in total). The genes used for SNP discovery were selected based on their transcriptional response to a variety of abiotic stresses. A set of known barley abiotic stress QTL was positioned on the linkage map, while the available sequence and gene expression information facilitated the identification of genes potentially associated with these traits. Comparison of the sequenced SNP loci to the rice genome sequence identified several regions of highly conserved gene order providing a framework for marker saturation in barley genomic regions of interest. The integration of genome-wide SNP and expression data with available genetic and phenotypic information will facilitate the identification of gene function in barley and other non-model organisms.

Expressed Sequence Tags↗

PubMed2005

Single-feature polymorphism discovery in the barley transcriptome.

A probe-level model for analysis of GeneChip gene-expression data is presented which identified more than 10,000 single-feature polymorphisms (SFP) between two barley genotypes. The method has good sensitivity, as 67% of known single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) were called as SFPs. This method is applicable to all oligonucleotide microarray data, accounts for SNP effects in gene-expression data and represents an efficient and versatile approach for highly parallel marker identification in large genomes.

Gene Expression Profiling↗

PubMed2003

Reflection: a casualty of modularisation?

INTRODUCTION: The use of reflection in nursing and midwifery is well-established and reflective skills are taught on both pre- and post-registration courses as a way of integrating theory and practice, and of developing students' critical and analytical skills. Reflection is generally regarded positively with an assumption that reflective skills benefit both practitioners and patients. The aim of this study was to identify the educational strategies used to develop reflective skills in one pre-registration diploma in nursing curriculum. METHODS: The survey was cross-sectional in design. A questionnaire was designed for the study to explore perceptions of both students and lecturers in one educational establishment. Curriculum documentation was analysed to examine where in the curriculum the development of reflective skills was prominent. The sample consisted of two student cohorts from the adult branch and all senior lecturers within the Institute who taught on the pre-registration programme. RESULTS: The findings revealed a complex picture of students' and lecturers' views of the teaching and learning strategies used to develop reflective skills. Lectures and group work were the strategies cited most commonly by the students, whereas the lecturers felt the strategies used most often were personal tutorials, group work and case scenarios. The documentary analysis revealed that out of the 13 modules, there was explicit reference in only three modules to reflective practice. Furthermore, it was evident that the majority of lecturers were not clear where in the curriculum reflective skills were taught which suggested that an overview of the whole curriculum is not always evident. CONCLUSIONS: Modularisation may have contributed to a fragmentation in the way in which some key health practitioner skills are developed and built upon throughout a curriculum. There needs to be agreement on the nature of the skills which are central to the development of reflective practitioners and clear thinking on how these are developed and assessed within a curriculum.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMed2003

How strong is the case for the adoption of problem-based learning in physiotherapy education in the United Kingdom?

Despite its use in medical and health education in several countries, problem-based learning (PBL) has to date not been adopted in undergraduate physiotherapy education in the UK. Most of these physiotherapy curricula incorporate many of the educationally desirable features found in PBL. The question is whether the evidence for PBL is strong enough to justify the costs involved in adopting it on such programmes. The strength of the evidence for PBL was reviewed in relation to required graduate attributes and several aspects of learning theory. Overall the findings were equivocal. The evidence suggests that PBL is preferential to traditional curricular design, but does not seem to meet all the requirements of medical and health education. Adoption of PBL would be positive, but its processes and outcomes may be no more successful than those of other curricular designs that incorporate the same sound educational design features. Comparative research in this area is needed.

Diffusion of Innovation↗

PubMed2001

The conceptions of the nature of learning of first-year physiotherapy students and their relationship to students' learning outcomes.

Research shows that students' conceptions of what 'learning' is influences both their approaches to learning and their learning outcomes. Lower level conceptions of learning are associated with surface approaches to learning, encouraging poor quality learning outcomes. However, more advanced conceptions are associated with deep learning approaches and high-quality learning outcomes. The Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes (SOLO) taxonomy was used to analyse the conceptions of learning of a new intake of physiotherapy students. The presence of a relationship between these and assessment outcomes was also investigated. As in other studies, a majority of students had lower level conceptions of learning than desired in higher education. However, a larger proportion of students had higher levels of conception than has been found in other research. A direct relationship between conceptions of learning and learning outcomes was also identified. The implications of these findings for achievement of high-quality learning are discussed.

Journal Article↗