Evidence-Based Teaching
Evidence-Based Teaching (EBT) sessions are based on topics determined by the expressed interests of its members. The EBT sessions take place on the fourth Tuesday of every month at noon in W201. Meetings are free and open to anyone. Past topics have included assessment, online learning, precepting, active learning, simulation, ADA compliance and educational scholarship, to name a few. Many of the past events can be streamed below. If you are interested in anything related to evidence-based teaching, join us!
Live, in-person Evidence-Based Teaching events are on hiatus until Fall 2020. In its place, please watch your email and For Your Health for upcoming faculty development targeted on challenges related to teaching and learning at a distance during COVID-19.
Find More Info or Suggest a Topic
If you have any questions, would like more information or would like to suggest (or lead!) a future meeting topic, please don't hesitate to contact Adrienne Salentiny for more information.
Event Archive
Looking for current streaming and past recording links?
Promoting Competencies in Health Care Education (Part 2)
Feb. 25, 2020, at noon in Room W201, SMHS Northeast Campus, streamed live and recorded for later viewing.
How do we go about teaching and promoting “essential” cognitive, emotional, and attitudinal dispositions like professionalism, professional identity, empathy, and resilience? Can we really know whether a student is “professional” based on what she says and does in class? How do new teaching and assessment strategies like gamification and badging relate to these new kinds of learning outcomes?
Join Drs. Richard Van Eck and Adrienne Salentiny of Education Resources for a second session on teaching and assessing competencies. In January, we focused on teaching and assessment as they relate to attitudes: a learning outcome that is notoriously complex to teach and assess. Competencies (which often include attitudes) will be the focus of this interactive session.
Worksheet: Build-A-Badge
Promoting Competencies in Health Care Education (Part 1)
Jan. 28, 2020, at noon in Room W201, SMHS Northeast Campus; streamed live and recorded for later viewing.
Have lunch on us and learn how to improve your curriculum!
Health care education includes a variety of learning outcomes, from science content to patient communication skills to diagnostic reasoning. Each of these is a unique skill or knowledge set, and most educators have a good understanding of the teaching and assessment strategies needed to help students achieve these goals.
However, today’s health care education landscape is full of outcomes that are less clearly understood. What does it mean to teach “competencies?” How are they different from “objectives,” and “goals”? How do we go about teaching and promoting “essential” cognitive, emotional, and attitudinal dispositions like professionalism, professional identity, empathy, and resilience? Can we really know whether a student is “professional” based on what she says and does in class? How do new teaching and assessment strategies like gamification and badging relate to these new kinds of learning outcomes?
Join Drs. Richard Van Eck and Adrienne Salentiny of Education Resources for a session on teaching and assessing for longitudinal competencies and essential skills, attitudes and dispositions.
Asynchronous Instructional Methods: When, How, and Why to Use Them!
Nov. 26, 2019, at noon in UND SMHS W203
Streamed and recorded for later viewing.
Please watch this 5-minute video before the event!
Are you drowning in content, unable to effectively deliver it AND dig deeper into applications during the available class time? Are there certain concepts students often struggle to understand, year after year? Are students skipping your live sessions or zoning out in favor of other activities they believe are “higher yield?” Asynchronous approaches to core content enable you to focus on deeper learning experiences during class. Provide students with just-in-time clarifications and reviews. Increase knowledge retention with independent preparation and learning tools. Join Dr. Adrienne Salentiny, Instructional Designer, and explore the benefits and challenges to adding asynchronous strategies to your teaching and learning toolkit. Asynchronous methods are not only for online classes: they include all directed learning activities that take place outside of class. Why, how, and when (and when not!) to teach asynchronously will be discussed. Bring a topic, activity, or challenge to discuss as a group!
Generating Measurable, Performance-Based Objectives
Part 2 of a Series on Foundational Curriculum Concepts
Oct. 22, 2019, at noon in UND SMHS W203
Streamed and recorded for later viewing.
Join Drs. Richard Van Eck, associate dean for Teaching and Learning and Adrienne Salentiny, instructional designer for Part II of this series: Generating Measurable, Performance-Based Objectives, where you’ll learn how (and why!) to generate measurable, performance-based objectives that align with your learning outcomes. You’ll learn how to avoid the most common and critical errors in curriculum, including double-barreling, hidden objectives, vague objectives that can be interpreted differently, and objectives that can’t be reliably measured. Generating good objectives makes assessment almost automatic, as you will see in Part III: Meaningful Assessment, in early 2020.
