Learning Sciences Theories, Principles, and Practices Comprising a Framework for Designing a New Approach to Health Prof
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COMMENTARY
Learning Sciences Theories, Principles, and Practices Comprising a Framework for Designing a New Approach to Health Professions Education Frank J. Papa 1 Accepted: 15 October 2020 # International Association of Medical Science Educators 2020
The Call for Curricular Reform in Health Professions Training Programs Over the past 20 years, external forces have placed substantial pressure on health professions training programs to adopt new, evidence-based approaches to instruction and assessment. Unfortunately, while learning sciences researchers have forwarded a number of theories, principles, and practices useful for launching evidence-based curricular reforms, the majority of health profession educators and administrators are not familiar with this continually evolving body of research. The purpose of this manuscript is to provide a brief introduction to the following: (1) the broad goals of the learning sciences, (2) a review of those theories providing insights into the cognitive factors enabling the development of the mind and competence, and (3) a framework consisting of those specific principles and practices which can inform educators and administrators seeking to design, develop, and implement evidencebased, learning sciences–driven approaches to training and assessing tomorrow’s health care providers.
capabilities. Second is to produce continually evolving “models of competence” by which educators might construct reliable, valid, and meaningful assessments of the cognitive factors enabling the transformation of novices into competent problem solvers. Collectively, these models of the mind and competence can be used to formulate new, evidence-based approaches to education. In the following, I first briefly review the contributions of a few cognitive sciences researchers/theorists (Bloom, Elstein, and Gagne) whose work has contributed to the medical curricular reform initiatives that dominated the latter half of the twentieth century (Problem-Based Learning and the Presentation Curriculum) [2]. Next, I briefly review the contributions of a few computational and neurocognitive researchers whose work has not yet found its way into health sciences education but is likely to be appreciated over the next 10–20 years as the basis for constructing artificial intelligence–driven computer-based tutors, high-fidelity simulators, and virtual and augmented reality–based approaches to instruction and assessment.
An Introduction to the Learning Sciences The learning sciences consist of a multi-disciplinary, evidence-driven group of researchers dedicated to pursuing two primary goals [1]. First is to produce continually evolving “models of mind” (theories, principles, and practices) by which educators might construct a learning environment which effectively and efficiently develops the cognitive factors enabling the development of problem-solving * Frank J. Papa [email protected] 1
University of North Texas Health Science Center, 3500 Camp Bowie Boulevard, Fort Worth, TX 76110, USA
Cognitive Sciences–Base
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