Teaching & Learning Supervisor Guide

Teaching and Learning unit is where theory is applied to the teaching and learning environment of the trainee. This unit has a smorgasbord of tasks all designed to give the participant the opportunity to engage in teaching and learning opportunities, to critically appraise and reflect on these, and to improve their clinical educator skills. The suggested reading list is diverse, allowing the learners to sample the many topics encompassed in the broad scope of this unit. Learners are encouraged to take a deeper dive into one or more of these topics if it is in line with their learning goals.

Must Know Concepts - Executive Summary

The following are concepts that every trainee who has completed this unit should be able to address or explain. 

Concept 1: Teaching & Learning

  • How do you best engage learners in your clinical environment (e.g., ambulatory setting, rounds, procedure room, etc.)?
  • How do you best engage learners in your classroom environment (e.g., large group, lecture, small group, virtual, etc.)?
  • What educational theory or evidence is connected to the teaching techniques you employ in various environments?
  • How do you incorporate the CanMEDS framework within your teaching?
  • What questioning techniques do you use to foster learning?

Concept 2: Feedback

  • What feedback methods, skills, or principles do you feel work well with learners? 
  • How do you provide feedback in challenging contexts and environments (e.g., learner in difficulty, busy clinic, etc.)?

Concept 3: Reflective Practice

  • Why is reflective practice important?
  • What strategies are there to instill this in our learners? In ourselves?

Concept 4: Faculty Development

  • What are some unique challenges faced by teachers in medical education?
  • What have you done to facilitate teaching improvement with your peers?

Concepts in Depth - For each of the above topics, please complete the following grid: 

Concept 1: Teaching & Learning

Suggested prompts:

  • How do you best engage learners in your clinical environment (e.g., ambulatory setting, rounds, procedure room, etc.)?
  • How do you best engage learners in your classroom environment (e.g., large group, lecture, small group, virtual, etc.)?
  • What educational theory or evidence is connected to the teaching techniques you employ in various environments?
  • How do you incorporate the CanMEDS framework within your teaching?
  • What questioning techniques do you use to foster learning?

Key readings about this topic that a faculty supervising a trainee should read or be familiar with:

Clinical teaching (Medical Journal of Australia “Teaching on the run” series).

  • Lake FR. Teaching on the run tips: doctors as teachers. Med J Aust. 2004;180(8):415–6.
  • Lake FR, Ryan G. Teaching on the run tips 2: educational guides for teaching in a clinical setting. Med J Aust. 2004;180(10):527–8.
  • Lake FR, Ryan G. Teaching on the run tips 3: planning a teaching episode. Med J Aust. 2004;180(12):643–4.
  • Lake FR, Ryan G. Teaching on the run tips 4: teaching with patients. Med J Aust. 2004;181(3):158–9.
  • Lake FR, Hamdorf JM. Teaching on the run tips 5: teaching a skill. Med J Aust. 2004;181(6):327–8. 
  • Lake FR, Hamdorf JM. Teaching on the run tips 6: determining competence. Med J Aust. 2004;181(9):502–3. 
  • Lake FR, Vickery AW, Ryan G. Teaching on the run tips 7: effective use of questions. Med J Aust. 2005; 182(3):126–7.
  • Lake FR, Ryan G. Teaching on the run tips 8: assessment and appraisal. Med J Aust. 2005;182(11):580–1. 
  • Lake FR. Teaching on the run tips 9: in-training assessment. Med J Aust. 2005;183(1):33–4. 
  • Lake FR, Ryan G. Teaching on the run tips 11: the junior doctor in difficulty. Med J Aust. 2005;183(9):475–6.
  • Lake FR, Ryan G. Teaching on the run tips 12: planning for learning during clinical attachments. Med J Aust. 2006;184(5):238–9.
  • Lake FR, Ryan G. Teaching on the run tips 13: being a good supervisor—preventing problems. Med J Aust. 2006;184(8):414–5.
  • Lake FR, Vickery AW. Teaching on the run tips 14: Teaching in ambulatory care. Med J Aust. 2006;185(3):166-7.
  • Irby DM. What clinical teachers in medicine need to know. Acad Med. 1994;69(5):333–42. 
  • Neher JO, Gordon KC, Meyer B, Stevens N. A five-step “microskills” model of clinical teaching. J Am Board Fam Pract. 1992;5(4):419–24. 
  • Pylman, Stacey, and Amy Ward. "12 tips for effective questioning in medical education." Medical teacher 42.12 (2020): 1330-1336. 