Bring your course syllabi and/or program goals and objectives; we’ll provide examples but applying what we discuss to your own curriculum is the best way to learn! If you attended Part I of this series in September, bring the outcomes you worked on then and since.
You can watch or review the recorded session of Part 1 of the series, but this workshop will be relevant regardless of if you were able to attend or watch Part 1.
Handouts from the session:
Choosing the Right Learning Outcomes
Part 1 of a Series on Foundational Curriculum Concepts
Sept. 24 at noon in UND SMHS W203
Streamed and recorded for later viewing.
The key to designing effective curriculum lies in three simple concepts: 1) outcomes, 2) objectives, and 3) assessment. Together, they have a larger impact on curriculum success than teaching quality. That’s why they should be the first step in creating or revising any curriculum, whether a single course or an entire program, yet many educators don’t know what they are or how to use them.
Join Dr. Richard Van Eck, Associate Dean for Teaching and Learning, for a series of workshops on these foundational curriculum design concepts. In this first workshop, Choosing the Right Learning Outcomes, you will learn how (and why!) to classify learning outcomes as intellectual skills, cognitive strategies, attitudes, verbal information, and motor skills and how doing so ensures effective learning for your students before you even begin thinking about textbooks or active learning! Classifying outcomes prevents critical errors that can derail your instruction before it even begins.
In the second workshop in this series, Generating Measurable, Performance-Based Objectives, (October 22), you’ll learn how to turn your learning outcomes into measurable, performance-based objectives. In the third and final workshop in this series, Designing Effective Assessment (early 2020) you’ll learn how to select appropriate assessment strategies for different objectives and learning outcomes.
Bring your course syllabi and/or program goals and objectives; we’ll provide examples but applying what we discuss to your own curriculum is the best way to learn!
From Lecture to Learning: Personal Experience in Transforming an Online Graduate-Level Pharmacology Course to Active, Case-Based Learning
May 7 at 11 a.m. in UND SMHS W201
Study after study reveals that active participation in the learning process increases learning and retention. However, in medical education today, nearly eighty percent of courses are delivered in a traditional lecture-based format. Daryl Sieg, Assistant Professor in PA Studies, will share his experience with transforming an online graduate-level basic sciences pharmacology course from a traditional format to a primarily active learning format. The process of developing, implementing, and managing small group activities and case-based learning strategies will be discussed. This session will provide an overview of the problem, solution, successes and challenges, and we’ll discuss how this approach can be extended to other programs, content, and competencies.
Session led by Daryl Sieg, assistant professor in the Physician Assistant program
Note: This is the first series of a new SMHS Faculty Affairs Professional Development Resources (PDR) collaboration of School of Medicine & Heath Sciences Library Resources, Education Resources, and Information Resources. This series is brought to you in partnership with the Evidence-Based Teaching Group (EBTG).
Building the Perfect Poster
Are you presenting a poster at a conference? Are you submitting your research for Frank Low Day, April 25, 2019?
Whether you are presenting nationally or locally, and whether you are a seasoned researcher or new to the world of poster presentations, this series is just for you!
This three-part School of Medicine & Health Sciences (SMHS) professional development series, “Building the Perfect Poster,” is designed to cover the process of effective poster development from start to finish. The three sessions are sequenced and scheduled so you can prepare a poster in time for Frank Low Day, but the sessions are open to all and are designed to be relevant so anyone can design a research poster to present information, concepts, and data effectively and attractively.
Session One: References, Graphics, and Copyright for Research Posters
Feb. 5, 2019, 11 a.m.–noon, SMHS W201 or online
This session, led by School of Medicine & Heath Sciences Library Resources, will focus on the early stages of poster design, including effective literature review strategies and fair use of images. References on a poster isn’t just an item to check off: it can make or break your poster! You want to be sure you have collected all relevant background data before presenting your findings, or the viewer will wonder whether your research was well-informed before it even began. And, no poster is complete without graphics to explain findings and break up the text, but where can you get them? Do you need permission to use them? Come to this session to learn the answers to these questions.
