Learn 3 times of the day when you can use active learning techniques for short-burst teaching encounters with small groups of residents. For longer teaching sessions (e.g. 1 hr talk), please see other presentations on the multiple types of active learning for longer teaching sessions.

1. 
Active Learning
3 optimal times to actively engage residents to foster learning, memory retention

2. This presentation covers:
 Definition
 3 specific easy strategies for short-burst
residency teaching:
1. Starting the day
2. Short-burst teaching (15 mins or less)
3. Closing the day
 Tips on what to do, what to avoid
 Being successful in your teaching

3. Definition
‘anything that involves students in doing things
and
thinking about the things they are doing’
(Bonwell & Eison, 1991, p. 2)

4. 
Active learning: Residency Options

5. Active learning: Starting a Day
A few ways to engage a resident at the start of the day:
 Who are the patients we are seeing today?
 Given the patients we’re seeing, what are your learning goals?
 Given the patients we’re seeing, where do you want my
assistance or feedback today?
 Ask an overarching reflective question
 This question should reflect a key ‘message’ or element of being
a practitioner or concept, not specific factual knowledge

6. Active learning: 15 min teaching
Some suggestions for the short (< 15 mins) we sometimes have to teach
residents in:
 Flip cards, flash cards
 Pattern recognition (e.g. Derm, Radiology, Pathology)
 Matching (e.g. dose to pt condition; in peds, pt weight/age)
 Case
 Typical presentation of issue/diagnosis
 Atypical presentation & contrast with typical
 Rare presentation contrasted with typical, atypical presentations
 Recap learning goals vs patients seen. How are you/we doing so far
today? What should we adjust?

7. Active learning: Closing the Day
Make use of the opportunity to consolidate the resident’s memory in
the final minutes of the day:
 Ask “What are 3 things you learned today?”
 Ask-Tell-Ask
 Ask: How do you think you did today?
 Tell: Attending gives feedback related to what resident said in first ‘ask’
 Ask: Attending asks “What did you hear from my feedback? What do
you want to work on tomorrow (next time)?”
 Recap patients seen and compare to today’s learning goals. How did
we do at meeting each others’ learning and feedback needs?

8. Why does it work?
 Human attention span
 Primacy effect
 Recency effect
 Rule of 7
 Repetition  consolidate memory

9. How to be successful
 Pick a topic you have taught many times before
 Anticipate resident questions, areas of difficulty
 Prepare learners for the ‘new’ format
 Safety net: answer keys or ‘lists’; timers
 Add feedback questions on evaluation so you
know where to improve
 Ensure support from administration1
1Bonwell & Eison, 1991

10. Take-home messages
 3 times in the day to engage the resident:
1. Start of the day
2. Short-burst teaching sessions (< 15 mins)
3. Closing the day
 Prepare, anticipate, practice!
 Start small & get feedback

11. Thank you!
Janet Corral
Janet.corral@ucdenver.edu
For just-in-time faculty development on Active Learning:
Academy of Medical Educators
Som.academy@ucdenver.edu