Exploring the World of Research at Humber Showcase 2024: Conversations with Researchers
Are you falling behind? Get ahead by creating research posters!
By Saran Davaajargal
Humber Showcase 2024, a full-day event for the Humber Polytechnic community to showcase teaching and learning innovations and be inspired by like-minded peers, was successfully organized by the Centre for Innovative Learning in the summer of 2024. This year's Showcase theme, Spaces & Places, encouraged us to reflect on and consider how we utilize Humber’s spaces and places and how we conceptualize spaces for learning, creation, innovation, and connection.
At the Showcase, the Humber Press team attended the poster session, and we had the opportunity to engage with three research teams. They shared their research stories, projects, inspiration, and the potential impact they hope for.
Research project name: Teaching students to research and write with integrity in the digital age
Research project team: Jennie Miron, Reg.N., BScN(H), MSc, PhD; Caleb Domsy, BSc, BEd, MI; Patrice Esson, MSc, PhD; Thomas Hipkin, MA; Judy Martin, MSc; Alexandra Ross, MA, MIst.
What was the inspiration behind this research project?
The surge of generative artificial intelligence (genAI) applications has created dramatic changes in our approaches to teaching and learning. It has required us to pause and consider how and when we use these technologies to ensure that students continue to learn. Biased data, potential partisan algorithms, vague policies, and curricula that are lagging with these technologies have created legitimate concerns for post-secondary instructors in adopting genAI to their pedagogies. It becomes crucial to learn more about what will affect the likelihood of post-secondary instructors adopting genAI as it has become clear that these technologies are expected to continue to develop, improve, and become ubiquitous in the work we do.
Can you give us an overview of the research project?
We are studying the effect that an educational module on generative AI (Artificial Intelligence) has on the knowledge and confidence of Humber instructors. We collect data by prompting instructors at the start of the module to complete a survey on their knowledge of and confidence with generative AI. We then contact them a few weeks later with a 2nd survey to re-measure their knowledge and confidence.
What impact does the team expect to achieve through the research project?
We hope the module will be a useful intervention for instructors in increasing their knowledge and confidence with generative AI. Given the adoption of generative AI globally, we think it is important for instructors and students to learn as much as possible about the strengths, limitations, and ethical use of this technology before students enter the workforce. We are still collecting data, so all Humber instructors are welcome to start the Introduction to Generative Artificial Intelligence (genAI) module for Instructors (password: genai_humber). After we finish collecting and analyzing the data, we plan to write up and present our findings to our leadership team at Humber, seek a journal publication, and share through a presentation at a professional conference.
Research project name: Enhancing Empathy: Exploring culturally responsive care in nursing education through working with simulated patient interactions
Research project team: Margot Rykhoff, RN, BScN, MA(Ed), CHSE; Rebecca Pereira, MA, MPH; Dr. Sandra Filice, RN. BAAN, MEd, PhD; Natasha Frank, RN, MN, CDE, CHSE.
What was the inspiration behind this research project?
Recent research within Humber Polytechnic’s Faculty of Health Sciences & Wellness (FHSW) Nursing program revealed that students rated “realism” as the most crucial element of simulation on the National League of Nursing Simulation Design measure. In May 2023, professionally trained simulated patients were introduced to enhance realism in FHSW simulation learning experiences.
Can you give us an overview of the research project?
Nurses must form therapeutic relationships using empathic communication when providing family-centred care with the family unit. Many undergraduate students lack practice opportunities for this type of communication, leading to skill gaps in clinical settings (Fields et al., 2011). Few studies explore students' empathy in providing culturally sensitive care.
A mixed methods pre/post-test and focus group design explored the empathetic communication skills of Bridging Practical Nursing students to Bachelor of Nursing in Science students (n=39). The study used Jefferson’s Scales of Empathy to assess skills in providing culturally sensitive family-centered care during pediatric simulations with simulated patients.
What impact does the team expect to achieve through the research project?
Students in the Bridging to Bachelor of Science of Nursing program expressed increased empathy after the implementation of participant actors as simulated patients. In addition, students viewed working with simulated patient/participant actors as an effective strategy to learn how to provide responsive, culturally sensitive, family-centred care.
