Preparing educators for adaptive education (AE) programs

Abstract

Context: There has long been awareness that educational experiences should be individualized. In the health professions, this tenet remains inconsistently implemented. Adapting to the widely diverse characteristics of different learners requires educators who are prepared for planning and implementing adaptive education (AE).

Rationale: Learning experiences, for both educators and health professions students, can be substantially enhanced by mirroring clinical care, where we respect the uniqueness of each person and increasingly approach care as a collaboration. We are continuously “diagnostic,” striving to understand our patients’ clinical and life circumstances, adjusting to new findings. Learners are also unique in multiple, relevant ways. They deserve educators who work with them collaboratively and “diagnostically,” adapting to changing information.

Implementation: Until recently, having educational programs that adapt to learner uniqueness was logistically and economically unrealistic. Now, thanks to deeper understandings of the learning process and new technologies, individualization is feasible. Here, we focus on the foundation step of preparing educators.

Educator development: Suitably prepared educators are indispensable to success in becoming appropriately adaptive to learners’ needs. For some educators, becoming more adaptive can be contrary to long-held assumptions and habits. We offer recommendations for effective educator development, without which authentic AE is unlikely.

Notes

Acknowledgments

The authors thank David Irby, Jacob Jacobson, Mark Quirk, Thomas Reeves, Trudie Roberts, Davinder Sandhu, and Cees van der Vleuten for advice that improved earlier versions of this work.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Glossary

Adaptive education: A set of perspectives and practices that optimize the individualization of learning experiences so that the uniqueness of each learner, and of the settings in which they will work, are maximally accommodated, within the limits of available time and resources.

Notes

1 http://imedtrust.org/adaptive-medical-education/

2 Gates Foundation, CZI invest $12M in personalized learning.

3 https://www.aleks.com/highered

4 https://evolve.elsevier.com/education/adaptive-learning/?pageid=12132

5 http://imedtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/iMEdTrustCurriculumandDictionaryMASTER2.pdf

6 Anyone who doesn’t recognize the large differences among learners isn’t paying sufficient attention.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hilliard Jason

Hilliard Jason, MD, EdD, is Cofounder and Director, Academic Affairs, iMedtrust.org.

Jane Westberg

Jane Westberg, PhD, is a Board of Advisors member, iMedtrust. Both are Clinical Professor of Family Medicine, University of Colorado Denver. Together, they have coauthored six academic books plus many instructional videos and articles on education in the health professions. They have conducted hundreds of educator development workshops in more than 40 countries.