Teaching Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills to Healthcare Professionals
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COMMENTARY
Teaching Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills to Healthcare Professionals Jessica A. Chacon 1 & Herb Janssen 1 Accepted: 15 October 2020 # International Association of Medical Science Educators 2020
Introduction
Section I
Determining approaches that improve student learning is far more beneficial than determining what can improve a professor’s teaching. As previously stated, “Lecturing is that mysterious process by which the contents of the note-book of the professor are transferred through the instrumentation of the fountain-pen to the note-book of the student without passing through the mind of either” [1]. This process continues today, except that the professor’s note-book has been replaced with a PowerPoint lecture and the student’s note-book is now a computer. In 1910, the Flexner report noted that didactic lectures were antiquated and should be left to a time when “professors knew and students learned” [2]. Approximately 100 years later, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) affirmed Flexner’s comment and suggested that student learning must involve active components [3]: It seems somewhat obscured that almost 100 years separated these two statements. Our strategy requires the following: student engagement in the learning process; a curriculum that develops a foundation for each student’s knowledge acquisition; focusing primarily on student learning instead of professor teaching; helping enable students develop critical thinking skills; and encouraging students to develop “expertise” in their chosen discipline. Six fundamental topics that play a role in the development of a health sciences student’s critical thinking ability will be described. In “Section I,” these topics will be discussed independently, highlighting the importance of each. In “Section II: Proposed Curriculum and Pedagogy to Improve Student Learning,” the topics will be united into a practical approach that can be used to improve student learning, curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment.
Foundation Knowledge
* Herb Janssen [email protected] 1
Department of Medical Education, Paul L Foster School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso, El Paso, TX, USA
Students use mnemonics to provide a foundation for new information. Although mnemonics help students associate information that they want to remember with something they already know, students learn tads of information that is not placed into a practical, meaningful framework developed by the student [4, 5]. This commentary highlights the problem of recalling facts when these facts are presented in isolation. The responsibility for this resides not with the student, but with a curriculum that teaches isolated facts, instead of integrated concepts. A taxonomy for significant learning presented by Dr. Fink emphasizes the need to develop foundational knowledge before additional information can be learned in an effective manner [6]. He provides suggestions on developing specific learning goals in given courses. Two of his most impo
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