Summary
Dr Moss is a Principal Teaching Fellow within the National Heart and Lung Institute. His main teaching responsibilities are to the undergraduate School of Medicine, predominatly within phase 1 (Y1-3) of the 6-year MBBS B.Sc. programme.
He has developed a reputation for engaging, innovative evidence-based approaches to teaching, for working in close collaboration with students and providing support to colleagues whenever requested.
His current focus is on improving educational planning and delivery, including evidence-based approaches to teaching, student-centred curriculum design and optimisation of teaching spaces and staff time.
Biography
He studied Physiology at undergraduate level at the University of Leeds, where he selected modules including cardiovascular physiology, respiratory physiology, exercise physiology and environmental physiology. After graduating in 2008, he worked as a Biomedical Support Worker in the Clinical Biochemistry and Haematology laboraties within Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. This role involved the receipt, preparation and analysis of thousands of blood, urine and fluid samples every day. In 2009, he undertook on a Ph.D. programme in Clinical Exercise Physiology at Sheffield Hallam University. During his studentship he completed research studies investigating (i) the effects of a pragmatic lifestyle intervention in obstructive sleep apnoea hypopnoea syndrome (OSAHS); (ii) the effects of exercise training in abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) disease; (iii) the effects of ageing and fitness on skin blood flow; (iv) the effects of high-intensity interval training (HIIT); and, (v) the effects of treatment compliance on macro- and microvascular function in OSAHS. Upon completion in 2013, his first post-doctoral post was at University College London as a Research Associate on a multi-centre cohort trial investigating novel predictors of outcomes in recent-onset chest pain.
Since joining Imperial College in 2014, he has undertaken a part-time Master of Education in University Learning & Teaching, supervised by Dr Monika Pazio. This has enabled him to explore established principles, concepts and theories and apply them into his practice and School of Medicine policy.
Outside of work, he is keen SCUBA diver and instructor, and an active member of his local British Sub-Aqua Club branch.
Teaching roles
Education leadership
Head of Education Space for School of Medicine - this school-wide leadership role requires Dr Moss to provide academic oversight into the design, refurbishment and optimisation of our education spaces (totalling >50 individual rooms across two campuses), working closely with the Teaching Facilities Manager and Head of School. This role is particularly important given the recent and planned capital investment in our education infrastructure totalling circa £15 million.
MBBS Phase One Lead for Curriculum Planning - this role covers Phase One of the MBBS programme, which includes >1000 medical students, >800 unique learning events and in 2021/22 >3000 individual timetable activities. Dr Moss oversees the educational planning of this campus-based teaching, ensuring efficient utilisation of physical space, student time and staff time, and that students have a coherent and manageable learning journey.
Former education leadership roles include: Y1 MBBS Bioregulatory Systems [2018-2020], Y2 MBBS Bioregulatory Systems [2018-2020], Y4 MBBS Remote Medicine Assessment Lead [2018-2019], Y1 MBBS Cardiovascular & Respiratory Medicine Topic Development Lead [2017-2018], Y1 MBBS Cardiovascular System [2018-2019], Y1 MBBS Alimentary System [2015-2019], Y2 BMS Physiology of Life under Pressure [2015-2019]
EDUCATION DELIVERY
Dr Moss has consistently delivered 200-300 hours of contact time annually, teaching regularly across the following programme & years:
- MBBS Phase 1a (Y1) Medicine
- MBBS Phase 1b (Y2) Medicine
- MBBS Phase 1c (Y3) Medicine
- B.Sc. Remote Medicine [MBBS Phase 2]
- B.Sc. Medical Biosciences (Y2)
- B.Sc. Biomedical Science [no longer offered]
Other education activities
Over the last five years Dr Moss has made a considerable commitment to student recruitment & admissions activities, public engagement and outreach and student welfare support.
INVITED SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
Faculty Teaching Forum (School of Medicine, Imperial College London, 2016) “Gamification: Leveraging elements of game design in medical education”
Imperial College Education Day (Education Office, Imperial College London, 2017) “Gamification: Leveraging elements of game design in medical education”
University of Leeds (Leeds, 2018) “Backflips or flipping mad? Student and tutor experiences of flipping the classroom with AD Instruments Lt software”
Lt BrainTrust (London, 2018) “Flipped classroom with AD Instruments Lt”
Transform MedEd (Singapore, 2018) “Using games in medical education”
Faculty Teaching Forum (School of Medicine, Imperial College London, 2018) “Incorporating Digital Peadagogy into your teaching"
Society for Endocrinology (Brighton, 2019) “Innovative Teaching Methods"
Abertay University (Dundee, 2019) “Does technology ACTUALLY enhance learning?”
