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The Anatomy of a Discussion Question

Are your students chasing participation grades? Not engaging with the course material or knowledge generating dialogues that send idea sparks across the classroom or the virtual learning space? The literature suggests the problem is the design of your discussion question. It’s that simple. It’s that hard. Be it a front facing, or virtual classroom, discussion questions organically draw students to engage with the topic material. Gravitate students to shift from talking to gain participation grades to formulating/integrating their thoughts into critical analysis. New ways of thinking that allow students to integrate his/her/their ideas into new thinking pattens. Patterns that excite students and create an organic demand for engagement. An inclusive demand that moves the student to turn around in their seats or lean closer to their computer screen for fear they might miss the conversation. This presentation introduces the learner to the marketing concepts of pull and push advertising. What is it? How can shifting how words are strung together move learners to self-create a demand - a willingness to collaborate, engage and create new knowledge. Learn how participation grades, push questions, serves only to invite students to sit at the table of learning. Thoughtful instructors craft pull discussions that create an enthusiasm for the topic that transcends barriers to inclusivity. Moreover, it’s rewarding for instructors to enter a classroom of eager learners who want to be in class: actively listening to each other for their opportunity to add their critical analysis. At break marvel at how the hallway conversations revolve around: I never saw the topic that way? Now I understand how to read the course material and make it my own. The Anatomy of a Discussion Question draws on the work of Mihaljević, H., Müller, I., Dill, K., & Yollu-Tok, A. (2022), Topper, P. K. (2023) and Ekstrand, M. D., Katherine, L. W., & Pera, M. S. (2020). This one-slide, interactive presentation delivers in the first five minutes the theory. For the remaining 10 minutes spin along with your fellow participants as you learn first-hand how to craft a pull discussion question.

Presenters

Thriving in and Beyond the Classroom

We intend to introduce and showcase our Thriving in Action Online toolkit to faculty and staff. It is an evidence-based resource filled with Positive Psychology interventions, research, and Holistic Learning Strategies. Positive Psychology is the scientific study of optimal human functioning. It is the study of how we flourish, and it blends insight, research, and wisdom from numerous traditions and fields within psychology broadly and beyond, including cognitive psychology, health psychology, organizational behaviour, mindfulness, learning science, and neuroscience. Positive Psychology is concerned with positive life experiences at three levels: (1) Subjective emotional states (happiness, vitality, life satisfaction, hope). (2) Personality traits (character strengths). (3) Within institutions (work environment, family, and educational contexts). The Thriving in Action Online is based on two core pedagogical models—thriving and learning. The Five-Factor Resilience Model of resilience is Mindfulness, combined with Gratitude, Optimism, Self-Compassion, and Grit. Wide Awake Learning Model: Learning within higher education is contextualized as a skill that can be improved over time using holistic strategies (e.g., mindful time management, efficient and effective study techniques, and note-taking strategies) that can restore attention, support well-being and being well, and invite students to build agency. It can be used as an asynchronous tool for independent exploration and as a supplement to our live Thriving in Action programs. We have also used it as a textbook for Learning and Development Strategies (SSH102). And we will demonstrate how this can be integrated into other classrooms.

Presenters

Patient-Partners in Health Professions Education: Recommendations for Success

Patient-partners are persons with acute and/or chronic care challenges who partake in research, education, or practice endeavors to share their lived experiences with illness. They can be an exceptional resource to enhance the educational experience of health profession students’ education and enhance their person-centred skills. In this post-pandemic era, this is very timely as learning through this model can ensure care delivery will focus on the recognition and application of humanness, compassion, and understanding of people in our care. While patient-partners can feel a sense of pride with using their lived experience to potentially enhance the care delivery to current and future patients their stories can be discredited by audiences, leaving them in a vulnerable position. This scrutiny or critique can feel like a “personal attack”. The purpose of this presentation is to discuss the use of patient-partners, through sharing the experiences of two patient-partners and outline recommendations on how to best collaborate with patient-partners, in health professions' education. The recommendations include: 1.) patient-partner readiness for sharing their experience (stories that are scars versus stories that are wounds); 2.) appropriateness of questions asked by audiences (questions that elicit critical thinking versus questions that feel like a “personal attack”); and 3.) importance of pre-session and post-session debriefing (stories can elicit emotions that require processing by audiences and patient-partners). In addition, a refined Sender- Receiver Model of Communication is presented. Understanding the vulnerability that patient-partners experience through sharing their lived experiences of illness can make participants more reflective listeners and learners. With the right design and execution of patient- partner facilitated health professions education sessions, these can be memorable and enlightening learning experiences for all involved.

Presenters