Projects

2021 – 2023

Project Partners:

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece (Coordinator)

St George's, University of London

UK Masaryk University, Czech Republic

This project is an Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership project funded by the European Commission. The CLUEDUP project proposes to innovate the TBL activities with Escape Room elements. The resulting Combined Learning Activity (CLA) will be adaptable to other collaborative learning strategies, such as PBL, CBL, and Flipped Classroom (FC). The CLUEDUP project will deliver and share CLA outputs for the community to use and learn from. Scenarios will be built through cooperation with multiple stakeholders and will be built around the complications induced by COVID-19 and other emergencies. The outputs of the project will be shared through a number of platforms including a MOOC to train others in the development of their own CLA.

The project kick-off meeting will be taking place online on 14th June 2021 where the project partners will come together to discuss the project activities and outputs. More details will be shared during the project. 

CLUEDUP - Collaborative Learning – Working together to make good decisions, February 2023

2018 – 2020

TELSON

This project engages partner institutions to increase the use of Virtual Scenario (VS) tools and Scenario Based Learning (SBL) methodologies in the education of biomedical and natural sciences. Through a process of knowledge sharing, authoring, and application of Virtual Scenarios in partner institutions, the project will analyse the efficacy of VS tools and SBL methodologies used with large populations of students and teachers. The partnership of this funded EC project comprises three institutions from three European countries:

• Masaryk University (Czechia)

• Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iasi (Romania)

• St George’s, University of London (United Kingdom).

The multi-institutional investigation of this type represents a benchmark in the exploration of pedagogy, efficacy and staffing efficiency of each method, in an era in which learning activities are increasingly blending face-to-face with eLearning.

Keywords: international; curriculum transformation; virtual patients; Erasmus+; strategic partnership.

2016 – 2018

Waves Network

This project combines skill sets of both academic and enterprise partners to make Scenario Based Learning (SBL) more accessible for a wide range of professions. Developments include the ability to embed SBL activities directly into learning platforms and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).

By embedding SBL, MOOCs will enable development of real world skills, competency and experience rather than knowledge. The provision of training materials in multiple languages, including a ‘How to create Virtual Scenarios’ MOOC, will make VS more accessible for educators. The project will sustain and disseminate these activities through an extended partnership, the ‘WAVES’ network.

Scenario-based learning (SBL) techniques are widely recognised as a key tool in the educational toolkit, for safe training in competency and decision-making, but the available applications are challenging for educators to understand and use without considerable resource and effort.

Keywords: international; data standards; virtual patients; Erasmus+; knowledge alliance.

WAVES - Looking back at "We are our choices," Learning to make good decisions, WAVES event 2018

WAVES – We are our choices – Learning decision-making through scenarios, June 2016

2015 – 2019

TAME Project

The overall objective of this project is to introduce innovative pedagogical methods that will provide training for students against medical error. TAME innovates curricula towards teaching and learning in a safe environment and closer to the needs of real practice, where medical errors occur.

Keywords: international; curriculum transformation; virtual patients; Erasmus+; capacity building.

2016 – 2020

COPe-support

This project with the Institute of Population Health aims to develop and evaluate an online intervention providing peer support, information, and coping strategies to promote the wellbeing of families and friends of individuals affected by schizophrenia and psychosis.

EFFIP is a 5-year research project aiming to develop and evaluate an online resource for carers, called COPe-support (Carers fOr People with Psychosis e-support resource).

Keywords: psychosis; carers; National Institute of Health Research.

2015 – 2017

MEDCIN

Creation of a web-based visualization tool for comprehensive evaluation and mapping of medical curricula with the use of modern information and communication technologies.

Keywords: international; data standards; Erasmus+; strategic partnership

2013 – 2016

CROESUS

Training of academics and students to create their own learning and teaching content and introduce interactive patient systems as well as innovative pedagogy methods in the form of VPs into the clinical elements of the course.

