Objective:

To implement a faculty development initiative to provide direct observation and feedback to small group facilitators for improvement of facilitation skills and to explore best practices using a qualitative design.

Background:

Many medical schools use volunteer clinical faculty to facilitate small group sessions. These clinician educators bring invaluable perspective, yet their formal training as teaching faculty is highly variable. Providing these educators with faculty development to ensure quality educational practices may therefore be particularly impactful.

Design/Methods:

A faculty development initiative was designed to provide direct observation and feedback to facilitators of small group sessions in the preclinical years of medical school. Five experienced faculty educators were recruited and trained on small group observation and written feedback. The trained observers were instructed to look for characteristics related to the learning environment, student participation and management of logistics.  A total of 123 unique observations were completed and detailed reports were sent directly to observed faculty. A framework matrix analysis of the de-identified written observations was used to generate codes which led to the refinement of the three main themes that inform best practices in small group facilitation.

Results:

The three predominant themes for best practices in small group facilitation were explored. 1) Fostering a positive learning environment by use of verbal encouragement, validation, community building, and nonverbal communication.  2) Ensuring learner engagement using facilitation techniques such as pre-assigning roles and use of micro-groups, as well as various techniques to encourage student participation. 3) Management of complex logistics, including factors such as use of technology, use of physical space, time management, and preparation.

Conclusions:

Direct observations of small group facilitators revealed key elements of best practice for medical educators.  These themes can be used to create faculty development for facilitators, and reflection on these elements can contribute to ongoing improvement through deliberate practice.