The goal of the 15-month Teaching Scholars Program (TSP) is to develop a cadre of highly skilled educational scholars and leaders for the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry and its departments. Faculty members selected for this 15-month, part-time, certificate program will work on enhancing their curriculum development, educational scholarship, and academic leadership skills. The Program is not designed as a method to improve a faculty member’s teaching skills. This Program is, however, designed for faculty members who wish to make teaching their primary area of responsibility.
This year, with the support of their department chairs, a maximum of 10 TSP Scholars will be chosen to participate in TSP. The Program consists of an integrative seminar series (January through mid June 2012) and a scholarly project that will be completed under the direction of a faculty mentor. Scholars will be expected to do the following: (1) participate in the didactic portion of the course and attend 80% of all sessions; (2) participate as an active member of a medical education research team; (3) complete an educational research project under supervision of a faculty mentor; and (4) present their work at an Education Day during the spring of 2013.
1. Medical Education Seminars
Three-hour seminars on medical education are held weekly from January through June for the purpose of exploring special topics relevant to the core objectives of TSP (see attached sample/tentative schedule). The first half, Teaching and Learning in Medicine, focuses educational theory, for example on curriculum development and theories of learning. Generally, during this section each Scholar reads one required article and one article from a list of related articles. The second half focuses on Evaluating Quality and Outcomes in Medical Education and guides participants through the design of the educational evaluation/research project that they will pursue in the second half of the Program. Seminar topics may include: Learning Theories; Curriculum Models; Evaluating Competency; Using Computers in Support of Education; Moving from Novice to Expert; Simulation; Improving Clinical teaching; Designing an Educational Research Study; Survey Design; Quantitative & Qualitative Research Methods; Evaluation; and Career Development.
2. Scholarly Project in Education
During the last 12 months of TSP, each Scholar will actively participate in an educational study under the direction of a faculty mentor. Each Scholar will become part of a virtual educational research laboratory (i.e., no physical space will be provided) with a project Principal Investigator (PI), a statistician/research methodologist, a student research assistant, and other faculty Co-investigators (CO-Is) as needed. The research team will collaboratively work on the research study under the direction of the project PI(s). This will give the Teaching Scholar and the student assistant the opportunity to both learn about how to conduct a research study and to actively participate in the study. The research team will need to negotiate each member’s role in the study, authorship order, etc. Projects might include evaluation of educational interventions, descriptive studies of learning or problem-solving events, survey research, or a systematic review of the literature. It is expected that these studies will be submitted for presentation or publication after being peer-reviewed by the Scholars and the Faculty in the Program. To receive the TSP certificate of completion each Scholar must present their preliminary results at a special session in the spring of 2013.
3. Educational Leadership
The Scholars are selected for their role or potential in providing leadership to the educational programs of their departments, schools, and/or within the FoMD. During the Program, Scholars will have the opportunity to discuss current and potential educational programs for which they are responsible and to acquire feedback on curriculum development and educational scholarship from the Program faculty.
4. Textbooks (Please do not purchase books until notification of acceptance into TSP.)
Required
Kern, DE, Thomas, PA, Howard, DM, & Bass, EB. (2009). Curriculum Development for Medical Education: A Six-step Approach. John Hopkins University Press. (approximate cost $33)
Suggested
Tuckman, BW (1999). Conducting Educational Research. Harcourt Brace. (approximate cost $11)
National Research Council. (2000). How People Learn. (approximate cost $16)
Contacts
Director: Carol Hodgson, MS, PhD
Co-Director: Louanne Keenan, MEd, PhD
Staff Support: Coleen Kato