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Educational Methodologies |
Key words: faculty development, problem-based learning, adult learning theory
Submitted for publication 07/10/06; accepted 09/28/06
| Abstract |
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The faculty member serves as a facilitator of this learning process rather than a primary disseminator of specific content.2,3 A change to a predominantly PBL structure in a dental school curriculum necessitates that faculty be provided support so that they can become familiar with the rationale underpinning this type of pedagogy and experience teaching and learning strategies associated with effective PBL implementation.
Two specific sets of factors must be considered in the development of a faculty development program to support the implementation of PBL. First, the sequence, methods, and topics to be included in a PBL faculty development curriculum need to be identified to allow faculty to function as effective facilitators. Second, and perhaps more important, specific obstacles to change must be appreciated.58 The transition from the traditional lecturer role to that of a facilitator of learning is difficult for many faculty members.6,7 Pedagogical concerns tend to focus on whether students have sufficient ability or should be trusted to learn more independently. Some faculty express concern that learners are not knowledgeable enough to discuss a case without having been given background information. Others express concern that students will not be able to define what they need to know, find reliable information, or appreciate the nuances of complicated information. As a consequence, many faculty members anticipate that PBL will result in "gaps in knowledge" for the students.912 The faculty development program must address both the theory and practice of the PBL pedagogy and faculty concerns about this approach to learning.
Previously described PBL faculty development programs have focused primarily on promoting understanding of the rationale for PBL and on learning the PBL process before embarking on training for facilitation-specific roles and responsibilities. The former has typically been achieved via observation or practice of the stages of PBL.6,7,13,14 Focusing on the steps of the PBL process, while important, arguably puts less emphasis on the learning, reflection, and revision taking place in the small-group setting. By charging participants with undertaking a full cycle of learning via the small-group PBL method, the faculty development workshop described in this article emphasized both the steps in PBL learning and the theory supporting the pedagogy. Deliberate linkages were made between the faculty members experience of learning via PBL and the underlying educational rationale for its organization. Specifically, these linkages included a purposeful attention to elaborating and refining prior knowledge, engaging in self-directed learning, and reflecting regularly on practice.4 These linkages were introduced not only to put PBL into context as a theory-driven learning methodology but also to introduce educational theory concepts that may not be familiar to individuals in dental education.15
Few dental schools use PBL as a primary pedagogy. Consequently, dental educators have less experience implementing PBL faculty development programs. The purpose of this article is to discuss the approach and participant perceptions of a foundation-building faculty development workshop devoted to understanding the rationale and procedures of PBL by allowing faculty to personally experience a full iteration of a PBL learning cycle. The PBL Process workshop described here is the first in a series of connected PBL core skills workshops designed to build a scaffold for faculty development and was followed by workshops focusing on development of facilitation skills and tutorial assessment skills. The overall aims and structure of the comprehensive PBL core skills program were developed to provide faculty at the University of Southern California School of Dentistry (USCSD) with the core skills necessary to facilitate small-group learning in the PBL pedagogy. Implementation of the program was coincident with the phase-in of the PBL pedagogy and the need to have trained facilitators to support the curriculum. Nearly 70 percent of USCSD faculty members have fulfilled their responsibilities in participating in the program workshops. The USCSD framework for development and implementation of its PBL core skills faculty development program along with the implementation outcomes is reported elsewhere.16
| Methods: PBL Process Workshop Development |
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The Faculty Development, Mentoring, and Evaluation (FDME) Subcommittee of the USCSD Curriculum Committee was responsible for devising the PBL core skills program. The FDME identified specific learning outcomes for the first workshop in the series, PBL Process, which are listed in Table 1
. These learning outcomes were determined to be necessary to achieve the goals of the workshop; to cover the specific learning theory linked to the use of PBL; to provide a participatory experience using PBL as a pedagogy; and to permit reflection on learning in this mode.
