Michael Rowe

Trying to get better at getting better

I’m an academic and researcher working on technology-enhanced scholarship and artificial intelligence in health professions education. I’m also the Director of Digital Innovation in the School of Health and Care Sciences at the University of Lincoln.

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Featured work

A curated selection of my research, writing and projects that form a snapshot of my academic interests and scholarly contributions.

Project – Emergent scholarship is a forward-looking, interdisciplinary approach to knowledge creation that embraces complexity and adaptation, particularly in response to the opportunities and challenges of generative AI. Find out more at the project website

Essay – Network-based interfaces for AI-supported learning. Text-entry interfaces for interacting with AI perpetuate outdated learning metaphors that fragment knowledge. Network-based interfaces using interactive knowledge graphs better reflect how expertise actually develops. Read the essay

Preprint – A theoretical framework for AI in health professions education. My recent article on the process of developing a set of theoretically-grounded principles to inform the integration of AI into professional education contexts. Read the preprint

Presentation – AI and the business of practice was an invited contribution to a session of the International Private Physiotherapy Association, on the potential impact of AI for physiotherapy business owners. Watch the presentation

Artificial intelligence

Generative AI represents a fundamental shift in how we interact with technology and will profoundly affect society. I’m trying to better understand its implications for professional education.

  • This post briefly explores the contradiction in higher education's approach to student data: condemning AI companies as "predatory" while mandating student submission to Turnitin's commercial database. Unlike AI services offering […]
  • Text-entry interfaces for AI-supported learning perpetuate outdated container metaphors that fragment knowledge. Network-based interfaces using interactive knowledge graphs better reflect how expertise actually develops, with AI serving as both conversational […]
  • In this workshop presentation, I argue that using AI to support learning represents an opportunity to explore an alternative educational paradigm where we reimagine what's possible, rather than doing the […]
  • When we focus solely on how AI can automate teaching tasks, we miss its transformative potential for learning. The question isn't whether AI can grade papers faster, but whether it […]

Academic presentations

A collection of presentations I’ve given for conferences, professional organisations, and institutional development.


Upcoming presentations

  • 02 May: AI and physiotherapy education (Canadian Physiotherapy Association; online)
  • 29 Oct-01 Nov: Active learning and AI (Pan-PBL International conference; Brazil)
  • 21 Nov: Founders Lecture: Distributed Agency and Physiotherapy (CSP Congress; Wales)
  • In this workshop presentation, I argue that using AI to support learning represents an opportunity to explore an alternative educational paradigm where we reimagine what's possible, rather than doing the […]
  • AI has the potential to change how physiotherapy practice owners approach business growth, especially for those with limited business experience. Acting as a virtual consultant, AI tools can help analyse […]
  • Digital healthcare tools offer exciting possibilities while raising important questions for practitioners. In this presentation for the 2025 Norwegian Physiotherapy conference, I explored a range of considerations for clinicians around […]
  • In this presentation for the 2025 Blended Intensive Programme on AI for Students, I explore how the integration of AI in health professions education transforms learning by serving as a […]

In Beta newsletters

Every month, we share three items related to a topic in higher education.

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  • Knowledge translation transforms research into action, addressing healthcare's persistent "know-do" gap. By using structured frameworks like the knowledge-to-action cycle, we can systematically identify problems, adapt evidence to local contexts, overcome […]
  • In times of uncertainty, strategic leadership in higher education requires seeing beyond immediate pressures to envision possibilities others might miss. Innovation demands reimagining how we prepare graduates for changing professional […]
  • Forget your generalized audience. In the first place, the nameless, faceless audience will scare you to death and in the second place, unlike the theater, it doesn’t exist. In writing, […]
  • A structured, systematic approach to note-taking is essential for health professions educators as it provides a foundation for deep learning and critical thinking in both teaching and practice. By developing […]

Physiopedia courses

Two short courses I created for Physiopedia Plus.

Sign up to Physiopedia Plus here for a 30% discount.

AI Masterclass

This programme aims to introduce the capabilities of AI in healthcare education, research, clinical practice and health systems.

  1. State of the Art in AI
  2. AI in Health Professions Education
  3. AI in Research
  4. AI in Clinical Practice
  5. AI for Personal Productivity
  6. AI in Health Systems

In Beta podcasts

A virtual community of physiotherapy educators who experiment with different approaches to teaching and learning. In these semi-regular conversations we talk about a wide range of topics relevant to professional education.

Subscribe to the In Beta podcasts.

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Pocket Casts
RSS

Head Space

Calm productivity advice for academics who feel like they don’t have the time or cognitive energy to engage in meaningful, high-value scholarship.

Sign up for the Head Space newsletter on academic productivity.

  • "We wanted tranquil minds. We wanted to escape our addiction to the adrenaline rush of connectivity." – Alan Jacobs The post [Note] We wanted tranquil minds appeared first on Head […]
  • Mustafa Suleyman’s The Coming Wave examines the profound societal, political, and ethical challenges posed by emerging technologies like advanced AI and synthetic biology. Suleyman argues that while these technologies offer […]
  • "…we live in a world full of options for mastery and mattering. Unfortunately, the cultural current is flowing strongly in the opposite direction. Few people—perhaps nobody, unless you live in […]
  • Learn how to combat information overload in academia with a systematic knowledge cycle. This five-step approach helps busy academics convert overwhelming information into valuable insights through purposeful capture, regular processing, […]

Thinking in public

Recordings of presentations, as well as some of my working processes, aimed at being a more productive academic.

Subscribe to the YouTube channel.

Thanks for scrolling to the end. Reward yourself by browsing through some of my photos.

  • Camping at Upper Booth Farm in the Peak District. The post Camping in the Peak District appeared first on Michael Rowe.
  • We took a slightly different route through the park the other weekend and found this delightful little scene. The post Walking in the park appeared first on Michael Rowe.
  • A few photos from the Lincoln ice sculpture trail around the city. The post Lincoln ice sculpture trail appeared first on Michael Rowe.
  • And home this evening… The post Cycling in this morning… appeared first on Michael Rowe.