Low Tech, Low Stress
Strategies to Promote
Active Learning
UAB Reynolds Program
Caroline Harada, MD
Kellie Flood, MD
Angela Rothrock, PhD
October 25, 2010
Teaching opportunities often don’t
come at ideal times
• The residency program director just asked
you to to teach noon conference 2 weeks
from now. You are on service all month, and
have a sick child at home, but opportunities
to teach geriatrics to the whole residency
program don’t come along that often…
Teaching opportunities often don’t
come with much notice
• You are precepting a resident in clinic. Your
first patient has just called to say she’s
running 30 min late. You would like to teach
the resident something during this down
time, but you haven’t planned anything
specific…
Guerilla Geriatrics
• You can’t miss those opportunities
• Every time you get a teaching opportunity,
you want it to count
• How can you create high quality learning
experiences with limited resources?
Learning Theory
• Behaviorist theory: Learning is done TO the
learner
– Filling an empty vessel
• Constructivist theory: Learning is done BY
the learner
– Learner Centered Learning
How People Learn. National Research Council, 1999
Learner Centered Learning
• New knowledge is constructed from prior
knowledge
– You must activate prior knowledge in order to
build upon it
• Learners must be actively engaged
– You must revise your thinking to fit in the new
information, try out new ideas by applying them
to real life, and so on
• Metacognition is encouraged
– Know what you know
How People Learn. National Research Council, 1999
Multiple Learning Styles
• Kolb’s model for
experiential learning
– 2 dimensions:
• Perception (grasping)
• Processing (transformation)
Concrete
Experience
Active
Experimentation
Conceptualization
Reflective
Observation
Armstrong’s Curriculum Planning
Framework
1. Activate prior knowledge
2. Add new knowledge
3. Try out new knowledge
4. Use new knowledge
Concrete
Experience
4
1
Active
Experimentation
Reflective
Observation
2
3
Armstrong E, Parsa-Parsi R. Academic Medicine, July 2005
Conceptualization
• You need to have multiple techniques up
your sleeve
– Multiple learning styles
– Maintain interest
– Reinforce knowledge in new ways
High Tech
•
•
•
•
Web-GEMs (Univ of Alabama Birmingham)
GeriaSims (Univ of Iowa)
Simulation Centers
Audience Response Systems
High Stress
(or at least, resource intensive)
• Simulations
• Senior Mentor Programs
• Problem Based Learning
Educational methods must be feasible
• Limited resources
–
–
–
–
–
Time
Technology
Money
Space
Faculty
Armstrong’s Curriculum Planning
Framework
1. Activate prior knowledge
2. Add new knowledge
3. Try out new knowledge
4. Use new knowledge
Concrete
Experience
4
1
Active
Experimentation
Reflective
Observation
2
3
Armstrong E, Parsa-Parsi R. Academic Medicine, July 2005
Conceptualization
Three Strategies from UAB
1. Work Audits (3)
2. Academic Detailing
3. Concept Mapping (1)
Concrete
Experience
4
1
Active
Experimentation
Reflective
Observation
2
3
Armstrong E, Parsa-Parsi R. Academic Medicine, July 2005
Conceptualization
Other LT, LS Instructional Strategies