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FINNUT-Forskning og innovasjon i utdanningssektoren

Professional Education and simulation-based training

Alternative title: Profesjonsutdanning og simuleringsbasert trening

Awarded: NOK 12.0 mill.

For professional education, it is necessary to bridge theory and practice through active student involvement. The use of simulations in training are promising in respect. Technological advancement in recent years have expanded the opportunities to train in a realistic and risk free environment before entering a workplace where mistakes can be the difference between life and death. To successfully adopt such methods, we need an in-depth understanding of the relationships between professional context and simulation used in education. That is, are there systematic differences across these professions with respect to whether simulation-based methods are considered suitable, and how they get applied in practice? The project «Professional education and simulation- based training? (PROSIM) gathers researchers from Norwegian University of Technology and Science, University of South-Eastern Norway and University of Gothenburg to study the use of simulations across three domains - health science, biomedicine and maritime professional education. Our aim is to develop knowledge and further understanding of the use of simulations for professional learning. In particular, our interest is to explore the relationship between simulations and the social, emotional, cognitive and practical dimensions to practice and to develop professional identity. The project involves forums for learning across domains and discussion both within academia and with the practice fields. Thus, the ambition of PROSIM is to stimulate cross-disciplinary learning of best practice as well as a shared system of concepts. The project is currently in a phase where er are actively working on analysis and publication of empirical data. The research team, including the two PhD candidates in the project, has over the last years gathered a large dataset on the topic through method triangulation. A quantitative survey targeting instructors at the three educations in Scandinavia, has been combines with qualitative interviews with students and instructors to better grasp their perspectives on simulation-based training methods. These strategies have been combined with observation and video recordings of educational situations, to gain more insight into actual practice. A fourth strategy to understand how simulation-based teaching is discussed, is through literature reviews of the discussions in the research debate in the respective fields. The results are now under different stages of production and publication. VI use these data actively in the interdisciplinary arenas the project has initiated were we invite practitioners and researchers to joint discussion. This year the gathering took place at the project partners at Gothenburg University.

For professional education, it is necessary to bridge theory and practice through active student involvement. Simulation-based training methods are promising in this respect, and technological advancement in recent years have expanded the opportunities to promote educational goals. Simulation-based training is a widespread method to improve the quality of practice in a risk free and cost-effective manner across different professional fields. To successfully adopts such methods, we need an in-depth understanding of the relationships between professional context and simulation used in education. That is, are there professional differences in whether and how simulation-based methods are most suitable? PROSIM conducts a comparative and interdisciplinary study of technology-supported simulation-based training in bachelor-level education in three professional fields: maritime, health and biomedical laboratory science. PROSIM draws on situated, distributed and socio-cultural theories to study professional learning as interactional accomplishments between participants and simulation-technologies in everyday simulation practice (Suchman, 2007; Hutchins, 1995; Lave & Wenger, 1991). The overall project aim is to advance our understanding of simulation-based training across professional setting in ways that can improve the quality of simulation-based training. The three fields are chosen because, despite structural similarities, there are significant differences in how simulation-based training is implemented and used in practical training and assessment practices. Cross-disciplinary dialogue and cooperation is a key part of the project strategy. The project design involves forums for interdisciplinary learning and discussion both within academia and with the practice fields. Thus, the ambition of PROSIM is to stimulate cross-disciplinary learning of best practice as well as a shared system of concepts.

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FINNUT-Forskning og innovasjon i utdanningssektoren