Exploring Professional Development Needs of Educators in the Health Sciences Professions

Design, Implementation, and Outcomes of an Interprofessional Mobile Web Application for Preceptors for Challenging Issues

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to develop and assess an easily accessible interprofessional mobile web application to assist preceptors with challenging teaching and learning situations.

METHODS

Phase 1 was a modified Delphi process of 48 advanced practice nursing, dentistry, medicine, and pharmacy preceptors to determine the content of the application. Phase 2 consisted of 12 preceptors from the 4 disciplines piloting a prototype to refine the tool using design-thinking principles. Feedback was analyzed using inductive coding and thematic analysis. Phase 3 evaluated the impact of the final tool on 80 preceptors' satisfaction, knowledge, self-efficacy, and perception of behavior change.

RESULTS

Consensus on 10 topics was reached in the following 3 themes: feedback and communication, clinical and professional development of learners, and precepting efficiency. Preceptors rated the tool as efficient and applicable. Features perceived as useful included concise and applicable content that was easy to navigate with practical video examples. Features to improve included academic jargon, length of content, and lack of connectivity with other preceptors. Knowledge and self-efficacy improved after the use of the refined tool. Change in perceptions of behavior after 1 month was mixed, with a significant change in accessing resources to address challenging situations and regularly reflecting on challenging situations and no significant change in awareness, frequency, or success in managing challenging situations.

CONCLUSION

An interprofessional mobile web application for challenging teaching and learning situations developed through a modified Delphi process was deemed efficient and relevant and demonstrated positive knowledge and self-efficacy change.

Frameworks to Guide Faculty Development for Health Professions Education: A Scoping Review

INTRODUCTION

The authors explored the existence of explicit definitions, guiding competency frameworks, and learning theory to inform health professions education faculty development (FD) programs. The authors analyzed identified frameworks based on thematic focus, scope of targeted faculty, and design structure.

METHODS

A scoping review was used to identify health professions education literature between 2005 and 2020. Frameworks were characterized according to the scope of the faculty targeted and design structure, and then, domains were grouped into topical categories for analysis.

RESULTS

Twenty-three articles met the criteria for data extraction, of which only one (4.3%) described the explicit use of a learning theory and three (13%) included an explicit definition of FD. One (4.3%) used a recognized framework, whereas 12 (52.2%) developed a novel framework based on an existing outline. Ten (43.5%) described de novo framework development. Only three (13.0%) used entrustable professional activities or similar constructs. Five (21.7%) programs targeted multiple health professions, 11 (47.8%) targeted a single health profession, and seven (30.5%) targeted a specific specialty within a health profession. Only two frameworks included a developmental component.

DISCUSSION

Few authors describe an explicit definition, learning theory, or use a pre-established framework when framing their FD programs. The use of entrustable professional activities to structurally link competencies to work practices is also uncommon, as well as the use of developmental structures designed to support progressive FD over time.

Faculty's attitudes and perceptions related to applying motivational principles to their teaching: a mixed methods study

BACKGROUND

It is uncommon for faculty development professionals to assess faculty attitudes towards their teaching responsibilities and their perceived obstacles to teaching effectiveness. The purposes of this study were (a) to document faculty attitudes and practices related to applying motivation principles, and (b) to identify the perceived contextual factors that may shape these attitudes and practices.

METHODS

A sequential explanatory mixed methods design was used. Faculty members (n = 272; 32% response rate) were surveyed about their responsibility for and application of the five motivational principles that are part of the MUSIC Model of Motivation: eMpowerment, Usefulness, Success, Interest, and Caring. Repeated measures ANOVAs and Student's t-tests were computed to detect differences. Subsequently, two focus groups of faculty members (n = 11) interpreted the survey results. We conducted a thematic analysis and used the focus group results to explain the survey results.

RESULTS

Faculty rated their responsibilities for applying principles related to Usefulness, Interest, and Caring significantly higher than they did for Success and eMpowerment. Most faculty also reported that they actually applied Usefulness, Interest, and Caring strategies within the past year, whereas over half of the faculty applied Success strategies and about a third of faculty applied eMpowerment strategies. Focus group participants identified factors that affected their ability to apply eMpowerment strategies, (e.g., offering choices), including students lacking generic skills (e.g., critical thinking, problem-solving), a lack of confidence in their abilities to implement empowering strategies and meet the needs of students, passive students, and large lecture-type courses. Focus group participants cited obstacles to implementing Success strategies (e.g., providing feedback), including difficulty in providing feedback in large courses, lacking time and assistant teachers, limited knowledge of technologies, and lacking skills related to guiding effective student peer feedback.

CONCLUSIONS

Faculty appear adequately prepared to implement some types of motivational strategies, but not others, in part due to contextual factors that can influence their attitudes and, ultimately, their application of these strategies. We discuss how these factors affect attitudes and application of motivational strategies and formulate suggestions based on the results.

