Developing medical educators – a mixed method evaluation of a teaching education program

Figures & data

Table 1 Content of 5-day education program

	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4	Day 5
Content	Educational principles - Professionalism as an educator? (S1.1) - Educational principles and theory of learning (S1.2) - The sandwich principle as a general architecture of learning sessions (S1.3)	Skills training - Use of simulation and skills lab (S2.1) - Doctor–patient communication training (Medi-KIT) (S2.2.) - Micro-teaching (video-supported presentations training) (S2.3)	Problem-based learning - General principles (S3.1) - Role as a tutor (S3.2) - Difficult situations in a tutorial (S3.3)	Assessment - Principles of assessment (miller pyramid) - MCQ (S4.1) - OSCE (S4.2)	Reflection on the role as a teacher (S5.2)

Peer-coaching sessions

(feedback in learning-session architecture, methodology, reflection on the role as a teacher) (S5.1)

Fig. 1.  Study design and protocol; outline of applied instrument, time points of measurement; IVS=Interactive Voting System.

Table 2 Description of study group

	N	%
Study group	56	100
Gender
Females	23	41.1
Males	33	58.9
Discipline
Basic sciences  (e.g., biochemistry, physiology, pathology)	13	23.2
Core disciplines	23	41.1
(e.g., internal/family medicine, psychology)
Surgical disciplines  (e.g., visceral surgery, heart surgery, urology)	12	21.4
Dentistry	8	14.3
Study subgroup	13	100
Gender
Females	6	46.2
Males	7	53.8
Discipline
Basic sciences	3	23.1
Core disciplines	6	46.2
Surgical disciplines	3	23.1
Dentistry	1	7.7

Table 3 Results of evaluation of the theoretical content (level of reaction)

		Education session	Mean	SD
Day 1	S1.1	Professionalism as an educator	2.74	1.04
	S1.2	Educational principles and theory of learning	2.05	0.93
	S1.3	The sandwich principle as a general architecture of teaching/learning sessions	2.37	1.08
	A1	Atmosphere	1.93	0.78
Day 2	S2.1	Use of simulation and skills lab	1.80	0.98
	S2.2	Doctor–patient communication training (Medi-KIT)	1.80	0.84
	S2.3	Micro-teaching (video-supported presentation training)	1.54	0.73
	A2	Atmosphere	1.48	0.76
Day 3	S3.1	PBL-general principles	2.04	0.86
	S3.1	PBL-role as a tutor	2.18	0.98
	S3.3	PBL-Difficult situations in a tutorial	1.94	0.99
	A3	Atmosphere	1.76	0.86
Day 4	S4.1	Assessment-MCQ	1.71	0.86
	S4.2	Assessment-OSCE	2.00	0.80
	A4	Atmosphere	1.61	0.64
Day 5	S5.1	Peer coaching sessions	2.00	0.76
	S5.2	Reflections on the role as a teacher	2.73	1.05
	A5	Atmosphere	2.36	1.02

Quantitative assessment of reaction of participants to theoretical content and environment. S1.1–S5.2: measurements of professional acceptance, relevance for daily life of different sessions. A1–A5: measurements of acceptance on an emotional level (daily atmosphere). Means with SD (1=strongly agree/very good – 5=strongly disagree/poor).

Table 4 Qualitative peer-/expert-/self-assessment

Categories referring to evaluation of performance ‘Samples’	Peer-assessment, n (%)	Expert-assessment, n (%)	Self-assessment, n (%)
Using a sandwich structure in the teaching session ‘There was a transparent didactic architecture in the lecture (sandwich structure)’ ‘The sandwich architecture was realized very well’	8 (6.6)	8 (6.6)
Transparency on learning objectives ‘Learning objectives were shown in the beginning …’ ‘All learning objectives were transparent to students’.	6 (4.9)	6 (4.9)
Using an agenda as a (pre-)structure ‘An agenda was visual all the time’. ‘Good explanation of the agenda in the beginning’	7 (5.7)	7 (5.7)
A central learning objective is recognizable ‘The central learning objective was obvious all the time’.	7 (5.7)	7 (5.7)
A summary was shown to the students ‘Just in the right moment, there was a recapitulation’ ‘The end was used for a good recapitulation’	7 (5.7)	8 (6.6)
Using/changing educational principles ‘The lecture included lots of learned educational principles’ ‘He used more educational principles’	6 (4.9)	7 (5.7)
Transfer of learning content is supported ‘In a group work students had to transfer contents to different situations’. ‘All contents were shown in clinical cases’.	7 (5.7)	7 (5.7)
Time management ‘The time management fits’.	5 (4.1)	5 (4.1)
Interaction with students ‘By asking lots of questions, students interact a lot’ ‘There were many discussions … included’	7 (5.7)	7 (5.7)
Total text units 122	60 (49.2)	62 (50.8)
Categories referring to suggestions for further learning sessions
Re-evaluation of time management	4 (7.3)	3 (5.5)	6 (10.9)
Facilitating group work	5 (9.1)	3 (5.5)	5 (9.1)
Using an agenda	2 (3.6)	3 (5.5)	5 (9.1)
Support interaction between students	3 (5.5)	0	3 (5.5)
Transparency on learning objectives	1 (1.8)	2 (3.6)	2 (3.6)
Using an ‘advance organizer’	0	2 (3.6)	2 (3.6)
Using an improved architecture (sandwich principle)	1 (1.8)	1 (1.8)	2 (3.6)
Total text units 55	16 (29.1)	14 (25.5)	25 (45.4)

Extracted categories of 122 text units in standardized evaluation forms of performance and 55 text units of suggestions for further learning are shown (gray column; no self-assessment).

Table 5 Qualitative assessment of self-reflection (semistructured written interviews)

Categories ‘Samples’	Text units, n (%)
Better knowledge on learning theory and educational principles ‘The program gave me more possibilities to the architecture of teaching sessions’. ‘Understanding that usage of educational principles can improve learning impact of students’. ‘Feedback on my performance during the program improved my (preparation of) teaching sessions’. ‘In the past teaching as much facts as possible was important, … now using methods to support individual learning is in the foreground’.	41 (27.5)
Reflection on the role as a medical educator ‘Now I have a different view of quality in medical teaching’. ‘I feel more secure in my role as a medical educator’. ‘Since the program, I feel more engaged to reflect my responsibility as a medical educator’.	45 (30.2)
Barriers in daily life to be a good medical educator ‘In the clinical routine sometimes there is a loss of time to prepare my teaching lessons’. ‘Many times I feel unversed in using the “new” methods, but I hope it will be better with more practice’. ‘I think some didactic methods are artificial and not useful in daily teaching’.	25 (16.8)
Goals of improved medical education ‘Teach students in accordance with best practice’. ‘… improvement on medical knowledge, development of social and ethics competencies’. ‘To be an enthusiastic role model for students and to motivate students to prepare for a complex profession’. ‘A good physician is not a specialized “idiot” but an interdisciplinary team worker’.	38 (25.5)
Total text units	149 (100)

Table shows categories and samples of 149 text units reported in the semistructured interview.