Month: September 2016

Promoting Critical Thinking

After our webmeeting and course materials this week on promoting critical thinking, please answer the following prompt for Blog Post #4.

It could be argued that it is much easier to give a student the information they need rather than have them think for themselves and get to the answer on their own. Why is critical thinking so important in our clinical instruction and education? What do you feel is the best way to promote critical thinking in dental hygiene education and why? How do you see yourself utilizing this technique? What do you foresee as challenges to promoting critical thinking and how could you overcome those challenges?

Blog #3- Effective Clinical Teaching Strategies

This week we are discussing effective teaching strategies. This is one of my favorite modules of the class because it is so relevant to what you all will soon be encountering. This is where it gets exciting! When reviewing the effective clinical teaching strategies this week, recall the learning domains discussed in our webmeeting. Remember what skills are included in those domains, and that the clinical learning environment will touch on all three of those domains.

After reading the course materials for this week, in blog post #3, I’d like you to discuss what effective clinical teaching means to you. To what extent would you agree/disagree that clinical teaching is just supervision? Think about the responsibilities/roles of the clinical instructor we discussed the last few weeks. What clinical teaching strategies can be employed to foster the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains of learning in the clinical setting? Be sure to site specific examples of how you can use these strategies in the clinical setting, both from the course materials and your own experiences as a student or instructor. After reading the articles on student perceptions, would you agree with the articles?

Thank you for bringing your own personal perspectives to the blogs so far. It is refreshing to hear your stories. I have high expectations and anticipation for your posts!

 

The Clinical Learning Environment

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend! I am slowly getting back into the swing of things. I am starting to read your blog posts from last week and thus far am very impressed! Thank you for communicating with each other via Slack to let each other know when you posted. I think that will definitely help with being able to comment in time. And, just to clarify– no one will be punished (point-wise) if you are unable to comment exactly in time because another student was later on posting. This is my first time only having 3 students and I totally understand that everyone is human and may not get to their first post a couple days before the due date. All I’m asking is that you try your best to avoid it for everyone. If that situation happens just keep me in the loop and we will work through it!

Now, on to Module 3. This week we are going to be discussing the clinical learning environment. The clinical learning environment is dynamic as it is constantly changing. Every time a student and clinical instructor enter the clinical environment, there is a new patient or new situation presented to you both. And, there is limited faculty control over what those situations will be. Unlike nursing where you may assign a student to the cardiology unit or to follow a patient that has diabetes, there is a little less control over as to what we can assign dental hygiene students. There are also advances in technologies and evidence-based treatment recommendations that can change year to year. As more nontraditional students enter the professional education, students and their learning needs are constantly changing as well.

For Blog Post #2, discuss the differences of teaching in a classroom setting versus the clinical setting. What are the differences? Are there similarities? How can we keep pace with the changes in technologies or treatments? Discuss the changes of the student population you will be teaching. How can you meet the needs of traditional students versus nontraditional students? Keep in mind the diversity of the student population such as age, gender, ethnic background, etc.

Looking forward to reading your posts!

-Amy

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