TITLE:
Evidence-Based Effective Teaching Behaviors for Complex Psychomotor Skills Training
AUTHORS:
Alexander P. B. Alken, Jan-Maarten Luursema, Lucas W. Thornblade, Xiaodong (Phoenix) Chen, Louise Hull, Karen Horvath, Harry Van Goor, Cornelia Fluit
KEYWORDS:
Surgical Education, Effective Intra-Operative Teaching, Surgical Skills Training
JOURNAL NAME:
Creative Education,
Vol.10 No.6,
June
30,
2019
ABSTRACT: Introduction: Although the research
to operating room teaching is extensive, evidence relating surgical teachers’
behaviors to trainees’ objective complex psychomotor skills acquisition is
limited. We aimed to identify objectively evidence-based teaching behaviors in
hands-on training associated with increased complex psychomotor skills in
surgical and non-surgical trainees. Methods: The MEDLINE, PsycINFO and
ERIC databases were searched for relevant papers. Due to comparable training
characteristics to complex surgical skill acquisition, papers on sports and
music training were also included. Paper screening took place after training
sessions with the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Inter-rater reliability was
determined. Data were extracted and the quality of studies was assessed with the Medical
Education Research Study Quality Instrument (MERSQI) and the Newcastle-Ottawa
Scale-Education (NOS-E). Results: 18,337 references were identified.
Seven studies were included. Teaching behaviors shown to improve trainees’
objective skills acquisition included feedback, instruction, active trainee
involvement and demonstrations. Feedback and instruction with an external focus
on the task and effect were supported by the strongest evidence. There was
significant evidence regarding negative effects of harshly criticizing and
belittling teaching behaviors. The data quality and evidence for most teaching
behaviors were weak with low impact levels. Discussion: Feedback, instruction,
active trainee involvement and demonstrations are important for the hands-on
teaching of complex psychomotor skills. However, strong evidence supporting
their effectiveness is lacking. Future research should be directed on
investigating the relationship between clearly defined teaching behaviors and
the objective acquisition of complex skills in surgical trainees.