Faculty And Students In Clinical Learning In Health Education

Faculty And Students In Clinical Learning In Health Education. Clinical Course Faculty Teaching Strategies and Techniques in Health Education, Clinical Faculty Perspectives of What Does Not Work, Students’ Perspectives of What Teachers Do to Help Them Learn, Students’ Perspectives of What Teachers Do That Does Not Help Them Learn, Faculty and Students In Distance Education

Courses, Distant Faculty Perspectives of What Does Not Work

Clinical courses consisted of courses in which there was a clinical component in addition to the didactic component. Both undergraduate and graduate faculty and students were surveyed. Faculty were asked to provide tips and techniques for clinical courses, and to indicate what does not work in clinical courses. Students were asked what teachers do to help them learn and what teachers do that does not help them learn.

Distance education courses were those in which the course was offered with a physical distance between faculty and students, through interactive web-based learning or through the use of other technology. Faculty were asked to provide tips and techniques for distance education courses, and also to indicate what does not work in distance education courses. Students were asked what teachers do to help them learn and what teachers do that does not help them learn.

Clinical Course Faculty Teaching Strategies and Techniques In Health Education

Address student fears and earn trust and respect
Be patient and offer guidance to enhance student learning
Case presentation
Case studies
Case studies with simulated patients
Challenge but do not overwhelm students with a clinical assignment
Clinical conferences
Communicate the plan for each class, including break times
Communicate via email to post announcements and changes in the schedule
Competency-based education tools
Convey a nonthreatening demeanor
Create a nurturing environment
Create learning experiences where students are not bogged down by staff demands
Demonstration lectures
Demonstrations
Discuss case scenarios
Do not give all the lecture notes to students ahead of time, so that they are encouraged to pay attention
Evaluate strengths and weaknesses of each student daily
Examples from clinical practice
Faculty engagement with students
Foster self-esteem
Get to know students before taking them to the clinical area
Give a practice math test so students know what to expect
Give clear guidelines and expectations
Give constructive feedback with specificity on how to improve
Grade contracting
Group learning
Guide independent practice of procedures before clinical application
Guide students to assess and document from a holistic perspective
Guide students to identify their own learning needs and set goals for their clinical day
Guide students to not prejudge patients
Help students analyze their thinking underlying an error that they have made
Help students learn to think for themselves by being accountable as caregivers
Implement roundtable discussion after each clinical course, where students share salient experiences
Include stories from the teacher’s practice that illustrate important points
Include student exercises as part of the class
Include visuals in presentations
Involve students in learning

Further for Student Teacher Relation

Lecture
Maintain good relationships with clinical staff so that the environment is supportive of learning
Morning rounds to each assigned client
Ongoing student evaluation with a great deal of feedback, both positive and developmental
Participate as an expert in the practice area where students are learning
Point out subtle differences in practice
Power Point presentations with handouts of the slides as study guides
Practice so that the teacher walks the walk as well as talks the talk
Practice what is preached
Preceptor ships in clinical setting
Proofread and edit notes with the student before they are written on the chart
Provide a nurturing environment
Provide clear objectives
Provide handouts for students
Provide a highly structured environment
Provide opportunities for students to learn from each other as well as from the teacher
Provide opportunities for students to observe the teacher in practice
Provide repeated exposure to important content
Provide students with opportunities to explore many ways of intervening
References, including web resources
Reinforcement of learning
Repeat very important points several times through out the lecture
Respect each student

More As Role Model

Role model interactions with students and patients
Role play
Schedule a test review session after each test so students can evaluate their own learning
Sequence learning tasks
Show enthusiasm for teaching
Spend time in pre-conference reviewing each student’s care plan for the day
Stay available to the student
Stay current in practice
Student presentations
Support student self-evaluation on a weekly basis
Take time to help students with a procedure by guiding them through it
Team building activities
Tell stories
Use a scavenger hunt to orient students to the new hospital unit
Use as many pictures as possible in Power Point slides
Use contracting for student learning
Use experts
Use humor when possible
Use journaling
Use multiple teaching modalities
Use pictures from the Web
Use simulations
Use Socratic method to assist students to develop problem solving skills
Use the Internet
When many students fail to perform as the teacher expects, review in detail in formation they have been given
Work with students in order to provide a richer clinical experience

Clinical Faculty Perspectives of What Does Not Work

A clinical environment that promotes fear
All lectures, all of the time
Clinical objectives that are not clearly written
Enhancing one’s power by being overly aggressive with students
Evaluating students before they have time to learn
Group projects where some do more of their share of work and others do less
Increasing student anxiety by talking down to students and being overly critical
Instructor who is not clinically competent
Instructor who lets the students go at their own pace

Lack of patience in guiding students
Long class days
Long videotaped lectures
Prejudging a student by appearance or rumors from other faculty
Providing expectations that are not clear
Surprises on clinical evaluation because students have been misled by positive faculty remarks
Class size too large
Videos longer than 5-10 minutes

