On the Origins of Perceptions: Student Perceptions of Active Learning and Their Implications for Educational Reform

ABSTRACT

This Conversation Starters article presents a selected research abstract from the 2016 Association of American Medical Colleges Central Region Group on Educational Affairs annual spring meeting. The abstract is paired with the integrative commentary of three experts who shared their thoughts stimulated by the study. These thoughts highlight the value of exploring what drives student perceptions of active learning in order to reform medical education.

 :

•  

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Anna T. Cianciolo

Expert commentator biographies

Anna T. Cianciolo, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor, Department of Medical Education, at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and Editor of Teaching and Learning in Medicine. Her interest is focused on exploring the influence of context (interpersonal and environmental) on the nature of learning and instruction. Areas of emphasis include small-group collaborative instruction, diagnostic strategy, and professional self-development.

Robert Englander

Robert Englander, M.D., M.P.H., is Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education at the University of Minnesota Medical School. He received his M.D. degree from Yale in 1987 and an M.P.H. from Johns Hopkins in 1999. He completed a Pediatrics residency at the Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. (1987–1990) and a fellowship in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston (1990–1993). Dr. Englander has served in numerous academic leadership positions, including Professor of Pediatrics, Associate Residency Program Director for Pediatrics, and Senior Director of Competency-Based Learning and Assessment for the AAMC. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Association of Pediatric Program Directors and as a consultant to the American Board of Pediatrics. His accomplishments include codrafting the AAMC's Core Entrustable Professional Activities for Entering Residency and development of Entrustable Professional Activities for the specialty of Pediatrics.

Jeanne L. Koehler

Jeanne Koehler, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in Medical Education and the Director of the Academy for Scholarship in Education at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. She is a Deputy Editor of Teaching and Learning in Medicine. As a qualitative methodologist, her research interests include experiential learning that fosters individual, organizational, and societal growth, as well as the role of narratives in navigating educational systems.

Kimberly D. Lomis

Kimberly D. Lomis, M.D., is the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and Associate Professor of Surgery. She is a principal investigator in the AMA Accelerating Change in Medical Education Consortium, is the Associate Project Director for the AAMC Core Entrustable Professional Activities for Entering Residency National Pilot, and currently serves as the national chair for the UME Section of the AAMC Group on Educational Affairs. Her academic interests focus on competency-based approaches to assessment. Dr. Lomis receives financial support from the American Medical Association (AMA) as part of the Accelerating Change in Medical Education Initiative and from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) as part of the Core EPAs for Entering Residency Pilot. The content reflects the views of Dr. Lomis and does not necessarily represent the views of either the AMA or the AAMC.