Personal Experience of Facilitating Enquiry-Based

Learning in a New Programme

21 October 2009 CEEBL Postgraduate Symposium 2

(what I am going to talk about)

• What is the new Manchester Dental Programme

• Structure of the EBL sessions

• My role

• Problems

21 October 2009 CEEBL Postgraduate Symposium 3

TMDP

• The Manchester Dental Programme

• Bachelor of Dental Surgery

• Enquiry based learning approach spans its 5 year duration

• Basic scientific and clinical knowledge and skills taught in parallel– EBL sessions

21 October 2009 CEEBL Postgraduate Symposium 4

Structure of 1st year EBL

• 4 sessions (no longer than 55 minutes)• Session 1-3

– Discussion of the problem (case)– Formative assessment– 15 minutes feedback in session 3

• Session 4– Task oriented– Tests analytical skills & application of knowledge– Summative assessment

21 October 2009 CEEBL Postgraduate Symposium 5

1st Session

• Define roles– Chair person– Scribe

• Read problem

• Identify unfamiliar terms and cues

• Thought showers

• Learning objectives (LOs)

21 October 2009 CEEBL Postgraduate Symposium 6

Example

James wanted to go to a shop to buy a quick meal. Nearby was a Tesco shop and a local shop selling fresh homemade food. James was a diabetic and only had three pounds to spend, but he wanted to buy a healthy meal.

21 October 2009 CEEBL Postgraduate Symposium 7

Learning objectives

• Constituents of a healthy diet

• Dietary requirements for a diabetic

• Barriers to consumption of a healthy diet

21 October 2009 CEEBL Postgraduate Symposium 8

2nd and 3rd session

• Discuss agreed learning objectives– No notes allowed– Diagrams encouraged– ‘revision’ of learning objectives

• Dynamics:– Usually more lively– More confidence

• Knowledge:– Starts superficial– Deeper understanding

21 October 2009 CEEBL Postgraduate Symposium 9

3rd Session/ feedback

• 15 minutes feedback– Group dynamics– knowledge

21 October 2009 CEEBL Postgraduate Symposium 10

4th session

• Assessed task to test analytical skills and application of knowledge– Drip feed– Finding and explaining mistakes– Quizzes– Journal clubs

21 October 2009 CEEBL Postgraduate Symposium 11

My role

• Facilitate discussions– Make sure students reach LOs– Assist chairperson with group dynamics– Sit quietly, observe and listen– Nod, smile, frown– Eye contact – Occasional prompting

• Moderate feedback

21 October 2009 CEEBL Postgraduate Symposium 12

Problems: the ‘quiet’ person

• Why quiet?– Not prepared– Quiet personality– Needs time to think critically

• Why is it a problem?– Difficult to assess– Other members don’t benefit from experience– Doesn’t benefit from discussion– Dentist needs to communicate with dental team

21 October 2009 CEEBL Postgraduate Symposium 13

Problems: the ‘quiet’ person

• How to overcome:– Make eye contact– Ask them to chair– Don’t allow them to scribe– Give them an important part of the task– Change seating arrangements– Mention in formative assessment– Talk to after class

21 October 2009 CEEBL Postgraduate Symposium 14

Problems:disruptive person

• Why is it a problem:– Other members aren’t allowed to contribute– Doesn’t benefit from discussion– Prevent discussion from progressing

• How to overcome:– Don’t make eye contact– Ask to scribe– Change seating arrangement– Let group take care of it

21 October 2009 CEEBL Postgraduate Symposium 15

Problems:Silence

• Let it happen

21 October 2009 CEEBL Postgraduate Symposium 16

Problems:Asking direct questions

• What do people think?

• Reply with open-ended question

21 October 2009 CEEBL Postgraduate Symposium 17

21 October 2009 CEEBL Postgraduate Symposium 18

21 October 2009 CEEBL Postgraduate Symposium 19

21 October 2009 CEEBL Postgraduate Symposium 20

Thank you

21 October 2009 CEEBL Postgraduate Symposium 21

Personal experience with EBL

• Masters Degree – taught by EBL• Reading books/papers• Trained in facilitating EBL sessions• Facilitate EBL sessions for 1st year

undergraduates• Facilitate EBL sessions for 4th year

undergraduates• 3rd year Orthodontic module• Trained in moderating focus groups (NatCen)

21 October 2009 CEEBL Postgraduate Symposium 22

1st session

• Dynamics– Chair responsible for managing session– Scribe_ writing– Silence– Confusion– Previous experience– Short cuts

• Knowledge– Low levels of knowledge– Previous experience– (Prepared)