Getting students interested in neuropsychology

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Getting students interested in neuropsychology
Dr Trudi Edginton
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Overview

• Is Neuropsychology unique?
• Experiences - yours and mine
• Challenges and rewards
• Identification of good (and bad) practice
• Engagement strategies

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Unique discipline?

• If so, why?
• What are the specific challenges?
• Student numbers?
• Optional vs. compulsory?
• Teaching level?
• Subject area?
• Lecturers?
• Getting students interested..

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Your experiences

• Teaching neuropsychology?
• Theoretical distinctions neuroscience/neuropsychol
  ogy
• Waiting to begin?
• By choice?
• Background?
• Challenges?
• Rewards?
• Your initial thoughts

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My experiences

• Teaching for 10 years (OU UOW)
• BSc Cognitive Science and MSc Applied Cognitive
  Neuroscience
• Nursing (Clive Wearing)
• PhD (Alzheimers disease Headway)
• Post-doc (Oncology)
• Clinical research (TBI HC memory clinic)
• Single case studies (Emotion / imagery deficits)

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My initial thoughts

• Completely biased!
• Challenging topic to teach - for different
  reasons?
• Remember inspiration and challenges e.g.
  dissociations!
• Identify and learn from experience of good bad
  practice
• Feedback reflection
• Use own experience (balance here!)
• Ask them! What do students like?
• Weird, wonderful, gory, funny, relevant, music,
  relationships, celebrities, reality (Field, 09)

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Phineas Gage
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Clive Wearing
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Pedagogy

• Peer observation
• Student-centred learning
• Learning styles and learning outcomes
• Blended learning
• Problem-based learning
• Appropriate use of technology
• Assessment
• Feedback

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TIER project comments

• Promoting research mindfulness
• Importance of enthusiasm
• Importance of up to date knowledge
• Appropriate integration of research experience
• Ability to link theory to real world applications
• Importance of experience and sensitivity
• Importance of interaction
• Link between anatomy and cognitive profiles
• Symptom based approach

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Personal feedback

• you and Catherine are so enthusiastic -you
  can tell that you both love what you teach
• your clinical experience helps it become more
  meaningful, I enjoy the funny stories and want to
  hear more
• ..what I love about your lectures is that
  you always say such silly things - helps me
  remember stuff! - pause what I mean is not um
  silly..!!

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Double dissociations

• Postcentral gyrus damage results in paralysis of
  voluntary movements
• unable to smile for the camera
• able to smile in response to a joke
• Limbic damage results in inability to express
  emotions
• unable to smile in response to a joke
• able to smile for the camera

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Student enrolment issue

• Attracting students early in course
• Lecturers
• Outside speakers
• Student testimonies
• Word of mouth
• Feedback

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Suggestions so far..

• Keep the anecdotes and humour!
• Maintain enthusiasm
• Importance of clinical experience
• Importance of up to date research, conferences
• Need to convey/demonstrate material effectively
• Student lecturer engagement
• Active student-centered learning
• Innovative assessment

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Assessments

• Role play
• Case studies
• Science magazine article
• Peer marking
• All require engagement with material to
  promote understanding and ability to select
  appropriate assessments and how to convey and
  approach material in easy to understand manner

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Role play

• Opportunity to be patient and assessor
• Differentiate profiles
• Appropriate selection of tasks
• Experience of administering tasks
• Awareness of pragmatics, sensitivity, time and
  fatigue constraints, relationship
• Link to student participation in studies

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Neuropsychological assessment

• NART
• CHORD
• ACHE
• DEPOT
• AISLE
• PSALM
• CAPON
• DENY
• NAUSEA

• MMSE
• What is the year? season? date? day? month?
• Where are we? country? county? town? street?
  house name/number?
• Repeat and remember 3 objects
• Serial sevens
• Recall 3 objects
• Repeat no ifs ands or buts

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Neuropsychological assessment

• CT scans
• MRI
• fMRI
• Diffusion tensor imaging
• PET scans
• TMS
• Use of computerised and pen paper tasks

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Integration

• Neuropsychological assessment/profiling
• Expertise and sensitivity
• Link to anatomical lesions
• Link to theoretical frameworks
• Symptom-based approach
• Rehabilitation

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Case studies

• Opportunity to develop detailed profile
• Introduction to single case methodology
• Personal and medical history
• Cognitive deficits
• Cognitive assessments
• Conclusions
• Recommendations

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Science article

• Opportunity to be more creative
• Use of straightforward language
• Links to science in the media
• Promotes in depth understanding
• Creates portfolio for students

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Peer assessment

• Develops critical evaluation
• Need for constructive feedback
• Peer comparison
• Awareness of marking criteria
• Harshest critics!

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Evaluation (Edginton, Loveday and Boubert, in
prep)

• Challenges
• Student numbers
• Time
• Effort
• Learning outcomes
• Marking criteria
• Support

• Rewards
• Engagement
• Interest
• Enjoyment
• Marking
• Plagiarism
• Positive external feedback

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Summary

• Feedback
• Enthusiasm
• Experience and sensitivity
• Appropriate integration
• Appropriate anecdotes/humour
• Interaction and novel assignments
• Passion!