This module focuses on teaching and learning activities in the clinical workplace and takes account of the challenges and opportunities inherent in such workspaces - particularly patient safety. The module will explore how clinical workplaces can be developed as sites for learning as well as the delivery of health services including the involvement of real patients receiving real services such as clinical assessments in ambulatory care including Emergency Department, AMU, Pre-operative assessment clinics, handovers, ward-rounds, ward tasks, operating and procedural lists, outpatient clinics and general practice clinics. The module will draw upon relevant theory and concepts such as ‘participation’ and ‘supported participation’ to emphasise how learner agency as well as situational factors shape the learning experience. The module will also highlight how becoming a doctor, dentist or other health professional is a process of identity formation as well as knowledge/skill acquisition/increasing employability.
MA1: To provide a theoretical framework for the development of informed teacher and learner roles and strategies in clinical environments
MA2: To explore the distinctive features of clinical workplaces and how these are crucial to knowledge and skill acquisition
MA3: To develop participants as scholarly and reflective practitioners
Module Learning Outcomes:
LO1: Identify learning particular to the affordances of their own clinical context drawing upon appropriate taxonomies
LO2: Critically discuss the application of the principle of constructive alignment and how it might enhance the learning in the clinical context
LO3: Describe how they could make use of readily-available resources to make the learning safe, effective and sustainable in a clinical environment
LO4: Describe and critique a theoretically informed feedback practice relevant to their own context
The overall delivery of the module will be through a blended approach, combining face-to-face workshops and online activities and tasks. Such delivery will be based on broadly constructivist and adult learning principles with knowledge being ‘made’ and shared in the room with some negotiation of the methods used being handed to the learners. The processes will therefore be inherently student-led in terms of scope and pace consistent with engagement with the module learning outcomes. Since most of the learners on the PG Cert will have some experience of planning and delivering workplace learning, we will structure the module around a simple experiential learning cycle. Our learners will start with their prior experience(s) of workplace learning, will exit the teaching days at the planning stage, and will complete the cycle through the assessment process. The module will be structured in such a way as to help them make the most of the journey around the cycle. These approaches and methods are set out indicatively below:
Study Day 1 - Learners will bring a brief account of a recent workplace learning experience – ideally as ‘teacher’ but, if necessary, as ‘learner’. Reflection exercise (LOs 2-4) Learners will be facilitated (part-time) in groups of 6 to discuss their feelings about, and perceptions of workplace learning, and to crystallise questions about teaching and learning based on their discussions. Facilitators will gather the questions and work with the group to make the questions as specific and ‘answerable’ as possible.
Likely themes/questions: Learning taxonomy – how do the module 1 learning taxonomies apply in the workplace? Roles – how are the roles of teacher and learner different in the workplace, and what other ‘teachers’ and ‘learners’ are available in the workplace? Practices – what kinds of workplace learning practices are there, and how does a teacher select from them appropriately? Introducing and discussing relevant theory (LO1) Learning theories – how do behaviourist, constructivist, social constructivist, cognitivist, and reflective learning theories apply in the workplace? Learning taxonomies – How do the cognitive and extra-cognitive taxonomies apply to workplace learning? Roles – Which theories help us think about the learner’s role and the teacher’s role in the workplace? (communities of practice, Lave and Wenger; zone of proximal development & supported participation, Vygotsky / Dornan; identity development) Practices – Observation, simulation, participation, supervision, judgement and assessment, feedback & debrief. Planning workplace learning modifications (LO1)
Study Day 2 - Morning Session - Six x 20-minutes slots including 5-minute presentation, 10 minutes debrief, and 5-minute changeover / preparation (part-time facilitated as we rotate through the groups) Peer evaluation of presentations Using a proforma, 5-minute changeover / preparation time. The debrief discussions to evaluate and teach about feedback practice (LO3)
Afternoon session - The focus will be on teaching in clinical practice, the role of the clinical or educational supervisor, feedback, patients as partners in undergraduate medical education and modalities of teaching in clinical areas including useful tips for teaching undergraduate medical students in the clinical environment. What are the drivers for clinical teachers? What are the potential barriers to teaching in the clinical environment?
Online Activity - The on-line environment will be used to anticipate and consolidate learning in the two workshops. Essential reading will be signposted pre- and post the face sessions with a series of activities and tasks designed to promote peer-to peer learning and critical self-reflection.
Week 1 – pre-reading and prior identification of clinical teaching & learning experiences
Week 2 -3 – workshops and contemporaneous reading
Week 4- 7 – reading and structured activities and tasks (including peer review)
Week 8 – review by tutors
Assessment Task One
A plan, identifying the modifications to own workplace, with peer and own reflections based on presentation feedback
Word count: 2,400 words (we allow for 10% above or below this)
(60% of module grade)
LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
Assessment Task Two
A reflective critique of a colleague’s plan, applying relevant theory to practice
Word count: 1,600 words (we allow for 10% above or below this)
(40% of module grade)
LO2, LO3, LO4
Please combined both tasks into one document for uploading to Turnitin, but with clear titling of each task.