James Elander

Complex skills and academic writing: a review of evidence about the types of learning required to meet core assessment criteria

Assessment criteria are increasingly incorporated into teaching, making it important to clarify the pedagogic status of the qualities to which they refer. We reviewed theory and evidence about the extent to which four core criteria for student writing—critical thinking, use of language, structuring, and argument—refer to the outcomes of three types of learning: generic skills learning, a deep approach to learning, and complex learning. The analysis showed that all four of the core criteria describe to some extent properties of text resulting from using skills, but none qualify fully as descriptions of the outcomes of applying generic skills. Most also describe certain aspects of the outcomes of taking a deep approach to learning. Critical thinking and argument correspond most closely to the outcomes of complex learning. At lower levels of performance, use of language and structuring describe the outcomes of applying transferable skills. At higher levels of performance, they describe the outcomes of taking a deep approach to learning. We propose that the type of learning required to meet the core criteria is most usefully and accurately conceptualized as the learning of complex skills, and that this provides a conceptual framework for maximizing the benefits of using assessment criteria as part of teaching.

Effects of area and family deprivation on risk factors for teenage pregnancy among 13-15-year-old girls.

Abstract Information is needed about how the effects of socio-economic deprivation on teenage pregnancy are mediated by proximal risk factors, in order to target area-wide and family interventions more effectively. Using a 2×2 factorial design, we tested the separate and interacting effects of area deprivation and family deprivation on six specific proximal risk factors for teenage pregnancy: early sexual activity, life expectations, knowledge and beliefs about contraceptives, attitude to abortion, beliefs about love, and use of local sexual health services. Data were collected from 201 13 – 15-year-old girls in deprived and non-deprived families living in deprived and more affluent areas of the United Kingdom. Area deprivation significantly increased early sexual activity, and both area and family deprivation significantly reduced life expectations. Significant interactions between area and family deprivation showed that the impact of living in a deprived area depends to some extent on family circumstances, with implications for targeting different types of intervention. Living in a deprived area increased early sexual activity much more markedly among girls in deprived families, so interventions to reduce early sexual activity could target individually deprived girls living in deprived areas. Living in a more affluent area increased life expectations, but only among girls in non-deprived families, so both area-wide and individually targeted interventions would be needed to raise life expectations among girls most at risk of teenage pregnancy.

Factors Affecting Hospital Staff Judgments About Sickle Cell Disease Pain

Judgments about people with pain are influenced by contextual factors that can lead to stigmatization of patients who present in certain ways. Misplaced staff perceptions of addiction may contribute to this, because certain pain behaviors superficially resemble symptoms of analgesic addiction. We used a vignette study to examine hospital staff judgments about patients with genuine symptoms of analgesic addiction and those with pain behaviors that merely resemble those symptoms. Nurses and doctors at hospitals in London, UK, judged the level of pain, the likelihood of addiction, and the analgesic needs of fictitious sickle cell disease patients. The patient descriptions included systematic variations to test the effects of genuine addiction, pain behaviors resembling addiction, and disputes with staff, which all significantly increased estimates of addiction likelihood and significantly decreased estimates of analgesic needs. Participants differentiated genuine addiction from pain behaviors resembling addiction when making judgments about addiction likelihood but not when making judgments about analgesic needs. The treatment by staff of certain pain behaviors as symptoms of analgesic addiction is therefore a likely contributory cause of inadequate or problematic hospital pain management. The findings also show what a complex task it is for hospital staff to make sensitive judgments that incorporate multiple aspects of patients and their pain. There are implications for staff training, patient education, and further research.

A Discipline-Based Undergraduate Skills Module:

This paper describes the development and evaluation of a discipline-based skills module at Level 1 in the undergraduate psychology curriculum. The module combined generic and subject-specific skills teaching, linked skills provision with the personal tutor system and included practical exercises to promote deep learning and improve study skills. Student feedback showed that workshops and tutorials on essay writing were the most valued part of the module. The module assessment (a coursework essay about skills in higher education) was the part that most students asked to change. The response of psychology tutors was mixed and many tutors initially expressed misgivings about teaching generic skills. Following feedback from both students and tutors, the module developed to allow closer integration between generic skills and subject-specific teaching. Student progression across the psychology programme as a whole was not markedly higher after the introduction of the module by comparison with before, but other factors may also have affected student progression during that period. The module was designed to support student learning in psychology but, with adaptations of content, the approach of linking skills provision with subject-specific teaching and the personal tutor system could be applied in a range of other disciplines.

A qualitative analysis of psychological processes mediating quality of life impairments in chronic daily headache

Quality of life impairments are greater in chronic daily headache (CDH) than in episodic headache conditions like migraine. This qualitative interview study aimed to identify psychological processes associated with quality of life impairments among individuals meeting diagnostic criteria for CDH. Grounded theory analysis showed that perceived loss of control was the central experience mediating the impact of CDH on quality of life. The results provide explanations for previous quantitative findings about quality of life impairments in CDH, and could inform interventions to reduce the impact of CDH. Further research could also examine the roles played by perceived control in the onset and development of CDH, including possible links with pre-emptive analgesic use.

Becoming a psychology undergraduate: integrating study skills and integrating students

Three years of action research into a study skills and transition programme for psychology undergraduates are reported. The programme began as a ‘bolt-on’ response to perceptions of student deficit and developed to focus on transition to university. Data from three cohorts and over 600 students show attendance to be associated with higher academic grades and progression rates. The programme has also helped to establish relationships with peers and staff, prepare students for assessments, set expectations about study, and provided an opportunity to ask questions, to work collaboratively and to learn about referencing and plagiarism. Concerns with study skills highlighted by Wingate (2006) and others are discussed.