Survey of faculty development in four Israeli medical schools: clinical faculty development is inadequate and clinical teaching is undervalued in Israeli faculties of medicine

BACKGROUND

Teaching medical students is a central part of being a doctor, and is essential for the training of the next generation of physicians and for maintaining the quality of medicine. Our research reviews the training that physicians in Israel receive as teachers of clinical clerkships, and their thoughts regarding teaching students. The importance of faculty development cannot be overstated, for securing quality medicine and physician empowerment.

METHODS

This study was based on a survey conducted among physicians teaching at Israeli medical schools. The survey was conducted using an online questionnaire sent to clinical teachers according to lists received from the teaching units of the faculties, department heads, and other clinical teachers. Participation in the study was anonymous.

FINDINGS

Of 433 invited physicians, 245 (56%) from three departments (internal medicine, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology) of four faculties of medicine in Israel, out of five total, completed the questionnaire. Only 35% of the physicians reported having received training for their role as teachers, most of these participated in a short course of up to 2 days. There were significant differences between the Technion and the other schools. Technion teachers without academic appointment had higher rates of pedagogic training. The same was true in regard to Technion teachers, either residents or young specialist. Significant gaps were reported between the content covered in the training and the topics the doctors felt they would want to learn. The clinicians who participated in the survey expressed that clinical teaching was less valued and more poorly remunerated than research, and that improved compensation and perceived appreciation would likely improve the quality of clinical teaching.

CONCLUSIONS

Of the one-third of the physicians surveyed who had received some training in clinical teaching, the training was perceived as inadequate and not aligned with their needs. There was a significant difference in rates of pedagogic training between the Technion and other medical schools. In addition, most clinical teachers surveyed felt that teaching students is inadequately valued. Due to its focus on just three disciplines, and higher relative number participants from the Technion faculty of medicine, our survey may not fully represent the activities of the faculties of medicine in Israel. Nevertheless, given the importance of clinical teaching of medical students, our findings argue for increasing faculty development and educational training of physicians in clinical settings, for recognizing the importance of teaching in academic and professional promotion processes.

Needs, motivations, and identification with teaching: a comparative study of temporary part-time and tenure-track health science faculty in Iceland

BACKGROUND

About 70% of teachers who instruct healthcare students are considered sessional (adjunct/temporary part-time) faculty and receive limited instruction in pedagogy. Sessional faculty may feel isolated and struggle with their teacher identity, and are often assumed to vary in their commitment, motivation, and ability to teach. However, research on teaching identity, motivations, and needs of sessional faculty is lacking. The aim of this study was to compare similarities and differences between sessional and tenure-track faculty across a health science school to guide faculty development for sessional faculty.

METHODS

We developed an online needs assessment survey, based on informal interviews and literature reviews. Seventy-eight tenure-track faculty and 160 sessional faculty completed the survey (37, 25% response rate, respectively). We used validated scales to assess intrinsic motivation, identified regulated motivation, and identification with teaching, as well as developed scales (perceived connectedness, motivated by appreciation to try new teaching method) and single items. All scales demonstrated good internal consistency. We compared sessional and tenure-track faculty using t-tests/chi-square values.

RESULTS

We found similarities between sessional and tenure-track faculty in intrinsic motivation, identified regulated motivation, and identification with teaching. However, sessional faculty perceived less department connectedness and were more motivated to improve instruction if shown appreciation for trying new teaching methods. Sessional faculty agreed more that they desired pedagogy instruction before starting to teach and that teachers should invest energy in improving their teaching. Admitting to less participation in activities to enhance teaching in the last year, sessional faculty were more interested in digital formats of faculty development.

CONCLUSION

Our comparison suggested that sessional faculty value being a teacher as part of their self, similar to tenured faculty, but desired more appreciation for efforts to improve and perceived less connectedness to their university department than tenured faculty. They also preferred digital formats for pedagogy to improve accessibility, prior to and throughout their teaching career to support their development as teachers. Using this information as a guide, we provide suggestions for faculty development for sessional faculty. Supporting sessional faculty in the health sciences should improve the quality of teaching and positively affect student learning.

Factors predicting identity as educators and openness to improve: an exploratory study

CONTEXT

Researchers suggest that teachers' work environment affects their sense of connectedness and appreciation, which affects their educator identity. However, sessional (also known as adjunct, clinical, contingent and non-tenured) faculty members may struggle with their educator identity. The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the extent to which perceived connectedness and received appreciation predicted identity as a medical (health care science) educator and openness to improve in tenure-track and sessional faculty members.

METHODS

We utilised an 'identification with teaching' scale to measure medical educator identity. We developed scales to measure perceived connectedness to university department, openness to improve teaching, and appreciation as a motivation to try a new teaching method. We then hypothesised a path model between these constructs. We surveyed faculty members at a health sciences school and performed confirmatory factor analyses and structural equation modelling using data from a sample of 73 tenure-track and 146 sessional faculty members to explore support for the hypothesised model.

RESULTS

Connectedness and appreciation predicted identity as a medical educator and openness to improve in different ways for sessional and tenure-track faculty members. For tenure-track faculty members, appreciation predicted medical educator identity and openness to improve, whereas a sense of connectedness trended towards predicting an openness to improve. For sessional faculty members, connectedness to their department predicted their identity as a medical educator, which acted as a mediator to predict an openness to improve.

