Human mediation and technical-procedural learning: what cannot be replicated by simulation. An exploratory ex-post study of a peer-led BLS course in lower secondary school

Maria Vincenza Pistillo

Abstract


This paper presents an exploratory ex-post study of a Basic Life Support (BLS) course in lower secondary school, using instructor-led theory and peer-supported practice. Framed by the REN call ‘Algorithmic Heartbeats’, it takes algorithmic mediation as a context for examining relational dynamics in technical-procedural learning. Three months after the course, a questionnaire was given to 93 students in five Year 9 classes; one case was excluded, leaving n=92. Results show high recognition of the main BLS actions, with a specific difficulty regarding the rate of chest compressions. Students attach particular value to modelling, immediate feedback and correction during practice, rather than to the peer educator’s age proximity. The study does not compare human and algorithmic mediation, but addresses the boundary between an affectively plausible response and a situated educational relationship, as BLS already incorporates an algorithmic device, the semi-automatic defibrillator.


Keywords


Peer education; Basic Life Support; relational dynamics; technical-procedural learning; algorithmic mediation

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.32043/gsd.v10i4.1860

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