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ABSTRACT: Problem-based learning (PBL): getting the most out of your students – their roles and responsibilities

This Guide discusses the considerable literature on the merits or shortcomings of Problem-based learning (PBL), and the factors that promote or inhibit it, when seen through the eyes of the student. It seems to be the case that PBL works best when students and faculty understand the various factors that influence learning and are aware of their roles; this Guide deals with each of the main issues in turn. One of the most important concepts to recognise is that students and Faculty share the responsibility for learning and there are several factors that can influence its success. They include student motivation for PBL and the various ways in which they respond to being immersed in the process. As faculty, we also need to consider the way in which the learning environment supports the students develop the habit of life-long learning, and the skills and attitudes that will help them become competent reflective practitioners. Each of these elements place responsibilities upon the student, but also upon the Faculty and learning community they are joining. Although all of the authors work in a European setting, where PBL is used extensively as a learning strategy in many medical schools, the lessons learned we suggest, apply more widely, and several of the important factors apply to any form of curriculum. This Guide follows on from a previous review in the AMEE Guides in Medical education series, which provided an overview of PBL and attempts to emphasise the key role that students have in mastering their subject through PBL. This should render the business of being a student a little less mystifying, and help faculty to see how they can help their students acquire the independence and mastery that they will need.

via Problem-based learning (PBL): getting the most out… [Med Teach. 2014] – PubMed – NCBI.

MANUSCRIPT: Responding to a changing nation: are faculty prepared for cross-cultural conversations and care?

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:
The United States is becoming increasingly diverse. Health disparities continue with little improvement despite national policies and standards. Medical institutions are modifying their curricula; however, little is known about faculty attitudes and comfort in addressing cultural issues. The purpose of this study was to determine faculty attitudes, self-perceived levels of comfort and skill, and future knowledge needs pertaining to cultural competence.
METHODS:
A survey was administered to all clinical faculty at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. Survey questions addressed faculty attitudes and self-perceived levels of comfort and skill in dealing with cultural issues, as well as perceived need and interest in future cultural competence training.
RESULTS:
When considering each phase of education (medical school, residency, continuing medical education [CME]), fewer than 25% of the respondents reported receiving formal instruction in cultural competency in any given phase, although 93% felt that cultural competency training was important. Fifty-eight percent felt “very comfortable” caring for diverse patients, although this dropped to 30% when specifying limited English proficiency. The situation in which the highest percentage of respondents felt “not particularly comfortable” or “not at all comfortable” was breaking bad news to a patient’s family first if this was more culturally appropriate (47%). Respondents felt most skilled in working with medical interpreters, apologizing for cross-cultural misunderstandings, and eliciting the patients’ perspectives about their health and illness. Respondents felt the least skilled providing culturally sensitive end-of-life care and dealing with cross-cultural conflicts.
CONCLUSIONS:
Clinical faculty have received limited instruction on cultural competency, and the reported levels of comfort and skill in many challenging areas of multicultural health leave much room for improvement. Until faculty become more comfortable and are able to model and teach these behaviors to learners, positive responses to national policies in culturally competent care are likely to be limited.

via Responding to a changing nation: are faculty… [Fam Med. 2013 Nov-Dec] – PubMed – NCBI.

ABSTRACT: Fostering professionalism among doctors: the role of workplace discussion groups

BACKGROUND:
The professionalism of doctors has come in for increasing scrutiny and discussion, within the profession and in society. Professionalism has also become of central interest in undergraduate and postgraduate medical education. There is a great deal of debate about the nature of medical professionalism, how to promote it and what approaches to learning are most effective.
OBJECTIVE:
This study aims to identify the role of workplace-based discussion groups in encouraging and supporting the development of professionalism among doctors.
METHODS:
Workplace-based discussion groups including doctors from all non-consultant grades and specialties were established in five hospitals over a 6 month period in 2010-2011. A mixed-methods approach was used to identify the perceived impact of these groups on participants, which included interviewing the group facilitators and education leaders at participating hospitals.
RESULTS:
Understanding of professionalism at an individual level was improved along with an increased awareness of the collective nature of professionalism in everyday clinical practice. Key to the success of the groups was the creation of a legitimate space to explore professionalism and professional challenges and the use of experienced facilitators who could build trust in the groups.
CONCLUSIONS:
A purely individualistic approach to professionalism does not resonate with contemporary, team-based healthcare. Work-based groups can provide a focus for an approach to professionalism that is mindful of self, the team, the culture and the organisation. This evaluation provides guidance to a range of stakeholders on how to develop educational interventions that foster professionalism, personal and collective, and offers some pointers towards the range of factors that may impact on the outcomes of such activities.

via Fostering professionalism among doctors: the … [Postgrad Med J. 2014] – PubMed – NCBI.