Our research project not only offered an innovative approach to enhancing empathetic communication among our Bachelor of Science in Nursing students but also allowed us to further develop strategies for improving our simulation learning experiences. Additionally, it provided an opportunity to assess the effectiveness of utilizing simulated patients to foster empathetic skills and realism.
Research project name: Implementation of simulated patients and handover communication tools to enhance ‘realism’ and ‘patient safety’ in interprofessional team simulations
Research project team: Margot Rykhoff, RN, BScN, MA(Ed), CHSE; Sarah Wilkinson, R.Kin., PhD; Geneviève Mailloux, BHSc, RMT; Rebecca Pereira, MA, MPH.
What was the inspiration behind this research project?
Research studies conducted within the Humber Polytechnic’s Faculty of Health Sciences & Wellness (FHSW) Nursing, Paramedic, and Emergency Telecommunication programs, the students’ feedback emphasized the need for more simulation learning opportunities using an interprofessional approach and more “realism” in simulation. Furthermore, a subsequent FHSW research study exploring working with simulated patients leads to an increase in student therapeutic communication empathy scores. Qualitative data also supported the value of working with simulated patients in promoting realism and therapeutic communication skills for learners.
In addition to providing an innovative approach to support collaborative practice among our FHSW students, our project focused on strategies to improve patient safety by providing learning experiences for our students to practice “handover communication,” which has been identified as one of the most influencing factors that cause unintended harm to patients. In addition, our research project provided an opportunity to continue to implement strategies and evaluate the effectiveness of these factors that have been identified in previous research studies conducted within FHSW and the literature, namely increasing “realism” and implementing “simulated patients and family.”
Can you give us an overview of the research project?
Given the importance of interprofessional communication and collaboration in patient outcomes, it is critical that these competencies are incorporated during pre-licensure education through Interprofessional Education (IPE) simulation learning experiences. These learning activities allow for experimenting with making real-time clinical decisions in authentic situations and in an environment that promotes teamwork, collaboration, and patient safety. However, little research has examined the effect of handoff communication practice in interprofessional simulated learning experiences (Stow et al., 2017). Finally, engaging simulated participants (SP) as patients and family members in simulation has been shown to be an effective strategy for practicing skills in a safe environment (Lewis et al., 2017).
A mixed methods pre/post-test design explored health sciences students’ perceptions of communication, teamwork, and collaborative practices to promote patient safety while using “handover communication tools” within an interprofessional high acuity simulation scenario. Simulated patients from Humber’s Film & TV program played the role of the client and family.
What impact does the team expect to achieve through the research project?
The findings suggest that students perceive working with simulated patients and family members during an interprofessional simulation as effective for developing communication, teamwork, and collaboration skills. This work adds support to continue to provide IPE simulation learning experiences for cultivating a patient safety mindset and handoff communication skills during pre-licensure education.
Watch the video “Interprofessional Simulation: Nursing, Paramedic, Emergency Telecommunications and Acting Programs” to learn more about the project:
References:
Fields, S. K., Mahan, P., Tillman, P., Harris, J., Maxwell, K., & Hojat, M. (2011). Measuring empathy in healthcare profession students using the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy: Health provider-student version. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 25, 286-293. Doi: 10.3109/13561820.2011.566648
Lewis, K. L., Bohnert, C. A., Gammon, W. L., Holzer, H., Lyman, L., Smith, C., Thompson, T. M., Wallace,A., & Gilva-McConvey, G. (2017). & Gilva-McConvey, G. (2017). The association of standardized patient educators (ASPE) standards of best practice (SOBP). Advances in Simulation, 2, 1-10. https://doi10.1186/s41077-017-0043-4
Stow, J., Morpheta, J., Griffith, D., Huggins, C., & Morgan, P. (2017). Lessons learned developing and piloting interprofessional handover simulations for paramedic, nursing, and physiotherapy students. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 31(1), 132–135. https://doi.org/10.1080/13561820.2016.1251404