Students’ Perspectives of What Teachers Do to Help Them Learn

Answer questions in detail
Apply text material to real life situations through examples
Are clear about expectations
Are organized and prepared for learning experience
Are patient and let the student work through problems without
telling the answers
Ask questions to focus the group on discussion
Ask the question, “Why?”
Build trust in the teacher-student relationship
Discuss clinical situations, including what to do and why the steps are important

Further Help for Team

Discuss student strengths and weaknesses individually
Display an open personality
Encouragement involvement and interaction
Encourage students by telling them that they are doing a good job
Engage in one-to-one discussion
Expect the most from students
Explain equipment in detail
Facilitate learning
Focus on student success
Functions as a role model that shows students how to practice
Give immediately
Go into the patient’s room with the student for the first few times
Have a knowledge base and expertise
Have student exchange experiences at the end of each clinical day
Help students focus on the patient from a holistic perspective
Help students to go beyond the traditional textbook
Incorporate different learning methods
Offer constructive criticism
Patiently talk the student through performance of a procedure
Provide copies of notes and stick to the syllabus
Provide a framework for learning and expectations
Provide hands on experiences
Provide nursing knowledge and reinforce theory with an emphasis on critical thinking
Provide office hours
Provide study guides to show important information
Relate clinical stories and connect the story to what is being studied
Relieve stress through humor, caring, and compassion
Stay calm
Review procedures with students before entering the patient’s room
Start discussions that make you think
Stay focused on topic content
Tell stories about real patients
Use case studies incorporating theory and critical thinking to arrive at a solution
Use variety of resources
Use visual tools
Willing to work one-on-one with students at feedback

Students’ Perspectives of What Teachers Do That Does Not Help Them
Learn

Adding to the students’ nervousness
Not being approachable
Assuming everyone knows the terminology
Assuming students already know the content
Assume students have acquired information in past courses
Being unprepared
Breathing down students back by staring at them
Correcting students by yelling at them in front of the patient and family
Demeaning students

Drawing lectures from limited resources
Expecting students to read the teacher’s mind
Expecting the student to answer a question quickly
Failing to explain concepts related to the slides
Failing to use current technology
Not having patience with students
Injecting negativity into the learning experience
Involving students in group work when the information needed to do the work is not provided
Lectures all of the time
Making students buy five textbooks and only use one of them
Omitting practical information in clinical course lectures
Not providing enough lecture time on assigned readings
Not providing more days and longer hours for clinical practice
Reading from lecture notes
Reading from Power Point slides
Requiring study guides for each of the areas covered in the course
Requiring too much reading
Straying from topic
Telling student to “figure it out”
Throwing students into unexpected situations
Use of negative talk

Faculty and Students In Distance Education Courses

Anticipate problems with the technology
Avoid communicating unnecessary information and communicate often
Be available
Call on students who do not respond in the chat room
Check all websites to which you refer students
Create diverse course activities
Demonstrate mutual respect for other faculty team members
Demonstrate proficiency with information technology
Develop teaching skills

Further Steps to Engage Students

Engage the students in active learning
Get to know the students
Give detailed and specific instructions
Identify a portion of class grade for participation
Integrate activities that foster student interaction with faculty and peers
Limit number of students in a chat room
Link to other on-line information
Offer synchronous group work assignments
Participate as teacher and producer of the course
Plan content from back to front
Post the structural components of the course
Post weekly course notes
Promote student peer support
Provide active learning activities
Provide clear online instructions for each assignment
Provide a framework for student lifelong learning
Provide group work online
Provide rapid response to questions
Provide step-by-step plan for student success
Put faculty and student addresses on the webpage
Require group work and projects
Require weekly reflections
Review course content
Seek peer support and feedback
Use all of the facilities and resources available
Use case studies and scenarios
Use exercises to help the students learn online technology
Distant Faculty Perspectives of What Does Not Work
Assigning an excessive amount of work
Avoiding long explanations of assignments
Displaying indifference to students
Failure to attend to student group participation
Giving busy work to students
Post unrelated materials on the course website
Treating the course as self-study rather than distance education
Using excessive Power Point slides
Using passive learning strategies
Waiting until the last minute to put course materials online

Students’ Perspectives of What Faculty Do to Help Them Learn

Be as clear as possible about what is expected
Discuss various topics on a discussion board so that all can see
the discussion
Encourage open communication
Encourage student responsibility for assignments
Give direction for further development
Give feedback on work that has been completed
Touch base with students frequently
Keep students involved in learning by asking poll questions
Make course announcements available to everyone

Provide timely responses to questions
Provide detailed written responses to assignments
Provide for interaction with all members of the class
Provide online opportunities for student contact outside of class
Provide students with a way to reach each other in the class
Recognize busy schedules of students
Repeat questions before giving the answer
Space out assignments over the term

Causing anxiety by not answering student questions

Not communicating with the students regularly
Not providing feedback
Not returning assignments or answering questions in a timely manner
Giving assignments that are difficult to understand
Giving reading assignments that are overwhelming
Not being available for immediate personal assistance
Providing unclear answers to questions
Putting too much responsibility on the student for learning