How community and organizational culture interact and affect senior clinical educator identity.

PURPOSE: The development of Educator Identity has a significant impact on well-being, motivation, productivity, and the quality of teaching. Previous research has shown that conflicting responsibilities and a challenging work environment could negatively affect the development of Clinical Educator Identity within an organization. However, there is a lack of research that identifies the factors affecting Clinical Educator Identity Formation and provides guidance on how organizations can support its development, maintenance, and advancement. METHODS: To examine the phenomenology of Professional Identity Development in experienced Senior Clinical Educators in Singaporean hospitals, the study utilized an exploratory qualitative approach. The data was collected from September 2021 to May 2022 through one-to-one interviews. Four investigators analyzed the data using constant comparative analysis to identify relevant themes. RESULTS: Eleven senior educators revealed that personal, relational, and organizational factors influenced the development of Clinical Educator Identity. The relational aspect was a vital enabler, while organizational culture was a strong barrier. The study also identified several ways in which organizations can support Educator Identity development. CONCLUSION: The study findings provide insight into how organizations can support the development of Clinical Educator Identity. The results could aid organizations in understanding the areas where they can channel resources to support Clinical Educator Identity development.

Students' perceptions towards self-directed learning in Ethiopian medical schools with new innovative curriculum: a mixed-method study.

BACKGROUND: Self-directed learning (SDL) is an appropriate and preferred learning process to prepare students for lifelong learning in their professions and make them stay up-to-date. The purpose of this study was to explore preclinical students following a hybrid curriculum in Ethiopia experiences to SDL and the support of several learning activities from the curriculum on their SDL. A mixed-method research design was employed. METHODS: Quantitative data were collected by using a self-administered questionnaire of 80 items measuring students' perceptions on their SDL capability as well as to explore students' views about the influence of components of the curriculum on their SDL. Additional two focus group discussions, each containing eight participants from year-1 and year- 2 students, were conducted. The quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS. The focus group discussions were reviewed, coded, and then thematically analyzed. RESULTS: Our study showed a significant increase in SDL score on comparing students at year-1 with students at year-2 (p = 0.002). Both year-1 and 2 students rated PBL tutorial discussion and tutors had high influence on their individual learning; whereas, other curricular components such as lectures and testes had low influence on their SDL ability. PBL tutorial discussion and module objectives showed strong correlation with students' SDL scores, r = 0.718 & r = 0.648 (p < 0.01), respectively. Besides, PBL tutorial discussion was found strongly correlated with tutors (r = 0.599 (p < 0.01)) and module objectives (r = 0.574 (p < 0.01)). Assessment was highly correlated with lectures (r = 0.595 (p < 0.01)). Findings from qualitative data showed that certain curricular components played role in promoting students' SDL. Tutorials analyzing problems played a major role on students' self-directed learning abilities. CONCLUSIONS: Although the study implied that components of the hybrid curriculum, mainly PBL, could encourage preclinical students' self-directed learning, the curriculum is still not free from teacher-centred culture as the majority of teachers still have high power in deciding the learning process. A further longitudinal study is needed to verify the actual level and ability of medical students' SDL.

Revitalising PBL groups: evaluating PBL with study teams.

CONTEXT: In problem-based learning (PBL), students are actively engaged with psychological learning principles as activation of prior knowledge, elaboration and organization of knowledge. In their tutorial groups, however, students do not always apply these principles when working with a procedure like the "Seven-Jump" method. To stimulate students to use these principles more often, they were offered another format within a PBL context: PBL with study teams. During the period of self-study, students work on a regular basis in so-called study teams, small groups of 3-4 persons. In these groups they explain to each other their learning outcomes, clarify for each other their problems while studying texts and organize their knowledge to present this to the members of other study teams in their tutorial group. Previous research showed that students spent more time on self-study in a PBL with study team condition than in a traditional PBL context. In this study the achievement as well as appreciation of students participating in a PBL with study teams' environment, is compared with students working in a traditional PBL environment. OBJECTIVES: To determine whether PBL with study teams differs from the traditional PBL environment in students' appreciation and study time. METHODS: We conducted an experiment in two blocks over two years. Questionnaires were administered to collect data on appreciation and time for self-study. RESULTS: Students' appreciation of the two formats did not differ much. The large standard deviations indicate considerable differences in appreciation between individual students. Appreciation was slightly higher in the second experiment when instructions about how to collaborate were less strict. Students devoted twice as many hours studying in the study group format compared with the traditional PBL format. CONCLUSIONS: The students indicated that they enjoyed the format but that the increased workload disturbed their customary study rhythm. Assessment scores and tutors'impressions suggest that study teams foster deeper learning for understanding. Whether this can be attributed to more intensive individual and collaborative elaboration activities should be the subject of further studies.