title: Using 'complexity' for improving educational research in health care.
abstract: Systematic reviews of health care education have consistently reported a lack of long-term effects, failure to use theory, and inadequate methodological rigour. Such findings have highlighted the lack of a clear causality and predictability in health care education research and therefore the inadequacy of a traditional scientific framework with its focus on analysis, prediction and control. This article argues that in order to develop an effective and standardised framework we must go beyond such a restrictive agenda and toward one that appreciates education as a complex adaptive system. It uses the example of interprofessional education in the UK to showcase its discussion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community and Child Health, University of Chester, UK. h.cooper@chester.ac.uk
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Geyer
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D004517:Education, Professional / Q000379:methods*; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000193:education*; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D017145:Models, Educational; D012106:Research / Q000193:education; D013336:Students, Health Occupations