Beyond Post-Tests: The Impact of Small Group Learning on Closing Healthcare Gaps

Session Description: Clinical decision making may be influenced by a number of factors. Beyond knowledge transfer, a complex cognitive matrix is activated when learners contemplate application of knowledge to practice. Support for this process may be found in more intimate settings which actively and repeatedly engage learners in problems of application. This session will focus on effective instructional design strategies to address behavior-based curriculum objectives. A deep approach to learning allows clinicians to collaborate in meaningful ways leading to increased motivation, confidence, and participation.

Successful small group learning should be learner-centered with clinicians participating actively in their own learning. There should be a connectedness between the learning and the clinicians’ interests, making learning more meaningful and enjoyable. Importantly, maintaining flexibility allows small group programs to meet the individual needs of learners, while focusing on the development of specific skill sets, knowledge, and behaviors.

Assessment plays a key role in educational accountability. Designing assessments that align with the small group learning model, where responsibility for learning is shared among group members and where faculty act as facilitators of learning rather than instructors of knowledge, is critical. Specifically, small group learning greatly expands assessment opportunities to include a variety of formative and summative assessments and reduces the focus on the Pre- vs Post-test to fully demonstrate the impact of a curriculum. Furthermore, small group learning opens the possibility for authentic assessments designed to measure clinician impact in a real-life context against specific performance criteria.

In this session, examples of small group learning will be shared along with optimal assessments beyond the traditional pre/post-test. The following areas will be explored:
-How to design a successful small group learning initiative?
-What small group activities can be effectively employed with adult learners?
-How can small group learning be enjoyable to the learners, help deepen the understanding of the content, and result in meaningful change?
-What is the difference between formative and summative assessments?
-How to identify opportunities for learner and instructor feedback?
-What types of real-world data can be collected in collaboration with learners and faculty?
-What type of insights can this real-world data offer in terms of the impact on the patient journey?