Classroom teaching

  • Gousseau, Michael, Connor Sommerfeld, and Adrian Gooi. "Tips for using mobile audience response systems in medical education." Advances in medical education and practice 7 (2016): 647.
  • Steinert Y, Snell L. Interactive lecturing: strategies for increasing participation in large group presentations. Med Teach. 1999;21(1):37–42.
  • Mir, Mohammad Muzaffar, Mohammed Jeelani, and Mohammad Saeed Alshahrani. "A practical approach for successful small group teaching in medical schools with student centered curricula." Journal of Advances in Medical Education & Professionalism 7.3 (2019): 149.

General

  • Srinivasan M, Li ST, Meyers FJ, Pratt DD, Collins JB, Braddock C, et al. “Teaching as a Competency”: competencies for medical educators. Acad Med. 2011:86(10):1211–20.
  • Ericsson KA. Deliberate practice and the acquisition and maintenance of expert performance in medicine and related domains. Acad Med. 2004;79(10 suppl):S70–S81.
  • Mayer, Richard E., and Roxana Moreno. "Nine ways to reduce cognitive load in multimedia learning." Educational psychologist 38.1 (2003): 43-52.

Other suggested readings or resources:

Clinical Teaching

  • Heidenreich C, Lye P, Simpson D, Lourich M. The search for effective and efficient ambulatory teaching methods through the literature. Pediatrics. 2000;105 (1 Pt 3):231–7.
  • Irby DM. Teaching and learning in ambulatory care settings: a thematic review of the literature. Acad Med. 1995;70(10):898–931.
  • Bandiera G, Lee S, Tiberius R. Creating effective learning in today’s emergency departments: how accomplished teachers get it done. Acad Emerg Med. 2005;45(3):253–61.
  • Dent JA. AMEE Guide No 26: clinical teaching in ambulatory care settings: making the most of learning opportunities with outpatients: Med Teach. 2005;27(4):302–15.
  • Reznick RK, MacRae H. Teaching surgical skills—changes in the wind. N Engl J Med. 2006;355(25):2664–9.
  • Vaughn LM, Baker RC. Do different pairings of teaching styles and learning styles make a difference? Preceptor and resident perceptions. Teach Learn Med. 2008;20(3):239–47.

Classroom

  • Caldwell JE. Clickers in the classroom: current research and best-practice tips. CBE Life Sci Educ. 2007;6(1):9–20.
  • Di Leonardi BC. Tips for facilitating learning: the lecture deserves some respect. J Contin Educ Nurs. 2007;38(4):154–63.

General

  • Dong, Chaoyan, Deanna Wai-Ching Lee, and Derrick Chen-Wee Aw. "Tips for medical educators on how to conduct effective online teaching in times of social distancing." Proceedings of Singapore Healthcare 30.1 (2021): 59-63.
  • Oakley, Barbara, Beth Rogowsky, and Terrence J. Sejnowski. Uncommon sense teaching: Practical insights in brain science to help students learn. Penguin, 2021.
  • Schreiber BE, Fukuta J, Gordon F. Live lecture versus video podcast in undergraduate medical education: a randomized controlled trial. BMC Med Educ. 2010;10:68.
  • Cook DA. Where are we with Web-based learning in medical education? Med Teach. 2006;28(7):594–8.
  • Dojeiji S, Cooke L. The core: a tour of instructional methods for clinical education. In: Sherbino J, Frank JR, editors. Educational Design. Ottawa: Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada: 2011. p. 35–44.
  • Thomas D, Brown JS. A new culture of learning: cultivating the imagination for a world of constant change. n.p.: CreateSpace: 2011. Borrow it from the USask Faculty Development Library!

