Changing assessment practice through in situ faculty development

The evaluation of a home-based paediatric nursing service: concept and design development using the Kirkpatrick model

Background

A new paediatric hospital-in-the-home nursing service required evaluation.

Aims

To determine whether the education and training provided for nursing staff employed in the service was effective.

Methods

This paper presents the way in which a training evaluation model supported the design and evaluation of a training programme for registered nurses working in an out-of-hospital, home-based nursing service for paediatric patients.

Results

The Kirkpatrick model provides a framework for evaluating the effectiveness of workforce training for any industry including healthcare (Kirkpatrick, 2009).

Conclusions

That the Kirkpatrick model is an appropriate framework to evaluate a nursing training programme, but it is imperative to evaluate all levels of the model to be able to ascertain the success of the training and the impact on clinical practice.

Preparing anesthesiology faculty for competency-based medical education

PURPOSE

Competency-based medical education (CBME) is quickly becoming the dominant organizing principle for medical residency programs. As CBME requires changes in the way medical education is delivered, faculty will need to acquire new skills in teaching and assessment in order to navigate the transition. In this paper, we examine the evidence supporting best practices in faculty development, propose strategies for faculty development for CBME-based residency programs, and discuss the results of faculty development initiatives at the pioneering anesthesia CBME residency program at the University of Ottawa.

SOURCE

Review of the current literature and information from the University of Ottawa anesthesia residency program.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS

Faculty development is critical to the success of CBME programs. Attention must be paid to the competence of faculty to teach and assess all of the CanMEDS roles. At the University of Ottawa, some faculty development initiatives were very successful, while others were hindered by factors both internal and external to the residency program. Many faculty development activities had low attendance rates.

CONCLUSIONS

Faculty development must be considered in the rollout of any new educational initiative. Experts suggest that faculty development for CBME should incorporate educational activities using multiple teaching and delivery methods, and should be offered longitudinally through the planning, development, and implementation phases of curriculum change. Additionally, these educational activities must continue until all faculty have demonstrated an acceptable level of competence. Faculty buy-in is paramount to the successful delivery of any faculty development program that is not mandatory in nature.

Faculty development for clinical teachers in dental education

Dental education has been reviewed, and suggestions for further enhancement include the implementation of faculty development activities to enhance teaching and learning environments.

PURPOSE

The aim of this study was to gain insight into the participants' perceptions of outcomes of faculty development for clinical teachers and clinical learning environments as well as into the sustainability of such outcomes.

METHODS

The program was organized in the form of (i) a 2-day seminar; (ii) collegial supervision and development projects; and (iii) a 1-day follow-up seminar. The participants' perceptions from the five-first programs were studied. A Web-based questionnaire was sent to all participants, that is 3-27 months after completion of the program (follow-up survey).

RESULTS

The outcomes of the program (response rate 70%) indicate a strong impact of the program on the clinical teachers' competence and on the clinical learning environments. The teachers report that they think more about what their students really learn, have become more conscious about how they supervise and have been stimulated to become better teachers. The learning environment as well as collaboration, and calibration between teachers have improved. The novice teachers report greater benefits than do the experienced teachers. The participants initiated a variety of development projects during the program. The majority of the participants continued the development activities.

CONCLUSIONS

The faculty development program presented confirms that faculty development activities for clinical teachers based on theories of learning and experiences documented in the literature can be implemented with positive outcomes for individual teachers and for the learning environments.