The College of Medicine has long been in the forefront of medical education. With the Vermont Integrated Curriculum, COMET, the Simulation Laboratory and our unique clinical education program, the College has been recognized as an innovator among medical schools worldwide. We have been also been recognized for our course and curriculum evaluation program, which involves vigorous participation of students and faculty and has provided countless improvements. Thus, we have a history of providing the best possible education to our students and always looking to the future for better ways to do things. Enter active learning.

What is “active learning?” The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) describes it this way:

“Active learning is the process by which a medical student 1) independently, or collaboratively with his or her peers, identifies his or her learning objectives and seeks the information necessary to meet the objectives and/or 2) contributes to the learning of a group with information that he or she prepares and discusses. In active learning, the learner has a role defining his or her own learning outcomes or those of his or her peers.”

As we scrutinize our own program, we find many instances of active learning, especially in small group settings in Foundations such as Professionalism, Communications and Reflection, Anatomy labs, Public Health Projects, and Convergence. Similarly, our clinical education program is rife with active learning opportunities in ward teams, presentations, etc. However, one of the persistent findings from course evaluations has been the presence of “too many lectures.” Indeed, our recent self-study in preparation for accreditation revealed a similar observation that we engaged in too much passive learning (e.g., learning time in most Foundations courses approaches 50% lectures).

Recognizing that we needed to increase active learning in the VIC, a strategic plan was developed by faculty leaders. In early 2012, we submitted a proposal to the University to “develop new teamwork training programs using team-based learning (TBL), simulation principles and technology.” This call was very quickly answered by one of our most beloved and engaged alumni, Dr. Robert Larner, who provided funds for the purchase of 5 Harvey® cardiovascular simulators and the creation of the Larner Active Learning Classroom. The Harvey units have already been put to good use in our curriculum, and we have tangible increases in student skills and understanding as a result. The Larner Classroom will enable us to facilitate TBL and other collaborative forms of large group learning. This will come in handy, since the LCME site visit team also noticed our high percentage of passive learning in the spring of 2013.

What’s our plan? We recognize that increasing active learning (and therefore decreasing passive methods) involves a culture change for both students and instructors. So our plan is this:

• Begin a faculty development plan for TBL instruction: engage a full time TBL expert, provide seminars and workshops from nationally recognized leaders, conduct a faculty retreat on TBL and join the TBL Collaborative, a network of medical schools engaged in supporting TBL (Underway).
• Begin to implement TBL for each course (where applicable) in academic year 2013-14. Try to include at least 1 exercise per week, and have it count for about 5% of the final course grade. Evaluate these sessions, get robust student and faculty feedback and iteratively improve the process (Underway).
• Design and construct the Larner Active Learning Classroom to be opened in May of 2014. Solicit faculty and student feedback in the design and execution of the classroom.
• Develop the UVM College of Medicine Teaching Academy. This organization will gather our best teachers to share best practices with the entire faculty, to help mentor and coach great teaching, including in TBL, and to foster innovation and improvement in our curriculum. This effort is already underway and I will have more to say about it in a future note.

As always, we are interested in your input about this process. Please give me feedback any way you are comfortable: provide a detailed course evaluation, contact your SEG representatives, course director or Dr. Tracy, send me an email or stop by the office. I think you will see some exciting changes over the next few months, so stay tuned!