Faculty Development

George Trachte, Rick Hoffman & Lillian Repesh

5/20/10

Today’s Agenda

• Review work from previous meetings: Data -- review, if needed Rationale for improving board scores – consensus on the charge Questions for discussion (now and later); list additional

questions, as needed• Faculty development strategies for continuation Review of teaching styles Information on learning Implications for teachers & classrooms• Discussion of potential strategies to enhance teaching &

learning

Data -- review, if needed

Review of Rationale for improving Board Scores

• We’d like to advantage our students rather than disadvantage them– A commitment to excellence seems preferable to

a commitment to below average performance– informed medical graduates are preferable to

scientifically ignorant medical graduates– The real commitment is to improving our

teaching and students’ preparation

Questions for discussion 1. What is the % of time of each discipline in curriculum? (Rick Z.)-

Hoffman?2. Have we done a survey of students after they have completed the

boards (and received their scores) to ask them what worked or not? (Ruth)- Repesh?

3. What resources are there to teach us how to implement the strategies (eg., quizzes and/or PBL)? Can we get someone from the Cities to teach us to write questions? Fundamental knowledge questions – development questions. (Rick Z.)- Trachte, Hoffman

4. Active learning vs passive learning (Alan)- ?

Questions for discussion

5. Developmental teaching. . .we have to retool. . .what resources are there for that? (Jane)- Hoffman/Trachte/Sonnino?

6. LCME --- faculty development may be a weakness. (Rick H.)7. Regarding Board scores, is there any relationship between

amount of school-sponsored Board review and Board Scores? Could there be a relationship? (Jim B)- Repesh?

8. Are there comparative data for UMTC? What do they offer their students? (Jim B)- Hoffman?

9. How anxious are our students about Boards and could that anxiety be adversely affecting Board scores? (Jim B)- Repesh?

Questions for discussion

10. Should we develop an end of the Second Year Examination since the Board test will change in the future? (Jim B)- Hoffman, Repesh, Trachte, Davis

11. Do courses using quizzes result in better Board performance than courses not using quizzes? (Jim B)- Yes in Anatomy, No in Histology (latter are unmonitored); Gilbert also related exceptional improvement in MS after instituting quizzes

12. The interdisciplinary nature of the curriculum results in some disciplinary content being lost. If students fail to demonstrate competency in individual disciplines, why are they allowed to pass? (Jim B)- Hoffman, Repesh, Trachte, Davis

Faculty development strategies for continuation

• Analyze and improve the way we teach• Review “good teaching” attributes• Review what is known about learning • Assess the teaching philosophies of faculty

Faculty Development – “Good Teaching”Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions (2001) Pratt, Arseneau, Collons

• Apparently at least 5 types of teaching exist– Transmission

• Typical lecture format delivering info

– Developmental• Questioning to challenge and advance students;• Assess for reasoning, not just answers• Less is more (less info, more understanding)

– Apprentice– Nurturing– Social reform

“Good Teaching”

• Apparently at least 5 types of teaching exist– Transmission– Developmental– Apprentice

• Engage learners in their zone of development (where they can advance by expert guidance)

• Process of enculturation

– Nurturing• Anxiety detracts from learning• Teaching requires balance between caring and challenging

– Social reform

“Good Teaching”

• Apparently at least 5 types of teaching exist– Transmission– Developmental– Apprentice– Nurturing– Social reform• Professional practices saturated with ideals & values

but they should be examined and questioned• Typically involves trying to change either profession or

society

Information on Learning

• “Many existing school practices are inconsistent with what is known about effective learning”- National Academies of Sciences “How People Learn”

• “Teachers are key to changing this model”

Information on Learning• Students come to the classroom with preconceptions about how

the world works– Preconceptions must be engaged for them to grasp new concepts &

information• Competence requires

– Deep foundation of factual knowledge– Understanding of the facts in a conceptual framework– Organization of knowledge to facilitate retrieval

• Knowledge of a large set of disconnected facts is not sufficient• Must have opportunities to learn with understanding

• Metacognitive approach can help students learn– Involves a self recognition of how learning is accomplished most

effectively

Implications for Teachers-(National Academies of Science)

• Teachers must draw out and work with preexisting understandings in students

• Teachers must teach subject matter in depth & provide numerous examples of a concept– Superficial coverage of all subjects must be

replaced by in-depth coverage of fewer topics– Requires more cases of in-depth study

• Teaching metacognitive skills should be included

Implications for Teachers-(National Academies of Science)

• When those three suggestions are included, student achievement improves

• Inquiry-based methods approach leads to superior grasp of fundamental principles (Physics in this example)

• No universal best teaching practice

Implications for classrooms- National Academies of Science

• Must be learner-centered• Attention must be given to what is taught and

what competence looks like– Too many disconnected facts in too short a time

fails to support learning*• Formative assessments are essential*• Learning is influenced in fundamental ways by

the context in which it takes place*

Teaching Philosophies

• Goals for student learning • Enactment of goals (teaching methods)• Assessment of goals (measuring student

learning)• Creating an inclusive learning environment• Structure, rhetoric and language of the

document itself

Teaching Philosophies

• Anyone wish to share their philosophies?

• Anyone wish to try and develop one?

Summary of Suggested Outcomes

• Include formative assessment in courses (quizzes)• Reinforce learning with the use of cases• Review “Board” questions to provide one

assessment of relevance of material• Develop teaching philosophies incorporating

some of the information from the teaching/learning philosophy info– A key idea is to focus material including numerous

examples and a problem-solving emphasis

Some other obvious issues

• Create a common set of rules for course directors– One best answer or accept anything close?– Require course faculty to review questions?– Responsiveness to students vs pandering?– Competency achievement (does every student deserve

to pass all of the time?)• Curriculum– What is the appropriate balance between lecture, lab,

cases, problem based learning, apprenticeship?– Currently somewhere around 1000:200:100:36:300

Do you have questions or other suggestions?

Next Steps and Thanks• Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs Dr. Roberta Sonnino

and Dr. Richard King will be meeting with us on Monday May 24 at 1:00 PM to discuss faculty development in general but with emphasis on developing genetics cases– Dr. King is the former director of the Genetics course at the

UM Medical School-Twin Cities• Meeting after that May 27 or June 3• Any volunteers for presenting teaching philosophies• Another question: Do Board scores predict bad or good

outcomes for students in 3rd and 4th years?• Must solicit student input