Eloise Monger

Semantic Annotation of Ubiquitous Learning Environments

Skills-based learning environments are used to promote the acquisition of practical skills as well as decision making, communication, and problem solving. It is important to provide feedback to the students from these sessions and observations of their actions may inform the assessment process and help researchers to better understand the learning process. Through a series of prototype demonstrators, we have investigated the use of semantic annotation in the recording and subsequent understanding of such simulation environments. Our Semantic Web approach is outlined and conclusions drawn as to the suitability of different annotation methods and their combination with ubiquitous computing techniques to provide novel mechanisms for both student feedback and increased understanding of the learning environment.

The challenges of developing and evaluating complex care scenarios using simulation in nursing education

Demonstrating the impact and effectiveness of educational interventions, including medium and high-fidelity simulation, has long been fraught with methodological challenges and ambiguities. This is particularly the case when there are several confounding factors and variables operating in situations where control trials are inappropriate, and investigative costs can be high. Current theoretical and empirical evidence, while emerging, is parsimonious and fails to take account of the characteristics of different modes of simulation, their contested theoretical models of learning and the opportunities presented by cutting edge computer science. Medium and high-fidelity simulations, situated within technology-rich environments, generate new forms of complex data that have the potential to provide insights into ‘real-world’ practices. Drawing on a range of locally based studies, we argue that until the methodological questions and data management systems can be addressed, the evidence to determine the judicious and optimal use of simulation to improve student and practitioner performance and patient outcomes will remain primarily reliant on proxy measures of self-efficacy and competence.

Location based semantic annotation for ward analysis

Semantic annotation has been used to combine varied information sources - gathered as unobtrusively as possible - and produce enhanced tools for working with digital resources. In this paper we describe trials carried out using a location tracking system and Semantic Web annotation technologies to analyse activities in a simulated ward environment. The motivation for semantic annotation of the space will be outlined along with the practicalities of the location based tracking system. The integration of location, annotations and video information will be discussed together with the technologies and approaches applicability to use in a real ward environment.

Tracking and annotation in skills-based learning environments

This paper outlines a series of experiments looking at the annotation and subsequent analysis of skills-based learning and teaching in the domain of Nursing. The experiments used Semantic Web technologies to create and store annotations of the students activities. A number of techniques were used to create these annotations ranging from manual textual annotations by observers through to automatic spatial annotations from a location tracking system. Combining these annotations sets points towards new methods for analysis of both student learning and educational viewpoints on such skills-based labs. Initial observations from these proof of concept studies will be presented along with future directions the work may take.

Authority as an Interactional Achievement: Exploring Deference to Smart Devices in Hospital-Based Resuscitation

Over the years, healthcare has been an important domain for CSCW research. One significant theme carried through this body of work concerns how hospital workers coordinate their work both spatially and temporally. Much has been made of the coordinative roles played by the natural rhythms present in hospital life, and by webs of mundane artefacts such as whiteboards, post-it notes and medical records. This paper draws upon the coordinating role of rhythms and artefacts to explore the nested rhythms of the Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) protocol conducted to restore the proper heart rhythm in a patient who has suffered a cardiac arrest. We are interested in how the teams delivering CPR use various ‘smart’ assistive devices. The devices contain encoded versions of the CPR protocol and are able to sense (in a limited way) the situation in order to give instructions or feedback to the team. Using an approach informed by ethnomethodology and conversation analysis (EM/CA) we analysed video of trainee nurses using these devices as they delivered CPR in dramatized training scenarios. This analysis helped us to understand concepts such as autonomy and authority as interactional accomplishments, thus filling a gap in CSCW literature, which often glosses over how authority is formed and how it is exercised in medical teams. It also helps us consider how to respond to devices that are becoming more active in that they are being increasingly imbued with the ability to sense, discriminate and direct activity in medical settings.

Training CPR with a wearable real time feedback system

We present a study comparing the effect of real-time wearable feedback with traditional training methods for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The aim is to ensure that the students can deliver CPR with the right compression speed and depth. On the wearable side, we test two systems: one based on a combination of visual feedback and tactile information on a smart-watch and one based on visual feedback and audio information on a Google Glass. In a trial with 50 subjects (23 trainee nurses and 27 novices,) we compare those modalities to standard human teaching that is used in nurse training. While a single traditional teaching session tends to improve only the percentage of correct depth, it has less effect on the percentage of effective CPR (depth and speed correct at the same time). By contrast, in a training session with the wearable feedback device, the average percentage of time when CPR is effective improves by up to almost 25%.