cast day copy (1)
Dr. Adriaan Windt during AHD: Procedures, Casts

Welcome! Our primary learning objective for Academic Half Day is to provide Residents and Preceptors a safe educational environment where curiosity is encouraged, learning experienced, and community embraced.

A goal that has emerged from our dialogue with Residents is to develop a more engaged, outcome-driven session. To address our objectives, we encourage AHD preceptors to develop learning outcomes and to provide opportunities for residents’ full participation.

1. Learning Outcomes
Learning outcomes describe what you want the Residents to be able to do by the end of your session. We suggest developing 1 to 3 learning goals for your presentation that clearly and specifically convey your intentions and provide Residents a sense of direction. Begin your session by sharing these objectives and then implement a series of exercises (see below) as methods to determine if you’ve achieved your outcomes.

2. Materials
Residents have expressed that they appreciate materials that reinforce your content. Handouts and worksheets that highlight key points and takeaways provide Residents a framework to build on and encourages them to engage with specific content elements. Please feel free to contact me at jacqueline.ashby@ubc.ca if you want to explore developing materials or would like copies made of your content prior to your session.

3. Full Participation: In Class & Online
Design and implement opportunities in your discussion for participants’ involvement. Full participation means that ALL residents are simultaneously engaged in an activity that reinforces your learning outcomes. Need some ideas? Here are a few:

  • IceBreaker: Begin session by asking the Residents a question that relates to your topic. Ask them to individually write for 1-2 minutes in response. Each Resident then provides the group with her/his answer. This gives you a baseline of what they know and areas to emphasize during your presentation.
  • Think-Pair-Share: Pose a problem/scenario. Ask the Resident to think about it for 1 minute. Then ask the Residents to pair with each other to discuss their solution for 2 minutes. Have the pairs report back to the group with their findings.
  • Team Exercise: Pose a problem/scenario/case. Group residents into teams of 3-4. Give them 3-5 minutes to discuss the scenario and arrive at a plan. Ask 1 member from each group to report their findings to class.
  • One-Question Quiz: Design a question based on your material covered. At the end of your session, ask Residents to answer the question collectively. Then leave the room so that they can discuss the question for ten minutes. Return to the room and have the Residents report their answer. Follow with a discussion on the reasons for their choice or decision.
  • Exit Pass: Pass around index cards to the group. Ask each resident to write down one thing from your session that is still on her/his mind and why. Collect cards at the end of your session and review them to determine future content and to identify existing gaps in your learner’s knowledge.

4. PowerPoints

  • Keep Content Simple: Please remember to keep your slide content to a minimum. Font no smaller than 30. Arial is a legible font style.
  • Visualization of Data: How you visualize your data is important so keep it simple (pie/bar/line graph) and easy to read.
  • Practice your Presentations: Please rehearse your presentations to make sure you’re able to deliver the content in the scheduled time period and still have room for 10-15 minutes of questions. I use the formula 2 minutes/per slide to estimate how many slides I’ll need to create. 

How to use PowerPoint effectively and efficiently:

  • Create Slides People Will Remember (video)
  • Five Rules for Presentations (video)

5. Resources for engaging learners online and classroom-based:

To access additional Preceptor resources, click here.

Please feel free to contact me, jacqueline.ashby@ubc.ca, with any questions, comments, or suggestions regarding your educational content or AHD topics you’d like to recommend. Enjoy your session and have fun!