Imperial College School of Medicine Halfway Dinner (London, 2019) “Medicine and playing cards: parallels and possibilities”
Talking Teaching (Education Office, Imperial College London, 2019) “GAMIFICATION: Gimmick or game-changer?
Physiological Society (Online, 2021) “Title TBC”
Society for Endocrinology (Edinburgh, 2021) “Title TBC”
Educational research interests
Dr Moss currently has four main areas of educational research.
What motivates medical students - and how can we empower self-motivation?
Assessment is persistently cited as a primary driver for learning behaviours in undergraduate curricula, which can disengage learners from important but 'less likely to be examined' learning activities, many of which are cited as shortfalls in the Learning & Teaching Strategy. Improving our understanding of the barriers to attendance and engagement can catalyse changes in educational design that . Embedding a sound understanding of theories of motivation (e.g. Self-Determination Theory [Deci & Ryan] & the Theory of Planned Action [Ajzen]) in curriculum design and implementation can support students to self-motivate their engagement.
How can our educational spaces promote learning and activate teachers and students?
The structure and function of student-focussed spaces is essential for promoting innovative teaching approaches and an enjoyable and productive student experience. Educational spaces designed without teacher and student input at all stages of development (RIBA 0 to 7) often result in spaces that don't quite meet practical user needs/expectations and can have a shallower adoption curve. Partnership in design is pivotal.
How can learning games and playful learning support medical education?
As children, we explore the world with curiosity and imagination, which naturally tapers throughout the education system. The traditional seriousness of higher education may be productively punctuated with opportunities for learning games and playful learning that reinvigorates exploratory and collaborative learning. In particular, games can provide students to learn how to fail in a controlled environment, without trivialising the potentially critical impact of failures in the clinical environment.
powerpoint slides are more than just the learning content
Microsoft Powerpoint was never designed for education, but it is now ubiquitous across education institutions worldwide. Most medical school educators are clinicians and/or scientist first, and educators second, the majority of whom are unfamiliar with the evidence-based principles and theories of learning that underpin effective and accessible design of Powerpoint slides. Implementing support strategies to improve the design and delivery of these teaching resources can have a significant impact on the efficacy and enjoyment of this teaching sessions.
Grants, awards & nominations
2012: Inspirational Teacher Nomination, Sheffield Hallam University
2015: Innovation in Education award, £3,400, School of Medicine
2016: Teaching Excellence Award nomination, Imperial College School of Medicine
2016: Asthma UK, £23,400 (coawarded with Prof. Andy Bush and Uddhav Vaghela) (see publication here)
2017: President's Medal for Outstanding Contribution to Excellence in Teaching, Imperial College London (see news article here)
2017: Excellence Fund for Learning and Teaching Innovation, £78,205 (see here)
2017: Student Academic Choice Award nomination - Best Teacher & Best Tutor, Imperial College Union
2018: Student Academic Choice Award shortlistee - Best Innovation, Imperial College Union
2019: Student Academic Choice Award nomination - Best Teacher, Imperial College Union
2021: Phase two development of the FaculTeach platform to improve internal awareness of Faculty of Medicine teaching opportunities (find out more here)
2021: Student Shaper project funding to create student-led design plans for refurbishing common spaces in key buildings to make the space more educationally useful, £3,500
Publications
Journals
Alqurashi YD, Dawidziuk A, Alqarni A, et al., 2021, A visual analog scale for the assessment of mild sleepiness in patients with obstructive sleep apnea and healthy participants, Annals of Thoracic Medicine, Vol:16, ISSN:1817-1737, Pages:141-147
Alqurashi YD, Nakamura T, Goverdovsky V, et al., 2018, A novel in-ear sensor to determine sleep latency during the Multiple Sleep Latency Test in healthy adults with and without sleep restriction, Nature and Science of Sleep, Vol:10, ISSN:1179-1608, Pages:385-396
Patrick Y, Lee A, Raha O, et al., 2017, Effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive and physical performance in university students, Sleep and Biological Rhythms, Vol:15, ISSN:1446-9235, Pages:217-225
Klonizakis M, Moss J, Gilbert S, et al., 2014, Low-volume high-intensity interval training rapidly improves cardiopulmonary function in postmenopausal women, Menopause, Vol:21, ISSN:1072-3714, Pages:1099-1105
Gunasekera RC, Moss J, Crank H, et al., 2014, Patient recruitment and experiences in a randomised trial of supervised exercise training for individuals with abdominal aortic aneurysm, Journal of Vascular Nursing, Vol:32, ISSN:1062-0303, Pages:4-9