The Teacher’s Toolkit

In his book “Essential Skills for a Medical Teacher,” (1) Professor Ron Harden discusses what he terms the “teacher’s toolkit.” He likens it to the tools a carpenter has- a set of tools which together help to construct a structure, all of which are necessary but are used for different purposes. Hew views a teacher in similar fashion. The teacher also needs many tools. Among those tools, Harden lists:

Presentation tool:  This would be something like PowerPoint, used to help present content to students.

An audience response system: At Palmer, we have clickers, which are linked to the computer system, but you could equally use nothing more than a set of colored cards, as they do at the McMaster University evidence-based training program.

Simulated patients or simulators: to stand in for real patients during learning exercises.

Video clips: to use to demonstrate concepts and content.

Podcasts: for students to engage with learning at a later time.

Online information sources: we should all be providing this to our students.

Networking tools: can we figure out how to adapt social media platforms to educational purposes.

Peer-to-peer teaching opportunities: so students can support each other.

The point here is simply to note that we have many tools available to use, and we should both use them and use them in ways that optimize learning.

Let me take this opportunity to wish you a very happy holiday season and a great new year. I’ll be back in January, but hope that you are able to enjoy your time away and come back refreshed.

References

1.       Harden RM, Laidlaw JM. Essential skills for a medical teacher. New York, NY; Churchill Livingstone, 2014