ABSTRACT: Distant peer-tutoring of clinical skills, using tablets with instructional videos and Skype

To assess the feasibility and impact of using low-cost Android tablets to deliver video tutorials and remote online peer-tutoring for clinical skills between two countries. Methods: Nine junior medical students from Malaysia were paired with five senior medical students from the UK, who played the role of peer-tutors. Students from Malaysia were given a low-cost Android tablet from which they could access instructional video tutorials. At the end of each week, the peer-tutors would observe their peer-learners as they performed a clinical examination. Tutors would then provide individual feedback using a videoconferencing tool. Outcomes were assessed using Observed Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) scores, post-study questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with participants. Results: Peer-learners reported an increased confidence in clinical examination of 8.4 (±1.0) on a 10-point scale and all nine said they would recommend the scheme to their peers. Both peer-tutors and peer-learners were able to establish a strong rapport over video, rating it as 8.4 (±0.6) and 8.4 (±0.9), respectively. Peer-learners’ rated the sound and video quality of the tablet as 7.0 (±1.1) but were less satisfied with the screen resolution of the tablet, rating this as 4.0 (±1.5). Conclusion: This preliminary pilot study presents an innovative, low cost approach to international medical education with significant potential for future development.

via Distant peer-tutoring of clinical skills, using ta… [Med Teach. 2014] – PubMed – NCBI.

ABSTRACT: A Division of Medical Communications in an Academic Medical Center’s Department of Medicine

Excellent physician communication skills (physician-to-patient and patient-to-physician) have been found to have a positive impact on patient satisfaction and may positively affect patient health behaviors and health outcomes. Such skills are also essential for accurate, succinct, and clear peer-to-peer (physician-to-physician), physician-to-lay-public, and physician-to-media communications. These skills are not innate, however; they must be learned and practiced repeatedly. The Division of Medical Communications (DMC) was created within the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital as an intellectual home for physicians who desire to learn and teach the wide variety of skills needed for effective communication.In this Perspective, the authors provide an overview of the key types of medical communications and share the DMC model as an innovative approach to providing expert guidance to physicians and physicians-in-training as they develop, practice, and refine their communication skills. Current DMC projects and programs include a Volunteer Patient Teaching Corps, which provides feedback to medical students, residents, and faculty on communication skills; a controlled trial of a modified team-based learning method for attending rounds; expert coaching in preparation for presentations of all types (e.g., grand rounds; oral presentations or poster presentations on basic science, clinical, or medical education research); sessions on speaking to the media and running a meeting well; and courses on writing for publication. Objective assessment of the impact of each of these interventions is planned.

via A Division of Medical Communications in an Academic… [Acad Med. 2014] – PubMed – NCBI.

ABSTRACT: Collaborative diagramming during problem based learning in medical education: Do computerized diagrams support basic science knowledge construction?

To examine how collaborative diagramming affects discussion and knowledge construction when learning complex basic science topics in medical education, including its effectiveness in the reformulation phase of problem-based learning. Methods: Opinions and perceptions of students n = 70 and tutors n = 4 who used collaborative diagramming in tutorial groups were collected with a questionnaire and focus group discussions. A framework derived from the analysis of discourse in computer-supported collaborative leaning was used to construct the questionnaire. Video observations were used during the focus group discussions. Results: Both students and tutors felt that collaborative diagramming positively affected discussion and knowledge construction. Students particularly appreciated that diagrams helped them to structure knowledge, to develop an overview of topics, and stimulated them to find relationships between topics. Tutors emphasized that diagramming increased interaction and enhanced the focus and detail of the discussion. Favourable conditions were the following: working with a shared whiteboard, using a diagram format that facilitated distribution, and applying half filled-in diagrams for non-content expert tutors and\or for heterogeneous groups with low achieving students. Conclusion: The empirical findings in this study support the findings of earlier more descriptive studies that diagramming in a collaborative setting is valuable for learning complex knowledge in medicine.

via Collaborative diagramming during problem based lea… [Med Teach. 2014] – PubMed – NCBI.