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The workshop leader was responsible for coordinating the overall program, delivering background information, and primary fielding of questions. Experienced facilitators for the workshop were required for each group of faculty participants. The workshop leader also served as a facilitator for the small-group learning components. Roles for participants, the workshop facilitator, and workshop leader were defined for the participants. Groups of eight to ten participants were constituted. The participants were asked to play the role of students for the day and were encouraged to limit themselves to asking clarifying questions about their task and role during the activity. More global questions about PBL, the role of the facilitator, and assessment were deferred to specific question and answer periods or to the subsequent workshops in the PBL core skills program. A short, biomedical case (Figure 1
) was selected for the exercise to ensure the group would have some but not necessarily extensive prior knowledge about the subject area.
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To allow completion of an entire PBL learning cycle in a single day, two specific concessions were made to the PBL process that differ from the standard student learning experience in which all activities associated with case analysis may extend over several days. First, a collection of content resources was provided to the participants to be used to generate the learning packet. Second, participants were instructed to assemble a brief, unstructured learning packet highlighting key points most applicable to the case. Participants were briefed on the significance of these concessions to the learning processnamely, that depth of learning and discussion would be more constrained and that the practice of independently identifying appropriate resources would not occur.
Subsequent to the assembly of the learning packets, participants were tasked to discuss their materials with the group. The facilitator would then rejoin the discussion, posing further questions to the group that facilitated examination of the groups application of learning to the previously generated ideas. Unanswered questions related to understanding the case were recorded and identified as further topics for research as they represented the limits of learning achieved by the group. The participant group closed the case by reflecting on their learning achievement and conducting a self- and peer evaluation. Documentation used in the PBL dental curriculum was also used in the workshop to increase familiarity with the structure and function of the forms. The day was concluded with a wrap-up discussion. Handouts and selected literature on PBL were provided. A timetable indicating the amount of time dedicated to various components of the PBL case analysis is detailed in Table 2
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The role of the small-group facilitator throughout the day was to encourage the group to model the appropriate student behavior. At appropriate times during the course of the activities, the facilitator identified links between the PBL learning process and elements of learning theory. For example, when a participant would state an idea based on previous knowledge or experience, the facilitator would note the importance of this in terms of the learning theory on knowledge construction.
On completion of the workshop, a survey on the effectiveness of the PBL Process workshop was distributed to the participants to complete (Figure 2
). Coding of surveys was done to remove any personal identifiers from the analysis. A four-point Likert scale was used to query level of participant agreement with achievement of the learning objectives set at the beginning of the day. Mean values and standard deviations were calculated for each survey item. Participants were also asked to describe effective and ineffective methods used for the workshops and were solicited for suggestions for improvements in future workshops. Like responses were grouped into themes and frequencies tallied.
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| Results |
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Those participants who focused on their experience with specific elements of the PBL process described their satisfaction with having learned "to find resources and how to stay focused on the subject." One participant who found the self- and peer assessment process effective expressed that it helped him or her to "confront my shortcomings and areas I need to improve."
Within the interpersonal dimension category, participants identified the group learning environment (n=20), the workshop leader and/or facilitator(s) (n=17), and the ability to work with peers (n=4) as the most effective elements of the workshop. As expressed by one participant, the small-group setting was effective because of "the comfort/ease between all the members of the group. [I] felt there was good teamwork and a very capable facilitator who was clear." Though facilitation was not a focus of the workshop, numerous participants commented that one aspect of the workshop facilitators effectiveness related to role-modeling "appropriate" facilitator behavior. As one participant commented, "The facilitator was very helpful in showing by her actions what a facilitator does."
When queried about least effective elements of the workshop, considerably more varied responses were offered (Table 5
). Forty-five participants offered comments, from which fifty-two separate items were tallied. Fifty-nine participants offered no comment. Four individuals remarked that all aspects of the workshop were effective. The remaining comments about the least effective workshop components could be grouped into roughly four categories: 1) self- and peer assessment, 2) researching learning topics, 3) time management, and 4) alignment between workshop goals and participant needs.
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Self- and peer assessment was the other workshop component most frequently mentioned as being ineffective. Here respondents noted that the self- and peer assessment was difficult to understand and challenging to do for the first time. Time management was identified as problematic for some participants who cited that various segments of the workshop had been allotted either too much or too little time. Misalignment between the workshop goals and individual participant interests was evidenced by a few disparate comments noting that the particular case utilized the exclusive focus on PBL Process at the expense of addressing facilitations or assessment skills and an audience with mixed PBL experience levels was not ideal.