Materials: Image Reuse Handout
Session Two: Design Strategies for Effective Research Posters.
March 5, 2019, 11 a.m.– noon, SMHS W201 or online
In our second session, led by Education Resources, we’ll discuss strategies for condensing your research into a concise, powerful, and effective poster. Space is at a premium in a poster—the textual equivalent of a well-designed poster is 3–4 pages of text, yet most research articles are closer to 25 pages in length. How can you meet these space limitations without losing what’s most important to your research? When should you use figures, tables, or graphics? How do you integrate them with the text? This session will answer these and other questions relating to the design of your poster.
Materials: Poster Design Grading Handout
*Note: there were some technical difficulties with displaying the PowerPoint in the content window during the first few minutes of the recording. It is corrected at approximately the five-minute mark. Please follow along with the slides if needed. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Session Three: Production Strategies for Research Posters.
April 2, 2019, 11 a.m.–noon, SMHS W201 or online
The last in this three-part series will be led by Information Resources. The best designed poster can fall flat at a conference if you haven’t taken things like format and size of your images or the final display size of your poster into account. How do you set up a PowerPoint to print out as a 3- x 4-foot document or a 4- x 8-foot document? What are the implications for print and graphic quality? Where can you print a poster that size? What are the options for transporting and displaying posters like this? This session will explore how to make your poster both visually pleasing AND how to avoid technical snafus during layout and printing.
What Can Game-Based Learning Teach Us About Medical Education?
Dec. 4, 2018, at 11 a.m. in UND SMHS W201
We all know that health care is changing rapidly and that the pace of this change will only accelerate. What is less clear is how health care education must change to produce professionals who can function in the present health care system, adapt as it continues to change, and serve as the architects of the health care system of the future. We must teach our future physicians to be able to solve a wide range of problems; to see failure as an opportunity and, as a result, become resilient “gritty” practitioners; to set short- and long-term personal and professional goals; to be aware of their strengths, weaknesses, and abilities; and to be compassionate and empathetic, all while integrating technologies that have not yet been invented and working with people and cultures with whom they are unfamiliar. Outcomes like these make it clear that we require a fundamental shift in our conceptualization of what “curriculum” is. While it might seem strange to suggest that videogames, something often seen as play, can be an important guide in this process, this talk will argue that videogames and the principles they employ will help us meet these challenges. As always, we'll discuss how this approach can be extended to other programs, content, and competencies.
Session led by Dr. Richard Van Eck, Associate Dean of Teaching & Learning / Education Resources
Synthesizing Knowledge Using Concept Maps
Nov. 6, 2018, at 11 a.m. in UND SMHS W201
Concept maps are an effective, visual way of integrating knowledge. We will briefly touch on their theoretical framework and see how they are being used in undergraduate biochemistry instruction at UND. Participants will then work in groups to create their own concept maps using Cmap software and available classroom technology. As always, we’ll discuss how this approach can be extended to other programs, content, and competencies.
Session led by Dr. John Shabb, Biomedical Sciences
Competency-Based Assessment: Using Behavioral Observation Forms to Measure the Development of Student Competency Over Time
Oct. 2, 2018, at 11 a.m. in UND SMHS W201
The medical curriculum at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences (UND SMHS) recently adopted new competency-based program goals, including some focused on lifelong self-directed learning skills, professionalism, and personal and professional development. Because competencies like these are attained incrementally over time and are reflected behavior choices rather than recall of factual information, they cannot be taught or assessed using traditional teaching (e.g., lecture) or testing (e.g., multiple-choice tests). One way the UND SMHS curriculum promotes these outcomes is through our patient-centered learning (PCL): a form of problem-based learning that occurs over the course of the first two years of the curriculum. We developed and piloted an observational form to measure these competencies. This session will provide an overview of the problem, solution, and results, and we’ll discuss how this approach can be extended to other programs, content, and competencies.
