Undergraduates' lived experience of project-/problem-based learning in introductory biology.

Recommendations for enhancing scientific literacy, inclusivity, and the ecosystem for innovation call for transitioning from teacher-centered to learner-centered science classrooms, particularly at the introductory undergraduate level. Yet little is documented about the challenges that undergraduates perceive in such classrooms and the students' ways of navigating them. Via mixed methods, we studied undergraduates' lived experience in one form of learner-centered teaching, hybrid project-/problem-based learning (PBL), in introductory organismal biology at a baccalaureate institution. Prominent in qualitative analyses of student interviews and written reflections were undergraduates' initial expectation of and longing for an emphasis on facts and transmission of them. The prominence diminished from semester's middle to end, as students came to value developing ideas, solving problems collaboratively, and engaging in deep ways of learning. Collaboration and personal resources such as belief in self emerged as supports for these shifts. Quantitative analyses corroborated that PBL students transformed as learners, moving toward informed views on the nature of science, advancing in multivariable causal reasoning, and more frequently adopting deep approaches for learning than students in lecture-based sections. The qualitative and quantitative findings portray the PBL classroom as an intercultural experience in which culture shock yields over time to acceptance in a way supported by students' internal resources and peer collaboration. The findings have value to those seeking to implement PBL and other complex-learning approaches in a manner responsive to the lived experience of the learner.

Team management training using crisis resource management results in perceived benefits by healthcare workers.

BACKGROUND: Systems failures and ineffective teamwork can lead to serious errors in practice. Crisis Resource Management (CRM) teaches leadership, effective communication skills, and improved team performance. The impact of CRM taught in a simulation laboratory was evaluated. METHODS: A mail survey was used to examine perceived benefits and application of CRM principles when encountering practice and everyday life crisis situations. All participants completing the course since its inception who could be located received the survey. RESULTS: Fifty-three of 149 participants (35%) responded to the survey. Eighty-three percent had managed a crisis since the course and 68% indicated better practice performance during emergencies. Thirty-eight percent applied CRM to personal crisis experiences. CONCLUSIONS: Findings support that CRM training leads to perceived improvements in performance during critical events.

Implementation of a Web- and simulation-based curriculum to ease the transition from medical school to surgical internship.

BACKGROUND: Starting a surgical internship is a stressful experience. We developed a web and simulation-based curriculum to ease this transition. METHODS: We created an educational website containing a curriculum of commonly encountered on call situations. After match day in 2003, we contacted all of our new surgical interns. We performed a confidence assessment using a Likert-scale questionnaire, and the trainees were given access to the curriculum. In June 2003, we performed human patient simulator sessions. The participants were asked to provide feedback regarding the simulator experience. During the first week of residency, they were again asked to answer the confidence questionnaire. RESULTS: Sixteen residents (94%) used the web curriculum, and 17 (100%) participated in the simulations. Eleven (65%) filled out both questionnaires. The confidence score improved from 5.4 to 6.7 (P < .0001). CONCLUSIONS: A web and simulation-based curriculum for incoming house staff is feasible. Studies are underway to validate this novel method and to expand its use for surgical education.

A Model for Developing ACGME Competencies in an Academic Anesthesiology Department.

In response to the American College of Graduate Medical Education's Outcomes Project and its mandate for a transition to a competency based curriculum, the Department of Anesthesiology at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center executed a focused 18 month program which engaged the entire faculty and effected not only curricular, but cultural change in how anesthesiology residents are taught and evaluated. This article describes the process through which the department leadership educated, engaged, and focused the department's efforts and created an environment that sustained progress and provided incentives for performance. This process also resulted in the development of a novel web based evaluation tool tailored to meet the challenge of evaluating performance in the context of a competency based curriculum. This model, which proved effective for transition to a competency based curriculum, is one which can be applied to any large scale departmental education initiative.