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. 2017 Feb;18(2):293-302.
doi: 10.5811/westjem.2016.11.32315. Epub 2017 Jan 20.

Academic Primer Series: Eight Key Papers about Education Theory

Michael Gottlieb  1 , Megan Boysen-Osborn  2 , Teresa M Chan  3 , Sara M Krzyzaniak  4 , Nicolas Pineda  5 , Jordan Spector  6 , Jonathan Sherbino  3
Affiliations

Academic Primer Series: Eight Key Papers about Education Theory

Michael Gottlieb et al. West J Emerg Med. 2017 Feb.

Abstract

Introduction: Many teachers adopt instructional methods based on assumptions of best practices without attention to or knowledge of supporting education theory. Familiarity with a variety of theories informs education that is efficient, strategic, and evidence-based. As part of the Academic Life in Emergency Medicine Faculty Incubator Program, a list of key education theories for junior faculty was developed.

Methods: A list of key papers on theories relevant to medical education was generated using an expert panel, a virtual community of practice synthetic discussion, and a social media call for resources. A three-round, Delphi-informed voting methodology including novice and expert educators produced a rank order of the top papers.

Results: These educators identified 34 unique papers. Eleven papers described the general use of education theory, while 23 papers focused on a specific theory. The top three papers on general education theories and top five papers on specific education theory were selected and summarized. The relevance of each paper for junior faculty and faculty developers is also presented.

Conclusion: This paper presents a reading list of key papers for junior faculty in medical education roles. Three papers about general education theories and five papers about specific educational theories are identified and annotated. These papers may help provide foundational knowledge in education theory to inform junior faculty teaching practice.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: By the WestJEM article submission agreement, all authors are required to disclose all affiliations, funding sources and financial or management relationships that could be perceived as potential sources of bias. The authors disclosed none.

Figures

Figure
Figure
Example of an exemplar Tweet used in the process of helping to generate a list of key papers on theories relevant to medical education.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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