Session led by: Dr. Richard Van Eck, Associate Dean for Teaching & Learning / Education Resources
Applying Type-A Tendencies to Teaching: Tips to Coordinate the Chaos and Support Student Success
Sept 4, 2018, at 11 a.m. in UND SMHS W201
The research continues to show that practices such as active learning, project-based or case-based learning, formative feedback opportunities, and personalized educational experiences are beneficial to students. Engagement, retention, transfer of knowledge, and positive outcomes are often increased in comparison with traditional course formats. Studies have shown that these benefits are further bolstered when students feel that their professor knows them, cares about their progress, and regards the class and topics as important. But where can faculty find the time to deliver rich content, interact, provide feedback, evaluate, and develop meaningful relationships with students? Day-to-day scheduling constraints and responsibilities related to and beyond teaching make it difficult to find dedicated time to engage. Plus, time zones and technology present as additional obstacles to effective and efficient online instruction.
This session will apply organizational and resource management methods to the ‘madness.’ Tips and tools designed to support intentional, meaningful, timely, and personalized interactions with students will be discussed. Strategies and tools designed to help faculty efficiently manage the evaluation of authentic learning activities, close the feedback loop, and cultivate rewarding instructor-student relationships will be explored. Participants are highly encouraged to share and explain their own methods, tips and tricks as well!
Session led by: Dr. Adrienne Salentiny, Education Resources
Recorded session: We regret to inform you that although we were set up to record, technical difficulties prevented this event's audio from being recorded.
Evidence-based Precepting: Challenges, Opportunities, and Solutions
June 5, 2018, at 11 a.m. in UND SMHS W201
Are you a healthcare professional charged with providing high-quality learning experiences for healthcare students in clinical settings while simultaneously meeting your responsibilities as a provider? You are not alone! Many preceptors have demanding healthcare practices, have rarely had formal training as educators, and find it challenging to bring evidence-based teaching practices into the clinical setting. What are the best ways to ensure high-quality precepting under these kinds of constraints?
This SMHS Evidence-Based Teaching Group session will explore evidence-based precepting. We’ll start with a panel of healthcare educators who will share some of their solutions and strategies. For example, contrary to conventional wisdom, the role of feedback, scaffolding, and guidance are just as important on the job as they are in formal learning environments. This will be followed by an interactive discussion of solutions to YOUR precepting questions and challenges.
Panel lead by Dr. Richard Van Eck, Associate Dean of Teaching & Learning, Education Resources
Recorded session: We regret to inform you that although we were set up to record, technical difficulties prevented this event's audio from being recorded.
What Does Assessment Look Like in Evidence-based Teaching?
May 1, 2018, at 11 a.m. in UND SMHS W201
Maybe you’ve heard you aren’t supposed to teach to the test, but have you ever wondered whether you are truly testing what you teach? Have you ever found that your learners do poorly on tests of things they seemed to master during class? How confident are you that your assessments prove your students’ ability to apply their new knowledge beyond your course? One of the most common causes of these concerns is that we often don’t understand how different outcomes and teaching strategies require different kinds of assessment. Join the Evidence-Based Teaching Group on May 1 to learn what the evidence says about selecting the right assessment strategies. From rubrics, to behavioral checklists, to traditional test questions, we'll help you connect your assessment approach to your course objectives and teaching strategies. Come learn how much more there is to assessment than multiple-choice exams!
Session led by: Drs. Adrienne Salentiny & Richard Van Eck, Education Resources
*Note: Technical issues were experienced during the first few minutes of this meeting. Audio should be there, but not visuals. Presentation slides are attached below to help mitigate this. The problem was corrected after a few minutes.
Educational Scholarship: Interdisciplinary Scholarly Research Options and Methods
April 3, 2018, at 11 a.m. in UND SMHS W202
Interdisciplinary research can be an incredibly fruitful process, often leading to the formation of paradigm-shifting ideas, new professional networks, and invaluable collaborative experiences. However, conducting research with other professionals from across separate disciplines can be as difficult as it is rewarding, especially if a breakdown in communication or technology occurs. This session will present solutions to some of the more frustrating aspects of interdisciplinary research, focusing on methods, tools, workflows, and conceptual frameworks.
Session led by: Devon Olson & Annie Nickum, School of Medicine & Heath Sciences Library Resources; Dr. Richard Van Eck, Education Resources
Active Learning: Evidence-based Teaching for Good Precepting
March 6, 2018, at 11 a.m. in UND SMHS W202
Formal education of health professionals includes learning in clinical settings as well as classrooms, yet these environments and the faculty who teach in them are often very different. This means that the teaching approaches will look different, even when using the same strategies. In many cases, preceptors lack the tools to teach effectively in the clinic or office and may not always recognize the opportunities to apply effective teaching methods “just-in-time.” Good precepting is a critical asset to health care education. This session will help preceptors apply evidence-based teaching strategies within the constraints of time and space in clinical settings.
