Preparing health professions learners to work with uncertainty

Abstract

The overarching aim of this PhD thesis is to investigate how health professions students learn to manage uncertainty during their undergraduate training. The work focusses in particular on the potential of an innovative online learning tool—a digital educational escape room (DEER)—to facilitate this learning.

The thesis begins with a scoping review that aims to "map" the existing literature on how undergraduate health professions students engage with uncertainty. This review synthesises findings from multiple journal databases and health professions education journals, offering insight into the current state of knowledge on this topic.

The thesis continues with a study that explores the application of a well-established taxonomy of uncertainty to guide an educational workshop. This workshop provided a learning environment where participants could critically examine instances of student uncertainty and identify relevant attributes—such as knowledge, skills, and attitudes—that may support undergraduate health professions students in managing uncertainty.

Following this, the thesis details the design, development, and evaluation of a digital educational escape room (DEER). A comprehensive account is provided of the development of the DEER. The thesis also examines the game-building process itself, analysing the experiences of student design team members with respect to the concept of psychological safety.

The thesis concludes with the evaluation of an early implementation of the escape room, including an exploration of how learning takes place, through the lens of the Community of Inquiry pedagogical model. This thesis provides a set of design principles for creating DEERs and concludes with practical recommendations for practitioners seeking to develop and utilise DEERs to enhance learning.