The International Literature on Teaching Faculty Development in English-Language Journals: A Scoping Review and Recommendations for Core Topics

Cascading of teachers training at higher education in Pakistan: An evaluation of a faculty professional development program

Evaluation refers to a systematic collection of data and utilization of that data to improve the program or project. It provides data to judge whether the program attained its goals and to help plan future training. This study aimed to implement an exploratory sequential research framework to evaluate the Master Trainer-Faculty Professional Development Program (MT-FPFP). MT-FPDP was a teachers training program designed for higher education faculty to develop their teaching skills. The current study was divided into two phases. In phase I, qualitative data was collected through document analysis and semi-structured interviews with coordinators of MT-FPDP. A self-developed questionnaire was used for data collection from Master Trainers (MTs) in phase II. Thematic analysis, percentages, and mean scores were used to analyze the data. The findings indicated that exploratory sequential framework was a best fit for evaluating MT-FPD. MT-FPDP was discovered to be a successful university-level teachers' training program. MTs encountered several challenges during the cascade training process at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). This work contributes to the literature from both an academic and a practical standpoint. First, this study contributes to the literature by implementing exploratory sequential framework as an evaluation design and by providing detailed information regarding the training program's objectives, design, process, implementation, and challenges. Secondly, policy-makers and decision-makers will benefit from the results of the current study. In addition, exploratory sequential framework can aid future evaluators and researchers in systematic evaluations of teachers' training and other programs both inside and outside the education profession.

Scoping reviews in medical education: A scoping review

OBJECTIVES

Over the last two decades, the number of scoping reviews in core medical education journals has increased by 4200%. Despite this growth, research on scoping reviews provides limited information about their nature, including how they are conducted or why medical educators undertake this knowledge synthesis type. This gap makes it difficult to know where the field stands and may hamper attempts to improve the conduct, reporting and utility of scoping reviews. Thus, this review characterises the nature of medical education scoping reviews to identify areas for improvement and highlight future research opportunities.

METHOD

The authors searched PubMed for scoping reviews published between 1/1999 and 4/2020 in 14 medical education journals. The authors extracted and summarised key bibliometric data, the rationales given for conducting a scoping review, the research questions and key reporting elements as described in the PRISMA-ScR. Rationales and research questions were mapped to Arksey and O'Malley's reasons for conducting a scoping review.

RESULTS

One hundred and one scoping reviews were included. On average, 10.1 scoping reviews (SD = 13.1, median = 4) were published annually with the most reviews published in 2019 (n = 42). Authors described multiple reasons for undertaking scoping reviews; the most prevalent being to summarise and disseminate research findings (n = 77). In 11 reviews, the rationales for the scoping review and the research questions aligned. No review addressed all elements of the PRISMA-ScR, with few authors publishing a protocol (n = 2) or including stakeholders (n = 20). Authors identified shortcomings of scoping reviews, including lack of critical appraisal.

CONCLUSIONS

Scoping reviews are increasingly conducted in medical education and published by most core journals. Scoping reviews aim to map the depth and breadth of emerging topics; as such, they have the potential to play a critical role in the practice, policy and research of medical education. However, these results suggest improvements are needed for this role to be fully realised.

Faculty Development in Basic Science Disciplines for Clinical Teachers: Results of a Cross-Cultural Workshop in the Dominican Republic

BACKGROUND

Faculty development programs, studied both within the USA and internationally, have been shown to be helpful for enhancing scholarly and academic work for academic faculty in teaching institutions. This project investigates the impact of a well-studied faculty development program applied to basic science teachers in an academic medical center in the Dominican Republic.

METHODS

A faculty cohort of physician educators in the Basic Sciences at Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE) School of Medicine in the Dominican Republic underwent training in the Stanford Faculty Development Center (SFDC) model of teaching through a sequence of seven workshops that were adapted for basic science content. A validated retrospective pre- and post-test instrument was used to measure study outcomes on specific teaching behaviors at the end of the workshops, at 3-month and at 12-month post-intervention. Thematic analysis of specific teaching techniques and barriers to their teaching were compiled.

RESULTS

Fourteen faculty participants completed the study. All participants found the workshops valuable. Significant improvement in self-reported teaching abilities was seen comparing the mean pre-intervention scores of 106.21 (maximum score = 145, standard deviation [SD] = 12.70) with mean immediate post-intervention scores of 138.28 (SD = 6.12), the 3-month post-intervention scores of 129.79 (SD = 11.12) and the 1-year post-intervention scores of 131.86 (SD = 11.26). Several consistent themes were found among participants.

CONCLUSIONS

Faculty development for improving teaching of basic science concepts by clinicians can be performed across the cultures of the USA and the Dominican Republic.