Creative Teaching: Why it Matters and Where to Begin

Effects of using superheroes in an undergraduate human anatomy curriculum

Students often find human anatomy courses to be difficult due to the large amount of content covered at a fast pace, which can result in students failing to retain pertinent information. Superheroes are at the forefront of today's popular culture, with many students identifying with specific characters. Utilizing aspects of students' lives, or their agency, that they can resonate with in the classroom, such as their interests in superheroes or personal connections to fictional characters, may help drive students' motivation to learn course content. This study investigated if the use of superheroes in an anatomy curriculum helped undergraduate students learn, apply, and improve their anatomical knowledge. Two courses at The Ohio State University-Columbus Campus, one with a superhero-based curriculum and one with a traditional anatomy curriculum were compared over three semesters using quizzes and survey data. Results from this project found that the use of superheroes/pop culture in anatomy education is an effective way to teach content. The study also showed that most students found the use of superheroes increased their motivation to learn, helped them gain a deeper understanding of the material, and helped them find the content more approachable and enjoyable. In summary, anatomy curricula can still be taught and explained through these creative and "marvel"-ous examples as it can help students connect the material to their own agency and drive motivation to learn.

Examining arts-based practice in midwifery education: An integrative review

AIMS

The aim of this integrative review is to synthesise the literature on creative teaching methods in midwifery education. The review question seeks to investigate the experiences of student midwives and midwifery educators of using creative methods as a learning approach.

BACKGROUND

The benefits of creative teaching methods are widely acknowledged but the ways in which this may impact midwifery students' learning processes, or how this relates to their developing professional development, is not well understood. Research focused specifically on student midwives is yet to be synthesised.

DESIGN

An integrative review was undertaken using data comparison with reflexive thematic analysis to identify common themes.

METHODS

Eight electronic databases were searched with key terms in June 2022. English language studies from qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods and wider literature were included.

RESULTS

Twenty-two texts were included in the synthesis. Four themes were generated from the data; 1) What is the offering - More than a lecture; exploring the educator and student exchange and environment for learning; 2) Working in parallel - examining the change in teaching dynamic and collaborative partnerships; 3) Journeying towards holism - focused on student's integration of learning processes; and 4) Stepping into the professional - engaging with how using creativity can aid students' growing sense of themselves as professionals. This highlights improvements in levels of confidence, professional development and emotional intelligence in midwifery students.

CONCLUSION

Creative teaching and learning methods enable student midwives to make meaningful connections between theoretical and practice learning environments, assisting knowledge and skills acquisition.

Understanding creative teaching in twenty-first century learning among Islamic education teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic

Education during the COVID-19 pandemic required teachers to be creative because students might not be able to complete education in a normal way. However, Islamic education teachers seem to lack the skills and attitudes required for twenty-first century learning, including creative teaching. The purpose of this study is to explore if Islamic education teachers were able to teach creatively by responding to twenty-first century learning during the pandemic. A qualitative methodology was adopted using a case study design. The sample consisted of four Islamic education teachers from Putrajaya schools. Our findings illustrated that there were six themes that emerged as elements of creative teaching in twenty-first century learning. These were: student-centered learning, twenty-first century teaching, creative inspirations, creative strategies, creative activities, and alternative evaluation. This study found Islamic education teachers to be creative in teaching and it demonstrated the professional development of Islamic education teachers.

Promoting teaching innovation of Chinese public-school teachers by team temporal leadership: The mediation of job autonomy and the moderation of work stress

This study examines the impact of team temporal leadership, leaders’ behaviors regarding scheduling, allocating time resources, and coordinating team members, on teachers’ innovative behavior. Questionnaire surveys on 2021 Chinese elementary and secondary public-school teachers show that team temporal leadership exerts a significant positive direct effect on teaching innovation and the effect can be facilitated through the mediation of job autonomy. Moreover, both the direct effect and the second-leg of the mediation effect are moderated by work stress. These suggest that, at least in certain educational settings, teaching innovation can benefit from leaders’ appropriate scheduling and synchronization of time resources. The results also emphasizing the roles of job autonomy and work stress during this time-based team management.

Anatomists Assemble! Integrating superheroes into the anatomy and physiology classroom

Anatomy and physiology courses are sometimes seen as difficult, which can lead to a lack of motivation in students to learn and engage in the course material. Students may also see the material as "dry," have issues forming personal connections, or struggle to connect the content to the real world. These issues may lead to students not performing well in the course or feeling that the health field is not ideal for them. Popular culture, especially mainstream superheroes, can serve as an option for mending these gaps by being a gateway to connecting to many students' lives. Superheroes can be integrated into the classroom through relevant, creative, and unique examples that include clinical correlates, modern scientific innovations, and some real-life "supers" living among us. Real anatomy and physiology can still be taught and explained through discussing these "incredible" examples and also present an opportunity for students to be creative in generating their own anatomical and physiological explanations for various superpowers. Superheroes also help open the classroom up to being a place of acceptance, primarily through their secret identities, which cover a broad range of idols that students can look up to, whether it is their career or based on a character's race or sexual orientation. Professors can become the superhero in their classroom and help students become more engaged and interested in the material.