Session led by: Makoto Tsuchiya, Sports Medicine; Devon Olson & Annie Nickum, School of Medicine & Heath Sciences Library Resources
Active Learning Applied: Simple Strategies for Complex Content
Feb. 6, 2018, at 11 a.m. in UND SMHS W202
Do any of these teaching problems sound familiar to you?
- Students can memorize facts but can’t see the big picture
- I don’t know how to get students to master concepts and apply them
- What I’m teaching is often too complex for my students, but they have to master it
- Students seem to “get” what I’m teaching but then fail parts of the tests
- My students always want to know the “right” answer, but sometimes its not that easy!
These and many other problems can be addressed through evidence-based teaching strategies like Active Learning, which has been shown to be effective. For many, however, AL is synonymous with flipping the classroom. While a flipped classroom can be effective, there are dozens of much simpler AL strategies for solving individual teaching problems.
In this interactive session, hosted by the Evidence-Based Teaching group, we’ll show you techniques that anyone can use without overhauling the entire course!
Whether you’ve experienced the problems above or have your own to share with us during the session, join us and your colleagues and you’ll leave with at least one potential solution!
Session led by: Drs. Richard Van Eck & Adrienne Salentiny, Education Resources; Devon Olson, School of Medicine & Heath Sciences Library Resources
Recording and Materials:
Panel Discussion of the ADA and Accommodation in Healthcare Education
Oct. 9, 2017, at 2 p.m. in UND SMHS W201
A panel of faculty and student affairs and disability services experts will lead a discussion about the Americans with Disability Act and implications, problems, and solutions to issues that arise in healthcare education, including:
- What are accommodations?
- What is reasonable?
- Who pays?
- What is possible and necessary in traditional classrooms, online settings, and clinical rotations?
- How are teaching and learning accommodations the same or different from testing accommodations?
Janet Jedlicka, LaVonne Fox, Cherie Graves, and Deb Glennen will each give a 3-5 minute overview of their role and the top things they feel it is important for faculty to know and be working toward to enhance learning for all. The rest of the session will be reserved for your questions and concerns: Please bring issues you have had and/or potential questions/scenarios you want to discuss and the panel and other attendees will help to explore solutions.
The Evidence-Based Teaching group meets every 3 weeks at the same time. This group will host topics as determined by expressed interest of its members. It is free and open to anyone—no RSVP needed! If you are interested in anything related to Evidence-Based Teaching (assessment, online learning, precepting, active learning, simulation, ADA compliance, or any topic you see fit) join us and let us know what you’d like to see at future meetings. If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Shae Samuelson at shae.samuelson@UND.edu
Helpful Information:
- ADA and Reasonable Accommodations Handout
- Worksheet for Reasonable Accommodation interactive process
- ADA and Universal Design in Medical Field Teaching and Clinicals
Watch the recording
*Note: Sign in with your same credentials as Blackboard. Also note if you can't hear the recording, please adjust the volume on the recording versus your computer.
A Threaded Discussion Strategy to Build Student Expertise
August 28, 2017, at 2 p.m. in UND SMHS, W202
Online or distance learning is often asynchronous in nature (i.e., students and instructors do not interact with each other at the same time and/or place), making it difficult to promote the same level of engagement and processing of content as happen with synchronous learning. Threaded discussion boards theoretically allow for meaningful asynchronous discussion but without careful planning result in shallow discussion of ideas and a lack of social interaction and community that the best synchronous discussions often generate.
This session will provide attendees with an effective threaded discussion strategy appropriate for online or face-to-face courses. This strategy was validated through a discourse analysis of student contributions over a 5-week graduate course. It was found to lead to content and group leadership expertise for all students and illustrates how community is actually a necessary prerequisite for expertise. We will discuss the strategy, research, and applications to different courses.
The EBT Group meets to discuss teaching strategies as determined by expressed interest of its members, and sessions are free and open to anyone!
Session led by: Dr. Richard Van Eck, Education Resources
Watch the recording
*Note: Sign in with your same credentials as Blackboard. Also note if you can't hear the recording, please adjust the volume on the recording versus your computer.