When participants were asked to offer suggestions on how to improve the PBL Process workshop, they offered a wide range of comments that could be arranged around three themes: 1) enhancing the existing workshop, 2) addressing additional PBL-related content areas, and 3) reinforcing the place of the PBL Process workshop in context of the PBL core skills training program (Table 6
). Suggestions were offered by forty-five different participants, with some participants offering multiple suggestions. Some merely affirmed that, for its purpose, the workshop "seems to work, so stay with it." Sixty-three participants offered no feedback.
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Participant comments viewed as addressing additional PBL-related content areas included introducing role-play of facilitation with feedback (n=2) and discussion of common student problems and solutions. Five participants requested that additional workshops on PBL be offered.
The final theme that drew a number of participant comments related to the fit of the PBL Process workshop in the overall scheme of facilitator training. The comment most frequently noted among participants was the suggestion to enforce sequencing of the PBL core skills workshop program (n=6), so that participants would take the PBL Process workshop first followed by the Facilitation and Assessment workshops respectively. Though participants had been advised to attend the PBL core skills workshops in a specific sequence, some had opted to attend in a different order, commenting later that, "I took it out of sequence and [am having] difficulty putting it in perspective." Further respondents suggested that the PBL core skills program be linked to an observation of a real PBL case (n=3) and completed prior to becoming a facilitator (n=3).
| Discussion |
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When reviewing the perceptions of faculty development organizers and participants from the PBL Process workshop, three major themes emerged that are applicable to future faculty development efforts. These themes relate to 1) the general success of employing an extended role-play activity to understand the structure and rationale of PBL, including its various reflective components; 2) the notion that particular aspects of the PBL process are more difficult to access than others and therefore may require additional or modified training approaches; and 3) that dissatisfaction with particular approaches used within the workshop may be related to restrictions on autonomy placed on the participants as learners.
While many organizers of PBL training advocate and indeed incorporate experiential methods into their programs, faculty development devoted specifically to the learning process of PBL typically focuses on elements that can be completed in a shorter time interval with a greater relative emphasis being put on discussing comparisons between PBL and traditional programs and roles and responsibilities of the facilitator.6,8,13,14 Such workshops have typically stopped short of experiencing a full PBL learning cycle.5,8 Role-playing a full iteration of the PBL process allows faculty members to experience the phases of the PBL process with which they have noted concernsnamely, how students build information literacy skills, acquire and apply new information, and correct previously misunderstood concepts. A key component of PBLregular reflection on personal and group performancehas been lacking in descriptions of PBL facilitator training. It is perhaps not surprising that working facilitators interviewed about their concept of PBL tend to neglect this aspect of PBL program design almost entirely.9 These latter stages of the PBL process link closely with the principles for learning associated with the design of PBLnamely, constructive, cooperative, contextualized, and self-directed approaches to learning.4 Thus we feel the inclusion of the reflective elements of PBL in the training program seems justified and represents a general improvement in faculty development for PBL in health professions education.
