mcgowan - world congress of medical meetings - is learning the goal of your medical meetings - final

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Brian S McGowan, PhD Chief Learning Officer

ArcheMedX, Inc.

@briansmcgowan

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Objectives:

Following this session attendees should be prepared to:

1. Plan meetings with the understanding of the challenges of cognitive load,

2. Introduce elements into meetings that support the natural learning actions of adult learners, and

3. Develop an expectation and framework that supports agile education design.

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Your Take-Aways:

The Cognitive Load of learners is a critical bottleneck that limits the impact of meetings or learning experiences.

The Learning Actions Model is an novel instruction design technique that frees up working memory by minimizing extraneous load

Agile Education Design ensures that learners experience, learning, and the learning environment are refined and optimized over time.

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The Evolution of Medical Meetings

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The Evolution of Medical Meetings

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The Evolution of Medical Meetings

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The Evolution of Medical Meetings

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How to Plan Your Medical Meetings if Learning is Really Your Goal

The Challenges of Cognitive Load

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Subsystem model of memory (1968)

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Working Memory and Cognitive Load (1988)

1. Working memory can only process seven elements of information at any given time.

2. Working memory creates a ‘‘bottleneck’’ for learning.

3. When the cognitive load associated with a task exceeds the learner’s WM capacity, performance and learning is impaired.

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Deconstructing the CL Bottleneck

Schemata construction:

1. Activating prior knowledge;

2. Comparing new information with what they already know

3. Elaborating knowledge

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Understanding why the firehose fails…

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What’s Load got to do with it…

Intrinsic load: relationship between content and learner

Extraneous load: environment of learning/teaching

Germane load: attention or motivation

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Overcoming the CL Bottleneck

Intrinsic Load:

“intrinsic load cannot be altered by instructional interventions without either simplifying the task to be learned or first enhancing the expertise of the learners by providing preparatory training prior to the task.”

Extraneous Load:

1. Instructional Design

2. Structured Information

3. Content Presentation

4. Learning Environment

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How to Plan Your Medical Meetings if Learning is Really Your Goal

Do Learners Know How to Learn? Extraneous Load and

The Natural Learning Actions

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One outstanding (undermining) assumption

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Overcoming Extraneous, Cognitive Load

Interviewed ~300 clinician* learners to:

1. Deconstruct the‘process of learning’

2. Explore the how and when

3. Assess how effective and efficient learners were at the‘process of learning’

* Cohort included physicians, residents, medical students, specialists, generalist, & allied health professionals

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What Did We Learn: The Natural Learning Actions

There are 4 generally acknowledged actions learners feel drive effective learning

Education planning, development, and delivery that does not support the 4 Natural Learning Actions is at risk of remaining ‘minimally effective’

(2013)

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Natural Learning Actions: Note Taking

Learners acknowledge a jerry-rigged system of notebooks, index cards, post-its, and spare paper/pads.

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Natural Learning Actions: Reminders

Learners acknowledge a failed framework that includes calendars, to-do lists, dogged-eared notebook pages, and emails.

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Natural Learning Actions: Search

Learners acknowledge that as new questions arise within the learning process their attention becomes fragmented as they search for answers.

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Natural Learning Actions: Social

Learners acknowledge that they often look to faculty and/or other learners to nudge their own process of learning (how/when they take notes, set reminders, and search).

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The Natural Learning Actions: A Requisite, But Unevolved, Skillset

4 Natural Learning Actions

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Impact on Educational Planning

Experience must be structured to simplify learning and centralize the natural learning actions

Planners MUST measure if and how learning is occurring

Planners MUST react to what is or isn’t working…

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How to Plan Your Medical Meetings if Learning is Really Your Goal

Getting Better Over Time: The Advent of Agile Educational Design

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Good enough isn’t good enough…

Given the challenges of cognitive load, intrinsic load, extraneous load, germane load

Given the complexity of instructional design, structured information, content presentation, learning environment, and largely unevolved natural learning actions

Your meetings and education will NEVER be perfect right out of the gate…

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The Advent of Agile Education Design

Agile Planning Loops

An umbrella term for actions that are broken into smaller pieces flexible enough to change as information changes…

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The ‘Study’ Part Requires Data…

Agile Planning Loops

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Agile Design Ensures Optimal Load Reduction

Is extraneous load being minimized?

• Better design

• Better structure

• Better content

• Better environment

Are learners’ intrinsic loads being optimized?

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Summary

Cognitive Load =

Natural Learning Actions =

Agile Educational Design =

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Brian S McGowan, PhD Chief Learning Officer

ArcheMedX, Inc.

@briansmcgowan