Bring Your School of Medicine & Heath Sciences Library Resources into Your Course and Integrate with Class Activities
July 17, 2017, at 2 p.m. in UND SMHS E221
Health Sciences Library provides excellent resources available to students, but they are vastly underutilized. Accreditation standards often call for orienting students to “informatics” such as what the library offers, and the instructors often rely on the librarian’s orientation to satisfy the accreditation requirement. However, students should make a habit of using the highly useful School of Medicine & Heath Sciences Library Resources to solve patient problems. What if the School of Medicine & Heath Sciences Library Resources are integrated into your classroom activities or clinical experiences for better real-life applications to make the habit stick? We will present a session with some tips and examples in active learning format. Please bring your laptop as you’ll be accessing the School of Medicine & Heath Sciences Library Resources during the session.
Session led by: Makoto Tsuchiya, Department of Sports Medicine
Lightning Rounds: Issues Faced in Teaching Practice
June 26, 2017, at noon in UND SMHS, W201
This meeting has two goals. To 1) share issues and get immediate feedback for solutions/resources from other instructors and 2) generate common ground for future meetings of the group.
Upon arrival, all those who desire to participate will put their name in for "lightning rounds". Names will be called and that individual will share an issue they struggle with in their teaching practice (no preparation is required to present these issues- simply oral discussion). Others are invited to respond if they also face this issue or share a potential solution or resources for resolution. We will progress through names as time allows. Issues common to many individuals will be noted for more attention at future meetings.
*Note: Sign in with your same credentials as Blackboard. Also note if you can't hear the recording, please adjust the volume on the recording versus your computer.
Session notes:
Here is a summary of the main discussion points for those who do not have time to watch it all back now, and for those who attended to consider:
Discussion Posed: Classes not in the same building as the instructor. Need for Active Learning Classroom Access.
Notes on Comments: Misalignment or unclear of what are "service courses", space analysis of new medical school needed, confounding factor students getting across campus in a timely manner.
Discussion Posed: School of Medicine & Heath Sciences Library Resources/Librarians are underutilized and do not have an integrated set of online resources/programs.
Notes on Comments: Integration into the curriculum of programs (not just a crash course during orientation) but actually bring it into the classroom when they are doing projects that require information literacy. Proposed: the creation of an integration model that can be adapted to different programs. This model should include connections to major objectives that are tied to accreditation.
Discussion Posed: Trying new things - how do I know if the new method was more effective?
Notes on Comments: Transparency with students and asking them for feedback (immediate indirect assessment), being intentional with alignment and direct/indirect assessments to track if changes make a difference.
Discussion Posed: Many new hires (clinical and research) do not have training as educators. How do we help them be successful?
Notes on Comments: Major issue across many departments. Partnering across departments, bring in CILT, Office Instructional Development, Education Resources/Rick can be helpful with these and maybe considering offering some uniform orientations for new faculty. Mentoring or coaching programs or Co-teaching options may be useful for development throughout the first year. Having resources not just at the beginning (orientation) but throughout the year.
Instructor and Learner Behaviors in a SMHS Classroom Designed for Active Learning.
May 15, 2 p.m., UND SMHS W201
Summary: During the first two years of the medical school curriculum, students spend approximately 17 hours a week in a typical classroom setting. However the type of instruction occurring during the typical classroom component of the medical curriculum is unknown. We therefore explored both student and instructor behaviors during the first year of the medical curriculum.
Evidence-Based Teaching (EBT) sessions are based on topics determined by the expressed interests of its members. The EBT sessions take place on the fourth Tuesday of every month at noon in W201. Meetings are free and open to anyone. Past topics have included assessment, online learning, precepting, active learning, simulation, ADA compliance and educational scholarship, to name a few. Many of the past events can be streamed below. If you are interested in anything related to evidence-based teaching, join us!
Live, in-person Evidence-Based Teaching events are on hiatus until Fall 2020. In its place, please watch your email and For Your Health for upcoming faculty development targeted on challenges related to teaching and learning at a distance during COVID-19.
Find More Info or Suggest a Topic
If you have any questions, would like more information or would like to suggest (or lead!) a future meeting topic, please don't hesitate to contact Adrienne Salentiny for more information.