Worksheet-Based Delivery System to Improve Participation and Engagement in Basic Science

THE CHALLENGE

A basic science curriculum is foundational to surgical training. However, engagement in, and satisfaction with, standard lectures is notoriously poor and antithetical to adult education principles.

THE TOOL

We developed a worksheet-based delivery system to improve participation and engagement in basic science.

METHODS

The SCORE curriculum objectives were used to create interactive worksheets that could be filled out in advance and were reviewed as a group during protected education time. All PGY levels in our community-based academically affiliated program participated (19 residents total). The worksheets were created by a resident in her research year and vetted by the attending moderating each session. The same amount of time allotted for our former basic science lectures was used for worksheet review as a group. The frequency of active resident participation was recorded before and after implementing the worksheet-based curriculum. A survey was created to determine resident satisfaction with the curriculum and was sent out before and after the implementation of the new curriculum. Mean resident survey scores with lecture-based and worksheet-based curriculum were compared utilizing paired t-tests.

RESULTS

Fourteen residents responded to the survey. With the lecture-based format, active participation was noted 30% of the time or less. With the worksheet-based format, engagement increased to 100% of the time. Additionally, there was a statistically significant increase in the resident opinion of the utility of the sessions, congruence with their learning style, and improvement in knowledge. About 64% of the residents who completed the survey either “always” or “sometimes” completed the worksheets ahead of time and 92% of the residents who completed the worksheets ahead of time felt like it allowed them to increase their engagement in didactics.

CONCLUSIONS

Engagement is a core tenet of adult education and changing from lectures to worksheets in the delivery of basic science capitalizes on this concept, leading to increased resident satisfaction. This initiative is easily translatable to any type of residency program and can be completed within the currently allotted timeframe for the basic science conference.