Online resources

Concept 2: Feedback

Suggested Prompts:

  • What feedback methods, skills, or principles do you feel work well with learners?
  • How do you provide feedback in challenging contexts & environments (e.g., learner in difficulty, busy clinic, etc.)?
  • How do we create an environment that is conducive to feedback?
  • Let’s discuss times when you received feedback. What made it effective? Not so effective?

Key readings about this topic that a faculty supervising a trainee should read or be familiar with: 

  • Vickery AW, Lake FR. Teaching on the run tips 10: giving feedback. Med J Aust. 2005;183(5):267–8.
  • Sargeant J, Lockyer J, et al. Facilitated Reflective Performance Feedback: Developing an Evidence- and Theory-Based Model that Builds Relationship, Explores Reactions and Content, and Coaches for Performance Change (R2C2). Acad Med. 2015;90:1698–1706.

Other suggested readings or resources: 

  • Hewson, Mariana G., and Margaret L. Little. "Giving feedback in medical education: verification of recommended techniques." Journal of general internal medicine 13.2 (1998): 111-116.
  • Heen S, Stone D. Find the Coaching in Criticism. The right ways to receive feedback. Harvard Business Review. January-February 2014. https://hbr.org/2014/01/find-the-coaching-in-criticism
  • Stone, D., & Heen, S. (2015). Thanks for the feedback: The science and art of receiving feedback well. Penguin.

Concept 3: Reflective Practice

Suggested prompts:

  • Why is reflective practice important?
  • What strategies are there to instill this in our learners? In ourselves?

Key readings about this topic that a faculty supervising a trainee should read or be familiar with: 

  • Johns C. Becoming a reflective practitioner: a reflective and holistic approach to clinical nursing, practice development and clinical supervision. Oxford: Blackwell Science; 2000.
  • Schon DA. Educating the reflective practitioner: toward a new design for teaching and learning in the professions. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass; 1987. Borrow it from the USask Faculty Development Library!
  • Pinsky, Linda E., Dorinda Monson, and David M. Irby. "How excellent teachers are made: reflecting on success to improve teaching." Advances in health sciences education 3.3 (1998): 207-215.

Concept 4: Faculty Development

Suggested prompts:

  • What are some unique challenges faced by teachers in medical education?
  • What have you done to facilitate teaching improvement with your peers?

Key readings about this topic that a faculty supervising a trainee should read or be familiar with:

  • Steinert Y, Mann K, Centeno A, Dolmans D, Spencer J, Gelula M, et al. A systematic review of faculty development initiatives designed to improve teaching effectiveness in medical education: BEME Guide No. 8. Medical Teacher. 2006;28(6):497–526.

Other suggested readings or resources:

  • Steinert, Y., Mann, K., Anderson, B., Barnett, B. M., Centeno, A., Naismith, L., ... & Dolmans, D. (2016). A systematic review of faculty development initiatives designed to enhance teaching effectiveness: A 10-year update: BEME Guide No. 40. Medical teacher, 38(8), 769-786.

Further teaching & learning

Suggested prompts:

  • Discuss the case found in chapter 1 of educational theory made practical. For a learner like Joan, what would you suggest as a good way to review her material?
  • How can we make learners work harder to learn more effectively? What are the benefits of the flipped classroom and how does this fit with learning theory?

Key readings about this topic that a faculty supervising a trainee should read or be familiar with:

  • Gottlieb, M., Krzyzaniak, S. M., Natesan, S., Quinn, A., Robinson, D., Fant, A., ... & Chan, T. M. (2022). Education Theory Made Practical: Creating open educational resources via an apprenticeship model. AEM Education and Training, 6(6), e10802. Chapter 1 “Modal Model of Memory”. PDF download here. Here is a podcast of this chapter.  How does this impact your planned teaching for this unit?

Other suggested readings or resources:

  • Brown P., Roediger H, McDaniel H. Make it stick: the science of effective learning. 2014
  • Ambrose S et al. How Learning works: Seven research-based principles for smart teaching. Wiley Publishers 2010.