Pedagogical Education and Training of the Medical Teachers
The Medical Education Research and Development Centre has organised tailored basic and advanced pedagogical courses for the Medical Faculty’s teaching staff since 2003. In these courses, participants are trained to understand pedagogical theories and to use various teaching and assessment methods and techniques in medical education. The Faculty recognises that improvement in pedagogical abilities of teachers is vital for the continuing development of the teaching and learning culture in the Faculty.
Pedagogical Approaches in the Faculty:
- Pedagogical courses for the teaching staff:
- a. Basic pedagogic course (10 ECTS)
- b. Courses on PBL-learning and web-based learning
- c. Advanced tailored courses (Current Challenges in Medical Education)
- Pedagogical meetings for the teachers and students
- Pedagogical literature reviews
- Pedagogical reports
Implementation of the courses
All pedagogical courses are designed in close cooperation with the Educational Development and Technology Units at the University of Turku. The basic course (10 ECTS) contains seminars, small group working, practical training and a pedagogical development project, concerning the teacher’s own educational work. Assessment of learning during the course is based on learning diaries and portfolio. The participants get and give regular feedback during the course. So far, over 100 teachers have taken part in the course, and they may continue training in the extended (up to 60 ECTS) pedagogical programme organized by the university.
Shorter basic and advanced courses on educational technology and PBL learning concentrate on efficient use of various learning environments. A new series of pedagogical courses, named "Current Challenges in Medical Education" start this fall, and will have a changing topic each year. The first course (5 ECTS) is entitled "Teaching with Foreign Language". In addition, teachers and students are encouraged actively to participate in national and international conferences on medical education (e.g.AMEE).
Pedagogical meetings
Medical Education R&D Centre organises regular (2-3x/semester) informal "coffee" meetings for the teachers and students. The meetings include presentations and discussions of pedagogical highlights and progress in the Faculty and promotes networking amongst teaching staff.
Pedagogical literature reviews and reports
The Medical Education R&D Centre has started a novel review series of pedagogical research papers. The reviews are published on the Centre’s Internet-sites regularly, and have incorporated subjects such as assessment of learning, assessment and feedback, and ethics. The Centre has also organised and published on the open web a few educational reports from the Faculty, including a report of a survey among teachers and students on feedback, support and influence possibilities (2008) and a report on study strategies and work load of the students (2008).
Evaluations
Pedagogical courses are evaluated by electronic questionnaires. These give general feedback about relevance of course topics, success of implementation and fulfillment of students’ learning expectations. They also inqlued teachers’ estimation about practical relevance of the course to own teaching and petitionary motions to future educations.
Other main focus of the course evalution is on portfolios of the teachers (Medical Pedagogy Course and Currents Challenges in Medical Education- course). As a part of portfolio working, teachers reflect their own learning which also gives authentic information about strengts and weaknesses of the pedagogical courses.