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The COVID-19 pandemic brought about an opportunity for higher education institutions (HEI) to explore modes of education delivery other than face-to-face (F2F) and remote learning via fully online mode. The HEIs faced challenges for "business to resume as usual" when not all students were able to return to campus due to being held back in their home state or countries due to different stages of lockdown at their locations. At Taylor's, a hybrid learning mode was thought of to be the solution that can cater both to students who are on-campus and those who are off-campus. A pilot project based on a very practical-oriented classroom from the School of Food Studies and Gastronomy (SFSG) and Taylor's Culinary Institute (TCI) was kick-started to ensure a seamless learning experience for the students. The "pandemic pedagogy" based on real-life needs can be an opportunity to scale up learning for borderless learning in the future. This study reports on the initial development process and challenges and the findings from the pilot studies using a design-based research (DBR) approach.
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Aims: Survival of people with advanced colorectal cancer (CRC) can be prolonged through treatment pathways including cytoreductive surgery and hypothermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (CRS-HIPEC), pelvic exenteration, liver resection, and palliative chemotherapy without surgery. Virtually no qualitative research has compared the experiences and needs of advanced CRC survivors who receive these treatments. This study aims to fill this gap. Methods : Adult survivors of CRC who have undergone the aforementioned treatments are being recruited 0.5-2 years post-surgery or, for palliative chemotherapy participants, 0.5-2 years post-diagnosis of advanced CRC. Recruitment will continue until approximately N = 40 or data saturation is reached. Quantitative data include: demographic and clinical data, Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - Colorectal (FACT-C), Distress Thermometer, and Comprehensive Score for Financial Toxicity (COST). Quantitative data will undergo descriptive analysis to characterise the sample. All participants will participate in a qualitative semi-structured telephone interview exploring quality of life, employment, finances, stigma, supportive care needs, social functioning, perceptions of survivorship, and impacts of COVID-19. Interviews are analysed via the framework approach of thematic analysis. Results : Preliminary analysis of 36 interviews (n = 10 CRS-HIPEC, n = 10 pelvic exenteration, n = 9 liver resection, n = 7 palliative chemotherapy) reveals some advanced CRC survivors report post-surgical complications and chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, which can limit physical activity. CRC impacted some participants' psychosocial well-being ability to work, and sense of identity. Participants reportedly manage these impacts through distraction, positive reframing, and contact with other CRC survivors. Most participants appeared satisfied with their cancer treatment teams. Some viewed GPs as important healthcare coordinators. COVID-19 made some participants more cautious when leaving the house. Telehealth was considered less personal, but convenient. Conclusions : The study's findings will help guide development of interventions to improve the survivorship experience of patients who receive treatment for advanced CRC. This may include an information booklet, patient-reported outcome measure, clinical pathway, or targeted intervention.
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Background: Approximately 18% of colorectal cancer (CRC) diagnoses are advanced cancer, whereas 30%-40% of patients develop recurrence after treatment with curative intent. More modern treatments enable longer survival for people with advanced CRC, including cytoreductive surgery and hypothermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (CRS-HIPEC), pelvic exenteration, liver resection, and palliative chemotherapy without surgery. Yet, virtually no qualitative research has compared the perspectives and quality of life (QoL) experiences of survivors of these different treatments. This study aims to fill this gap. Methods: Approximately N = 40 adult survivors of CRC are being recruited from two major Australian hospitals 0.5-2 years posttreatment or post-diagnosis. All participants will complete the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - Colorectal (FACT-C), Distress Thermometer and Comprehensive Score for Financial Toxicity (COST) questionnaires. Questionnaire data, participant demographics and clinical data will undergo descriptive analysis to characterise the sample. Participants will participate in a qualitative semi-structured telephone interview, analysed via the framework approach of thematic analysis. Qualitative interviews explore QoL, survivorship experiences, employment and finances, supportive care needs, stigma and social functioning and impacts of COVID-19. Results: Preliminary analysis of 30 interviews (n=10 CRS-HIPEC, n=9 pelvic exenteration, n = 5 liver resection, n = 6 palliative chemotherapy) reveals someadvancedCRCsurvivors report post-surgical complications and chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, which can limit physical activity and daily functioning. Participants reportedly manage these through distraction, positive reframing and contacting other CRC survivors. Most participants appeared satisfied with their cancer treatment teams. Some viewed their GPs as important coordinators in their health care. Some CRC survivors viewed the change to telehealth due to COVID-19 as less personal;however, rural/regional participants prefer its convenience. Conclusions: The study findings will help guide development of interventions to improve the survivorship experience of patients who receive treatment for advanced CRC. This may include an information booklet, patient-reported outcome measure, clinical pathway or targeted intervention.
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This paper describes a series of lab modules designed to support student learning after a lab-based course in autonomous systems switched to a remote learning format during the spring of 2020. The Autonomous Unmanned Systems Stream is a course-based undergraduate research experience that serves first-year students at the University of Maryland. Incoming cohorts begin their year-long experience in January with a ten-week training syllabus that relies on a balance of scholarly inquiry and in-lab activities to engage key experiential learning modes. Students then form teams and propose unmanned-vehicle projects with societal relevance beyond the classroom that they pursue for the rest of the year. Student training was disrupted in Spring 2020 when universities were forced to cancel in-person classes and close labs due to the global COVID-19 outbreak. I created two extension lab sequences to facilitate basic experimentation with embedded hardware and motion planning concepts while helping students to develop basic decision-making strategies for their own research projects. nCoV-BusterBot is a fictional vehicle that disinfects indoor spaces using an onboard UV emitter array;the labs simulate its mission using a hardware-in-the-loop ground station framework and with a separate paper-based board game designed to be printed and assembled at home. Student survey results indicate the new labs helped maintain student engagement after transitioning to a remote learning format and were successful in supporting their respective learning and research outcomes. © 2021, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc, AIAA. All rights reserved.
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The COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread rapidly and overwhelm health systems around the world. To cope with this unprecedented usage of healthcare resources, increasingly novel solutions are being brought into the fray. Telemedicine has been thrust into the spotlight in the fight against COVID-19 and is being employed in many different ways to better tackle the challenges. Telemedicine will likely have a more permanent place in traditional healthcare delivery long after COVID-19 is over as users and providers recognise its utility. Copyright © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.