Memory texts and memory work: Performances of memory in and with visual media

The online version of this article can be found at: http://mss.sagepub.com/content/early/2010/05/24/175069801037003

A Best Evidence Medical Education (BEME) systematic review of: What works best for health professions students using mobile (hand-held) devices for educational support on clinical placements? BEME Guide No. 52

Background: Ingrained assumptions about clinical placements (clerkships) for health professions students pursuing primary basic qualifications might undermine best educational use of mobile devices. Question: What works best for health professions students using mobile (hand-held) devices for educational support on clinical placements? Methods: A Best Evidence Medical Education (BEME) effectiveness-review of ‘justification’ complemented by ‘clarification’ and ‘description’ research searched: MEDLINE, ERIC (Educational Resource Information Center), Web of Science, CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature), PsycInfo, Cochrane Central, Scopus (1988-2016). Reviewer-pairs screened titles/abstracts. One pair coded, extracted, and synthesized evidence, working within the pragmatism paradigm. Summary of results: From screening 2,279 abstracts, 49 articles met inclusion-criteria, counting four systematic reviews for context. The 45 articles of at least Kirkpatrick K2 primary research mostly contributed K3 (39/45, 86.7%), mixed methods (21/45, 46.7%), and S4-strength (about one-half) evidence. Mobile devices particularly supported student: assessment; communication; clinical decision-making; logbook/notetaking; and accessing information (in about two-thirds). Informal and hidden curricula included: ---concerns about: disapproval; confidentiality and privacy; security ---distraction by social connectivity and busy clinical settings; ---mixed messages about policy. Discussion & Conclusion: This idiosyncratic evidence-base of modest robustness suggested that mobile devices provide potentially powerful educational support on clinical placement, particularly with student transitions, metalearning, and care contribution. Explicit policy must tackle informal and hidden curricula though, addressing concerns about transgressions

Activating the archive:Rethinking the role of traditional archives for local activist projects

This article explores the way archival material has the potential to become a core component of local food activism, through an evaluation of an AHRC-funded collaborative research project on the histories of local food in Liverpool. ‘Memories of Mr Seel’s Garden: exploring past and future food systems in Liverpool’ is a collaboration between 4 academics, 2 arts/heritage professionals and 3 community groups, around the theme of local food. The community groups were brought together by their mutual interest in exploring how historical work might contribute to the developing local food movement. The project aimed to undertake research into the history of local food systems, using three different methods: archival research, map research and oral history, in order to develop deeper understanding of food systems, both historically and geographically and to explore what this understanding might contribute to future community activism. The project examined whether undertaking the research changed participants’ awareness of the value of historical research (including the value of different methods); their understandings of the local environment and local food issues, or provided new perspectives on the possibility of future change and their role within it. In short, could historical research assist local activism? The article will describe the methods used and the research findings, which suggest that even ‘traditional’ archival materials, neither created nor selected for activist purposes, have the potential to be valuable resources for activist research, both for challenging simplistic activist narratives about the past and for empowering members of activist communities to develop new narratives for change and communicate these to wider society.<br/