DISCUSSION

Our data supported the hypothesised model, but the sessional and tenure-track faculty models differed in strength and focus. We explore reasons for these differences based on the working environment of each teacher type. We suggest that the two models partially explain the transformation from 'a clinician who teaches' to a medical educator. Finally, we make suggestions for how identity as a medical educator and openness to improve may be encouraged in both types of teachers.

The Factors Affecting Teaching and Learning Professionalism Among Medical Teachers

Given the special importance of medical professionalism, a successful faculty development strategy not only teaches professionalism in cognitive domain but also creates practical instructors who can act as role models for students. This study proposed to identify themes that can explain effective factors in teaching and learning professionalism among medical teachers. The study was qualitative. Twenty-four experts in medical education participated in the study from all medical universities of Iran. Data gathering was performed via semistructured interviews. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed by classic content analysis. At the end, the factors were confirmed by the focus group consisting of six experts. One hundred seventy-seven codes were extracted. Codes were categorized into 24 subcategories and five main categories: (1) culture, (2) educational factors, (3) background, (4) attitude, and (5) organizational factors. There are many effective factors for a proper faculty development in teaching and learning professionalism. These factors could be individualized, organizational, or external. We cannot design a program without considering these factors.

Self-perceived educational needs of junior assistant professors in Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics in France

INTRODUCTION

Academic dental educators play a major role in training future dentists. They help students to develop medical knowledge and behavioural skills that improve the quality and rigor of their future practice. Therefore, their experience and knowledge are critical to ensure effective learning. However, a French national workshop revealed that most junior assistant professors lack educational skills at the beginning of their career. The aim of this study was to assess educational training needs of junior assistant professors in the Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

An electronic survey was sent to junior assistant professors belonging to Departments of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics within the 16 French dental schools in 2016. This survey was designed to collect data regarding their motivations, teaching expertise and interest in pedagogy.

RESULTS

Sixty of the 69 junior educators turned in their answers, which represents a response rate of 87%. About 86.7% of respondents cited their attraction to teaching as one of the main reasons behind their application. The major difficulty encountered by junior faculty was related to course preparation. Only 15% had received educational training despite the fact that 98.3% were convinced of the usefulness of such a training for junior teachers.

CONCLUSION

This study identified the motivations and difficulties encountered by junior assistant professors. This collection of educational needs should be considered when planning a national programme for educational training of dental faculty that will promote the acquisition of teaching skills and improve the education of dental students.

To what extent has doctoral (PhD) education supported academic nurse educators in their teaching roles: an integrative review

Background

A doctoral degree, either a PhD or equivalent, is the academic credential required for an academic nurse educator position in a university setting; however, the lack of formal teaching courses in doctoral programs contradict the belief that these graduates are proficient in teaching. As a result, many PhD prepared individuals are not ready to meet the demands of teaching.

Methods

An integrative literature review was undertaken. Four electronic databases were searched including the Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), PubMed, Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) and ProQuest. Date range and type of peer-reviewed literature was not specified.

Results

Conditions and factors that influenced or impacted on academic nurse educators’ roles and continue to perpetuate insufficient pedagogical preparation include the requirement of a research focused PhD, lack of mentorship in doctoral programs and the influence of epistemic cultures (including institutional emphasis and reward system). Other factors that have impacted the academic nurse educator’s role are society’s demand for highly educated nurses that have increased the required credential, the assumption that all nurses are considered natural teachers, and a lack of consensus on the practice of the scholarship of teaching.

Conclusions

Despite recommendations from nursing licensing bodies and a major US national nursing education study, little has been done to address the issue of formal pedagogical preparation in doctoral (PhD) nursing programs. There is an expectation of academic nurse educators to deliver quality nursing education yet, have very little or no formal pedagogical preparation for this role. While PhD programs remain research-intensive, the PhD degree remains a requirement for a role in which teaching is the major responsibility.

Attitudes Towards Problem-Based Learning of Faculty Members at 12 U.S. Medical and Dental Schools: A Comparative Study

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a teaching method used in medical and dental education to promote students' problem-solving skills. It may also be a viable tool for interprofessional education in which medical and dental students learn together, collaborate, and learn about, from, and with each other. The aim of this study was to compare medical and dental faculty members' attitudes about and perceptions of PBL at 12 U.S. medical and dental schools known to use PBL. In 2015, 111 medical and 132 dental faculty members (combined n=243) from six medical and six dental schools completed a survey containing ten statements and an open comment section. The response rate was 42% of those who received the survey. In the results, the medical faculty participants showed significantly higher enthusiasm for and agreement with PBL benefits than did the dental faculty participants (p˂0.05). The two groups agreed that PBL should be used to supplement conventional teaching (p>0.05). There were no opposite attitudes or contrasts found between the two groups with regards to PBL. The strongest themes expressed by both groups were that PBL should not be used as the sole method of instruction and that students needed a solid foundation in the subject prior to engaging in PBL.