Planning, preparing and structuring a small group teaching session
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Planning, preparing and structuring a small group teaching session Christie van Diggele1*, Annette Burgess2,3 and Craig Mellis4
Abstract A structured approach is critical to the success of any small group teaching session; preparation and planning are key elements in ensuring the session is systematic and effective. Learning activities guide and engage students towards the achievement of agreed learning outcomes. This paper introduces the central concepts of planning and preparing a small group teaching session. It provides an overview of key theoretical principles in lesson planning, delivery, and how to provide effective feedback in this setting.
Background A small group teaching session that is well planned provides a systematic approach for both teachers and learners, whether it occurs in the university ‘classroom’, hospital or community ‘clinical setting’. Compared to didactic lectures, effective small group teaching and learning strategies increase student engagement, retention of knowledge, self-directed learning, communication skills, teamwork ability, and peer discussion [1–5]. Consequently, small group teaching has become increasingly popular within medical and health professions education. This paper introduces the central concepts of planning and preparing a small group teaching session. It provides an overview of the key theoretical principles in structure, lesson planning, different formats of small group teaching, delivery and provision of effective feedback to learners. Planning small group teaching
The planning of learning activities is an important part of course design and everyday teaching; curriculum and lesson design must be aligned in order to achieve the intended learning outcomes [6, 7]. Specifically, there should be alignment of the curriculum, the subject, * Correspondence: [email protected] 1 The University of Sydney, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
learning outcomes, learning activities, and assessment tasks [6, 7]. Learning activities should encourage student participation and guide and engage students towards the achievement of set, agreed learning outcomes. They should also provide opportunities to: model thinking and learning strategies, practice skills, build on existing knowledge, learn from a range of sources (including peers) and gain feedback [7, 8]. Bloom’s taxonomy (Fig. 1) is a useful structure for lesson design. It is used as a tool for classifying lesson objectives and contains six categories that are structured in hierarchical order progressing in complexity as it reaches the highest point [6].
The learning cycle
The key characteristics of small group teaching are the active involvement of students in the entire learning cycle, and the interactive and social process. Within each pedagogy of small group teaching, students are encouraged to apply and transfer new knowledge through indepth discussion, collabor
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