Why Flipped Learning In Postgraduate Emergency Medicine Master of Medicine Program?

Introduction: Flipped learning or flipped classroom is a teaching and learning trend whereby the order of traditional didactic lectures and homework assignments are reversed. In a traditional classroom, time is usually spent at giving a presentation or lecture to students. The lecturers/tutors then give homework or assignment to the students to complete. Little time can be afforded for engagement and interaction with students. In a flipped learning model, the students view the video or audio lectures, podcasts, slides as well as other media at home according to their own pace while in-class time is utilized for group discussion and exercises as well as application of contents learned before which can encourage critical thinking skill inculcation. Flipped learning is gaining traction mainly due to the proliferation of digital technology and web resources, and web tools 2.0. Why flipped learning can be especially beneficial for postgraduate emergency medicine students working in a busy clinical setting? Benefits of flipped learning for postgraduate emergency medicine students working in a busy clinical setting: 1) First, flipped learning is particularly beneficial for postgraduate students because

by switching the order of didactic lecture and in-class interactive discussion, time can be better spent in class engaging in a higher level of learning as defined in the modified Blooms taxonomy (Anderson and Krathwohl, 2001). In particular, the lower level of learning (remembering and understanding can be carried out by the students at their own leisure and pace in a conducive environment when their minds are more active, e.g., after a nap to recuperate from night shift duty). On the other hand, the higher level of learning (i.e. applying and analyzing the knowledge learned in real clinical context, evaluating the relevance and effectiveness of an intervention in a contextualized setting) can be carried out in a class setting through interaction and discussion with fellow colleagues and supervisors.

2) Flipped learning is consistent and fit better into the andragogy of adult learning as defined by Knowles (1984). According to Knowles (1984), in contrast to a child learner, an adult learner is an independent self-directed rather than dependent learner, armed with a growing reservoir of experience that can be utilized as a peer learning resource, and has an internal motivation (rather than external) to learn contents that are problem-oriented and have immediate relevance to their job. By reversing the order, flipped learning provides this platform to nurture adult learning as in-class time can be spent on applying the knowledge learned in clinical context as well as allowing an amount of flexibility to the students to learn the fact-recall knowledge at home.

3) Because of the flexibility of learning from the curated video/audio lectures at

home, the students can watch or listen to these media resources when they are in their optimal cognitive state after recovering from sleep deprivation following a night shift duty. Sleep deprivation has been shown to cause circadian dysynchrony and can impair many aspects of cognitive capability including reduced attention vigilance, impaired memory, impaired decision-making, etc (Howard et al, 2002).

References:

1. Anderson LW and Krathwohl D (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: a revision of Blooms taxonomy of educational objectives. New York: Longman.

2. Knowles, M. (1984). The Adult Learner: A Neglected Species (3rd Ed.). Houston, TX: Gulf Publishing.

3. Howard, S. K., Rosekind, M. R., Katz, J. D. & Berry, A. J. (2002). Fatigue in anesthesia: implications and strategies for patient and provider safety. Anesthesiology, 97(5), 1281-94