Abstract
Drawing upon Actor network theory (ANT), the paper discusses the issue of agency in simulation training in medical education. Data is generated through observing technology-enhanced simulations in health care education where a mid-fidelity simulator (SimMan) is used. In the teaching session described in the paper, the students work and learn together in a-30 minutes emergency simulation with the SimMan as a patient called Sofia. The paper illustrates different examples of how the SimMan transforms from a "mannequin" and a "piece of technology" to a "female patient Sofia" as an effect of an assemblage of heterogeneous actors and how rapidly the transformation reverses back to a "mannequin", "piece of technology" when the assemblage fails to hold together. By drawing upon ANT, the paper argues that agency is not just a capacity of the students and teachers, but in webs of relations of human actors, materials, a scenario, techniques and the mannequin.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages | 3 |
| Number of pages | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 2013 |
| Event | 7th European Research Conference - Berlin, Germany Duration: 4 Sept 2013 → 7 Sept 2013 |
Conference
| Conference | 7th European Research Conference |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | Germany |
| City | Berlin |
| Period | 4/09/13 → 7/09/13 |
Keywords
- actor-network theory
- ANT
- simulations
- medical education
- training
- group learning
- technology-enhanced learning