Leading Change: Optimizing Student Success Through Analytics | Learning Environments

Analytics in higher education is a major focus at many of today’s institutions. Many campuses are claiming the power of analytics to improve student success. Analytics provides the tools to assess, analyze, and change what institutions do in relation to students, faculty members, and the learning environment. President Michael Crow (2012) of Arizona State University determined that higher education needs to develop an environment of “no more excuses,” and he set goals to accomplish improvements. Crow believes that the solutions were made possible through a comprehensive use of analytics. In short, if you use these analytical tools, you will know where you are, what you’re doing, whether or not what you are doing is working, whether or not you need to be doing new things customized to fit your particular school or demographic, and infinitely more information to help students be successful.

via Leading Change: Optimizing Student Success Through Analytics | Learning Environments.

RESOURCE: How Does the Brain Learn Best? Smart Studying Strategies | MindShift

In his new book, “How We Learn: The Surprising Truth about When, Where, and Why It Happens,” author Benedict Carey informs us that “most of our instincts about learning are misplaced, incomplete, or flat wrong” and “rooted more in superstition than in science.”

That’s a disconcerting message, and hard to believe at first. But it’s also unexpectedly liberating, because Carey further explains that many things we think of as detractors from learning — like forgetting, distractions, interruptions or sleeping rather than hitting the books — aren’t necessarily bad after all. They can actually work in your favor, according to a body of research that offers surprising insights and simple, doable strategies for learning more effectively.

Society has ingrained in us “a monkish conception of what learning is, of you sitting with your books in your cell,” Carey told MindShift. It’s a ritual of self-discipline, isolation and blocks of repetitive practice, whether in math, vocabulary, piano or tennis. But that traditional ideal has psychological downsides. Often, “you feel like you haven’t done it right or you haven’t done enough of it,” he said. “It causes a lot of anxiety because of what we think we should be doing.” For many students, learning has become a high-stress burden.

via How Does the Brain Learn Best? Smart Studying Strategies | MindShift.

RESOURCE: Amazing Ways Twitter Can Give Wings to Your Professional Development

Twitter can act as powerful and economical mean to give your students best and latest information on various subjects. However, a lot of educators just feel overwhelmed on how to make best of Twitter. Here are some easy yet effective ways Twitter can help in your professional development.

  1. Use Hashtags to Search Information
  2. Know the Common Hashtags
  3. Engage in Discussions and Follow Experts
  4. Involve Your Students By Involving Your Followers
  5. Participate in Twitter Chat Initiated by Others
  6. Build a Professional Learning Network
  7. Here are some tips you must keep in mind while using Twitter as a teacher:
    • Keep Tweets Open
    • Do Some Branding and Establish yourself as an expert
    • Remember to Give and Take
    • Be Authentic
    • Do Not Forget Etiquette

 

How else do you use Twitter for professional learning? Share your practices in the comment box.

via Amazing Ways Twitter Can Give Wings to Your Professional Development – EdTechReview™ (ETR).

ABSTRACT: Educating the Educators: A Key to Curricular Integration.

According to Hopkins and colleagues, integration of basic science and clinical practice in the medical curriculum has been “incremental” at best, rather than transformative, in part because of a lack of focus on the individuals central to the integration-basic science educators. These authors maintain that those who lead change in education should not only address the systemic structure but also understand the meaning of integration for individual basic scientists at different levels of change. Their view has merit, and this Commentary author suggests three concrete steps that institutions should undertake to engage basic scientists who are interested in becoming “educationally literate” and assuming leadership roles in curriculum integration: (1) Offer opportunities to help interested basic science teaching faculty gain the necessary expertise to become skilled educators; (2) establish institutional programs and structures that foster a community of medical educators across departments and schools; and (3) align institutional priorities and incentives to promote, rather than hinder, integration in medical education. In essence, curricular integration cannot succeed if the participants do not understand the “language of education.” Furthermore, faculty who opt for an education-focused career path should be brought together from across departments, centers, and schools to create a community of educators within the academic health center. Finally, institutional leaders should place high value and proper incentives in terms of recognition and opportunities for faculty advancement to ensure that those opting to gain additional training as skilled educators will drive innovation and help move curricular reform from incremental change to transformation.

via Educating the Educators: A Key to Curricular Integr… [Acad Med. 2014] – PubMed – NCBI.