Keywords: international; data standards; virtual patients; Erasmus+; strategic partnership.

2012 – 2015 

ePBLnet

Creation of an International Network, ePBLnet, focused on Medical Education Centres (MECs) for the development and implementation of innovative teaching strategies, starting with modernisation of the early undergraduate medical curriculum.

Keywords: international; curriculum transformation; virtual patients; Tempus.

2012 – 2013

Generation 4.5

A JISC funded continuum project from the Generation 4 project to embed the experience and successes of the project in to other disciplines such as Law, philosophy and medicine. This project specifically created 6 virtual patient scenarios for medical ethics and two were developed as both text and video scenarios. The video scenarios were created by students using the text scenario as a basis for the scenario. 

Links to the scenarios created as part of the project can be found below:

1. Jake Clarke

• Play the Jake Clarke VP

2. Alfred Stokes 

• Play the Alfred Stokes VP

3. Joseph Murray 

• Play the Joseph Murray VP

4. Brenda Williams 

• Play the Brenda Williams VP

5. Costa Arroyo

• Play the Costas Arroyo VP

6. Yasmin Abadi 

• Video scenario Play the Yasmin Abadi Video VP
• Text Scenario Play the Yasmin Abadi VP

Keywords: ethics; virtual patients; JISC

2010 – 2011

Virtual Training for Psychosis

A teaching scenario for psychiatry students to practice dealing with distressed and disturbed patients within a realistic virtual setting.

Keywords: virtual patients; virtual worlds

mEducator

Creation of an International Network, ePBLnet, focused on Medical Education Centres (MECs) for the development and implementation of innovative teaching strategies, starting with modernisation of the early undergraduate medical curriculum.

Keywords: international; data standards; virtual patients; eContent+

2009 – 2011

iEthics

Interactive Ethics Case Simulation (iEthics) project created ethics virtual patient scenarios to revolutionise medical ethics education across the UK and abroad for staff and students. The scenario is easy to use and represents the gold standard for delivery of realistic case. The specific objectives of the iEthiCS project were to:

1. Professionally script, test, and produce an interactive video virtual patient (VP) based on an existing do not attempt resuscitation (DNAR) case
2. Create suitable tutor and student guides to assist with the use of the VP for teaching and learning in different contexts within medical and healthcare education: Andy Dufrayne tutor notes
3. Release the final VP and associated guides to the wider community under an appropriate open Creative Commons licensing model:
   • Andy Dufrayne video scenario
   • Scenario videos and commentary
4. Disseminate the use of the VPs and associated guides to the wider community by presenting at conferences, publishing in scholarly newsletters and journals, and via the project website.
5. To investigate the use of social networking tools and electric polling systems to enhance the interactivity of virtual patient scenarios.

Keywords: ethics; virtual patients.

2008 – 2010

Generation 4 (G4)

Use new technologies to assist in the creation of a more interactive model for curriculum delivery in medicine.

Keywords: virtual patients; curriculum transformation; JISC

2008-2009

PIVOTE

The output of the PREVIEW project is to implement a virtual patient player which runs in the virtual world called Second Life. This player is called PIVOTE.

2008 – 2009

PREVIEW

Deliver 5 Problem-Based Learning (PBL) scenarios for Paramedic students and implement a virtual patient player via the virtual world, Second Life.

Keywords: virtual patients; virtual worlds; data standards; JISC

2007 – 2010

eViP

Creation of a Europe-wide bank of electronic ‘virtual patients’ (VPs).

Keywords: international; virtual patients; data standards, eContent+

2007 – 2010 

REViP

Explore and evaluate the embedding of repurposed and enriched Virtual Patients (VPs) within a Paediatrics component in the St George’s medical curriculum.

Keywords: virtual patients; curriculum development; JISC.

2005 – 2007

REHASH

Re-purpose in-house web-based teaching materials to a range of different educational levels to support student progress from further to higher education in medicine and healthcare.

Keywords: curriculum development; JISC.