A key measure of success of the approaches taken in the PBL Process workshop is evidenced by the positive perceptions of the participants. When surveyed as to whether they felt the learning objectives for the workshop had been met, the majority of respondents agreed. The methodological vehicle utilized to access the content for these objectivesthat is, the use of the extended role-playwas highlighted by the participants as being the most effective aspect of the workshop. In accordance with adult learning principles16 and findings from faculty development literature,14,21 the majority of our workshop participants expressed satisfaction with the experiential approaches utilized in the workshop, from active simulation of the PBL Process to researching learning topics to the active discussion of how research materials are applied to patient problems. High levels of participant satisfaction were also associated with working in a group environment, reinforcing the general notion that cooperative learning environments are associated with learner satisfaction.22 Specifically, it lends further support to the finding that faculty development efforts are more greatly appreciated by participants when the opportunity to work with peers is incorporated.21,23,24 While participant perceptions of faculty development workshops are valuable, they represent only one contributor to determining overall program success. Future evaluation of the USCSD faculty development program will attempt an analysis of whether participation in faculty development workshops is related to student perceptions of facilitator effectiveness and student achievement.25
Though overall satisfaction with the PBL Process workshop was high, the areas associated with lower relative scores represent potential areas for future improvement. For example, the PBL stages associated with assessment skills, both in how students judge their level of understanding of learning materials and in the processes of self- and peer assessment, were met with a greater degree of dissatisfaction by the workshop participants than the other components of the workshop. This was noted both in the relative responses to the learning objectives statements and in the open response data provided by participants. The relatively higher levels of dissatisfaction expressed here may indicate that a greater emphasis or different methods should be employed when addressing processes related to self- and peer assessment. Identification of the reasons for the relatively higher dissatisfaction in this area may assist in determining more appropriate methods for approaching teaching and learning of this important professional skill.
The learning objective with the lowest average agreement levels was linked to objective three, "increasing awareness of how students gauge their limit of understanding from a PBL case." Previous studies have shown that faculty who had recently received PBL facilitator training struggled to understand the appropriate depth and breadth of knowledge expected of students.8 While this finding may be more closely related to an inability to link the level of student knowledge to desired performance levels expected from the case curriculum, it may also point to underlying difficulties with the nature of qualitative assessment of students in PBL in particular. Assessment relies on the assessors ability to view student performance in various conditions, for sufficiently lengthy periods of time, and utilizing agreed upon and understood criteria by faculty, typically gained via training.26 Such qualitative assessment of student performance in PBLand, in our situation, the faculty members initial ability to assess the students level of understandingmay be influenced by the difficulty inherent in separating learning processes from unfamiliar content being discussed in the case. Additional attention may need to be committed to this aspect of the PBL process within the workshop or addressed with different methods whereby relevant examples can be carefully analyzed. Alternatively, it may be that the ability to observe and thereby encourage this behavior in students is only possible after one has spent a significant amount of time observing students working in PBL.
Though most participants agreed that the learning objective related specifically to the process of self- and peer assessment (learning objective 5) was met, mixed reviews were noted in the open-response data, with roughly equal numbers of participants finding self- and peer assessment of learning skills effective and ineffective. Those who found the activity ineffective specified that self- and peer assessment was difficult to understand and to conduct for the first time. Self- and peer assessment of performance in the tutorial group has been identified as a difficult skill to perform based on numerous factors, not least on the fact that individuals report a reluctance to assess their peers in a public venue, especially when they feel they have not had sufficient time to observe individual performance.27 This issue may be further complicated by dental faculty attitudes toward the scope of dental education, where some may view with skepticism teaching and learning approaches that go beyond the primary goal of establishing procedural competency in dental students.28,29 Again, more time or diversified methods may need to be dedicated to the subject area of self- and peer assessment. Despite indications that the self- and peer assessment activity will require revision, we feel its incorporation into the workshop has, at the least, raised awareness of its integral place in the PBL process.
Other areas from the workshop that could be conceived as needing improvement were related to dissatisfaction with the time allotted for conducting research and the availability of sufficient resources to assemble learning materials for the exercise. In planning the workshop, it had been decided that concessions would be made to this aspect of the self-directed learning component of PBL. In attempting to accommodate the program into a single day, our control of resource availability and truncation of study time may have placed uncomfortable restrictions on the participants as individual adult learners.19 Restricting the participants ability to direct their own learning process may have served as a source of frustration for some. These findings, as well as anecdotal comments from faculty about committing a full day to workshop attendance, have led to the development of a blended online and face-to-face workshop on PBL Process at USCSD. Specific content areas have been augmented and moved into the online environment while still maintaining the role-play experience of going through an entire learning cycle via PBL. The face-to-face meetings have been structured so as to allow for two shorter meetings, between which participants may spend as much time as they wish selecting resources and assembling the materials for the remainder of the exercise.
| Conclusion |
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| Acknowledgments |
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| Footnotes |
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| REFERENCES |
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