CMPH L&T Academy | Open Classroom series

Course description

The Open Classroom series is a program of the College of Medicine & Public Health's Learning & Teaching Academy.

Open Classrooms provide educators with an opportunity to observe ‘teaching in action’ and approaches to successful teaching in different settings. A small group of educators attend an open classroom of their choice (e.g., small group tutorial, lecture, online session) and participate in a short informal discussion with the educator post observation to unpack the approaches used and why. These are suited for novice through to experienced educators.

Please see the list of available opportunities on the right, and enrol to attend. Please note that places are limited within each event, to minimise disruption to the teaching event itself. We encourage you to add yourself to the waiting list, where you will be automatically invited to future events as they become available.

Visit our CMPH Learning & Teaching Academy website to find out more about activities, register for events, and sign up as a member of the Academy.

We hope you enjoy this Master Class series.
Warm regards,the CMPH L&T Academy leadership team.

The aim of the Academy is to inform, inspire, and enrich CMPH educators within a learning and teaching culture of courage, creativity, and collaboration.

Upcoming events:

Please enrol for these events via the event link on the right of this page. 

PCS 7 - Professionalism, Working with a Team - with Dr Kishan Pandithage, Dr Paul Rivalland and Dr Josie Tchia

• Date: Monday, 5 September. The session is from 1:30 - 4:30pm
• Location:Royal Darwin Hospital, Flinders University Building

These sessions will demonstrate the variability in student learning process and diverse influences on student performance. Participants (to a maximum of 3 per session) will watch the facilitation of small group teaching, construction of dialogue for feedback and adjustment of the teaching plan that occurs through an active learning process.

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Past events:

Doctor and Patient Tutorial with Dr Sophia David Amirtharajan

• Held: Wednesday, 20 July. From 2:00 - 3:30pm

For ‘Doctor and Patient” tutorials, students in year 2 come with foundational skills which means that students are now able to grasp the contents easily. The previous learnt knowledge helps learners to advance a level higher by not just asking questions during history taking but to start synthesising the information provided by the patient and to start formulating differential diagnosis, management, and treatment plan. Students are taught to confidently report back the findings to the supervisor and provide basic level of patient management.

Every week there in one 'Doctor and Patient' session for each group of 8 students. This session typically lasts for 90 minutes each. Students learn clinical skills such as History taking and performing Physical Examination through this small group tutorial.

About Sophia: I work as a Senior Lecturer in Medicine – Teaching Specialist within the College of Medicine and Public Health, Northern Territory Medical Program, Flinders University and hold a casual relief tutor position with The University of Queensland Medical School (UQ). I currently teach years 1 and 2, ‘Doctor of Medicine’ students. I coordinate the ‘Year 2 Doctor and Patient’ part of the Doctor of Medicine curriculum. ‘Doctor and Patient’, involves small group learning sessions in which students learn and develop clinical skills such as history taking from patients and performing physical examination of various body systems on patients.

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Paramedicine and Midwifery Inter-professional Education Session - with James Pearce

• Held: Tuesday 10 May. The session is from 1pm - 3pm

In this inter-professional education (IPE) session, 3rd year Midwifery students will join a 3rd year Paramedicine practical class focusing on postpartum birthing complications. Students from both disciplines will share knowledge and skills to safely and effectively deliver simulated evidence-based healthcare, under the supervision of paramedicine and midwifery clinicians/academics.

About James Pearce: I am a registered paramedic and teaching specialist, where I teach into the courses in the Discipline of Paramedicine here at Flinders. I am passionate about using best practice approaches to teaching and learning. I would love to have a dinner party with Piaget, Vygotsky, Knowles and Biggs!

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Integrative Human Physiology Practicals: Putting Theory into Practice - with Dr Helen Harrison

• Held: Friday 22 October. The session is from 11am-1:30pm.

This practical session provided opportunity for hands on learning in physiology. Students come to the practical sessions prepared after having done a pre-lab using cloud-based technology, they then utilise this same technology, along with powerlab hardware to measure their own physiological variables in real time. Practicals are designed to facilitate students moving beyond conceptual understanding in physiology in a fun, inclusive environment.

This was a second year undergraduate advanced human physiology topic core to the Bachelor of Nutrition and Dietetics, and a popular elective for Bachelor of Medical Science, Bachelor of Clinical Science/ Doctor of Medicine, Bachelor of Engineering, Bachelor of Exercise Science and Bachelor of Health Sciences students.

About Dr Helen Harrison: I am passionate about teaching physiology and aim to be engaging in my teaching such that students become just as enthusiastic about physiology as I am! As an educator I aspire to facilitate the development of students as self-regulated, life-long learners. I work to provide students with adequate supports and scaffolding within topics and courses to ensure their success. My teaching style is to be approachable and available to students, to show them respect and develop an inclusive and safe environment for learning.

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A Coaching Community of Practice to Support Learning - with Dr Svetlana King

• Held: Monday 18 October. The session is from 4-5pm. Svetlana will be available online after the session for a debrief (20 mins).

This Community of Practice session involved Learning Coaches who each work with a small group of medical students throughout their four-year MD course. The Learning Coach's role is to support students to develop as self-regulated learners and reflective practitioners, through one-on-one meetings with students throughout their four-year degree.

'Coaching Conversations' provide Learning Coaches with an opportunity to engage in case-based discussion regarding situations and/or issues that  have been identified during coaching. Each Coaching Conversation commences with a short case presentation, delivered by a Learning Coach. This is followed by a large group discussion of suggestions and strategies to support the Learning Coach. Coaching Conversations are intended to provide a peer learning opportunity for Learning Coaches and equip them with a range of strategies to enhance their individual and collective coaching capacity.

• Recommended pre-reading: video by Atul Gawande on coaching and a paper that outlines the central tenets of coaching.

About Dr Svetlana King:  I work across two teaching programs in the College of Medicine and Public Health. In the MD, I coordinate the Learning Coach initiative, and contribute to the research and scholarship theme, Advanced Studies. Additionally, I teach in the Master of Clinical Education, supervising coursework students who are conducting research projects. I also engage in health professions education research, including projects examining coaching. To me, coaching is an intellectually stimulating partnership, and is one of the most rewarding aspects of my job. I am always very happy to have a conversation about coaching and hope to see you at this session!

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Small Group Tutorial (Modified PBL) - with Professor Briony Forbes

• Held: Tuesday 19 October. The session is from 9am-10am, with extra time afterwards.

In this activity we use a small group tutorial, face to face format. Students work in groups of two and are given a question relating to the case which they need to research and answer. Two groups report back in the tutorial to the entire group and a discussion follows. We then go through the next part of the case and have a discussion to ascertain what students already know and stimulate their enquiry on the area to be discussed in the next tutorial.

This topic is offered in MMED3933 Biochemistry of Human Disease, BMedSc, 3rd year (30% of students) and also BNutrition and Dietetics, B Health Science, B Nutrition (60% of students).

p>About Professor Briony Forbes: I teach Biochemistry to second and third year undergraduate students and first year MD students. I am passionate about assisting students to gain a range of transferable skills whilst opening their eyes to the wonders of medical science. By asking students to be inquisitive and critical, and to seek to understand the molecular basis of disease, I hope to inspire students to make a difference in their chosen professions such as researchers, clinicians or practitioners.

Type of course

Information session