TUSM 2014 Strategic Plan
Strategies for Learning Committee
Friday, March 21, 2014
2:00-4:00 p.m.
Sackler Room 220
AGENDA
1.
Welcome and Introductions
Attendance: Deborah Erlich and Peter Brodeur (co-chairs), Laura Baecher-Lind, Maria Blanco
(phone), David Damassa, Misha Eliasziw, Scott Epstein, Priya Garg, Scott Gilbert, Kevin Hinchey
(phone), Rebecca Lufler, Jeff Marchant, Richard Murphy, Aviva Must, Donna Qualters, Joe Rencic,
Marsha Semuels
2.
Charge of the committee a.
Assessment of current practices in delivering the curriculum b.
Priorities for the next 5 years / 10 years c.
What resources will be required for success?
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There is a need for further development in educational strategies consistent with current changes in medical education.
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There are different types of learners that we must address.
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Today, attendance to lectures can be low; lectures are not as effective as other types of teaching, such as PBL, TBL, and Flip-Classroom approaches and simulation technology.
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LCME visitors observed that TUSM does not have enough small group teaching.
3.
Discussion of all current learning modalities used at TUSM – recent changes and directions a.
Flipped classrooms b.
Simulation c.
Team-based learning d.
Use of on-line materials
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MD program: o Tissue and Organ Bio pilot-tested flipped classroom sessions this year o EBM is solely TBL learning o There is insufficient small group teaching o Lecture attendance decreased over time
 This is not due to the time of year
 No relationship was found between exam performance versus not attending/watching lectures
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There is a core group of students that attend lectures
 Significant number neither attend lecture nor watch online
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MBS Program o Courses are like MD program, and share some classes with MD courses
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MPH/MS program: o Keep classes small – anywhere from 15 to 20 students per class o Utilize a mixture of lectures, small groups and synthesis integration; high touch o Most classes provide students a participation grade; attendance requirements are up to course directors
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PA program: o 30 to 50 students per class o Students are integrated into cohorts o Mandate attendance because it is a fast-tracked, short program o Offer traditional classes and have experimented with flipped classroom o Lectures are interactive, they are not recorded but allow audio capture, and lectures can be customized
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Goal for programs: for students to learn, not for students to come to lecture o If lectures are engaging, they can work and be well received
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Flipped Classroom Observations: o Bio-Statistics (MPH - Misha Eliasziw):
 Moved all lectures online
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Found that students would not participate in a lecture setting
 Classroom meetings – professor now has more quality time for the students
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Students go to class every second week
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Group work, small discussions, group quiz o Works better with smaller groups – i.e. 35 students per group o Provide quiz or questions at the beginning of class
 Give students 2 minutes to discuss  student would explain best answer to class
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professor would discuss for first hour of class o Encourage to ask questions o Very interactive o Professors can be more specific on how they can prepare for each group lecture o No grading for small groups o Limit the amount of prep time for each class o If different lecturers – standardize the teaching so every student’s experience is the same o Make questions as clinically-relevant as possible o Add grading aspect (1%) for participation or for completing a quiz
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TBL o For clerkships:
 Works when teams are sustained and individuals continue to work together
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2 quizzes every 6 weeks
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Case-based
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OB/GYN Clerkship student reviews: more engaging, retain more information
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o Challenge: how do you integrate TBL throughout third and fourth years? o Integration: talk amongst clerkship directors to integrate what each is learning across their individual clerkship program o Hematology/Oncology:
 Split class in 2 groups, table of 8’s
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There is no formal assessment
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There are no quizzes
 There is growing praise o EBM:
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Lecture hall with 160 students
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Individual quizzes and group quiz
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Chaotic
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Students grade participation of individuals in their group
 Used Twitter o Classic TBL:
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Individual quiz with multiple choice questions
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Re-take quiz with group
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Rate participation of each other – do not grade yourself o May need a technology that is available in a standardized format (i.e. on iPhone, webbased poll) to see which students are struggling
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TED talk from founder of Coursera Stanford: http://www.ted.com/talks/daphne_koller_what_we_re_learning_from_online_education o Scaleable ideas – use the skills to deal with constraints o Smart phone enabled o At Tufts – Echo360 – instant feedback and more interactive for lectures o Virtual integration
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Syllabi o Get rid of paper-based syllabi – use iPad? What if everyone had same technology o A resource issue interferes to do so
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Strategy for choosing a technology for a course o Technology needs to match the learning goals o Find new ways to engage students with material for learning o Teaching drives the technology, technology doesn’t drive the teaching
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MD program: o Would like to see more emphasis on problem-solving and critical thinking, and less emphasis on memorization
 Assist students in preparing for boards
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Reduce time in class
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Reduce questions on exams
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Assess what we want students to know
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How to get more small-groups, more interaction
 How to train faculty and how to get the resources to teach and for faculty to learn
 How to continue threads in all 4 years? Capstone course in 4 th year? Use technology to do short reviews? Do this in 3 rd year, e.g., Repro Anatomy review before OB-GYN?
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Prioritize what we need to do o Assessment o Test-enhanced learning – read for 20 minutes, then test it o Applied learning – read for 5 minutes, then apply it
 The more we test, the better they will do
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Resources – Space for teaching and learning o Current space may not provide adequate flexibility for need modalities
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Faculty Devlepment – see who is doing TBL and have them teach other faculty
4 th year students in MedEd elective to help?
Different MCQ – higher order on Bloom’s?
Partner with publishers?
Use Catalytics – independent of device (no need for iClicker) or Poll Everywhere?
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Formative assessment: higher learning
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Move each core course online in next two years
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Timeline for changes – take 3 to 5 years to change
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Boards need increase significance o Make all exam questions board-type questions – could be challenging for first year
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Barriers: additional classroom space, study rooms with white boards and Wi-Fi, possible technology (i.e. iPads), additional time to grade exams, resources to help make syllabi non-paper
4.
Next steps?
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Priorities
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Assessment
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Resources
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What would the approach be?
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How do we put what we want to do into practice?
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