Lesson Plan/Workshop Outline: Small Group Teaching in Health Professions

Presenters: Jennifer Guan, Christophe Laprin, Rawan Nassif, Neethu Varghese

Topic Area: Small Group Teaching

Goal of the workshop: To enable educational leaders to develop skills to facilitate and
guide effective small group teaching sessions for participants across healthcare disciplines

Intended Audience: Interprofessional health care educators

Workshop Abstract:

Effective small group teaching enables students to improve subject understanding,

promote collaboration with peers, and motivate individuals to be active lifelong learners.
As healthcare educators, leading effective small group sessions in a psychologically-safe
environment will be at the forefront of many academic responsibilities. Don’t know where
to start? This half-day workshop is designed with you in mind, and will enable you to
become an effective teacher in small group interprofessional learning settings. This
workshop covers high-yield topics including evidence-based strategies on how to best
prepare and facilitate small group teaching sessions, provide feedback in group settings,
teach in the context of online learning, and adapt to the specific needs of different
interprofessional groups. By the end of this interactive presentation, you will be
empowered to lead your next small group teaching session. See you there!

Learning Objectives:

● Define three characteristics of small group teaching

● Describe three effective small group teaching strategies
● Appreciate the challenges of delivering feedback in a small group setting
Materials and equipment required for the workshop:

Markers, Paper, online learning tools, Flip chart, Origami paper, Slide changer, speaker

Tool of choice to evaluate learning by participants:

Kahoot (short quiz) by the end of the workshop.

eLearning Strategies : Kahoot

 Outline:

Start Time Activity Presenter Materials Facilitation Tasks Duration

08:30 1 member 10 minutes

Introduction

● Conflicts
disclosure
● Land
acknowledgem
ent

08:40 Warm - up: Experience of 2 members 5 minutes

Interactive session
participants with small
1:
group teaching
Ask participants to
stand up and do a
jumping jack if one
has:

- heard of SGT

- been a participant
member in SGT

- been a facilitator
in SGT

08:45 1 member 10 minutes

Introduction to small
group teaching:

- Learning objectives

- What is small group

teaching?

- Characteristics of small
group teaching
08:55 2 members
Pros and cons of small Markers , Interactive session 15 minutes
group teaching sessions Papers 2:
(8 mins
Have members interactive +
form 2 groups, and 7 mins
write on a large didactic)
paper what are the
pros and cons of
SGT.

Participants will
then discuss their
results with the
other groups.

After the activity,

the facilitators will
review the answers
and add any
important points, as
necessary.

09:10 2 members
- Our role as facilitators Visualizatio Interactive session 20 minutes
and tips to be an effective n Activity 3:
(10 mins
small group teacher
What type of interactive +
facilitator are you? 10 mins
What strategies didactic)
- Tips to keep learners
have participants
engaged in small group
used to engage
teaching sessions
learners in the past,
or found most
engaging when they
were learners?
09:30 Interprofessional 2 members 15 minutes
education
09:45 BREAK 15 minutes

10:00 All Origami

Effective small group Interactive session 30 minutes
members paper
teaching 4: (10 mins
activity
methods/strategies. didactic + 20
Role play in small
mins
group teaching
interactive
sessions.
session)
We will ask
participants to take
part in role play.
Group members will
teach each other
how to do a paper
crane.

We will define the

group rules, assign
roles i.e. time
keeper, note keeper.
We will ask 2
participants to take
on different student
roles beforehand

Have participants
give feedback on
the group process .
10:30 Giving effective feedback 2 members
Interactive session 15 minutes
in a group setting
5: Think-pair-share
(7 mins
How would you didactic + 8
change your mins
feedback now interactive)
(referring to
Interactive session
4) after the tips?

The interactive
session will be
conducted after the
didactic teaching.

10:45 BREAK 15 minutes

11:00 2 members 15 minutes
Teaching small groups in
online/virtual sessions

11:15 2 members Kahoot 15 minutes

Wrap up summary of key Interactive Session
points, review whether 6: Quiz to assess
the learning objectives participant
have been met knowledge.

- Signing up to
kahoot

- Short quiz to
evaluate learning

11:30 All 30 minutes

DEBRIEF/ FEEDBACK
members
Evaluation Link

Links to an external site.

12:00 LUNCH

References:

1. Azer, S. A. (2005). Challenges facing PBL tutors: 12 tips for successful group
facilitation. Medical teacher, 27(8), 676-681.
2. Burgess, A., van Diggele, C., Roberts, C., & Mellis, C. (2020). Facilitating small
group learning in the health professions. BMC Medical Education, 20(2), 1-6.
3. Jacques D. & Salmon G. (2007) Learning in groups A Handbook for face-to-face
and online environments
4. Steinert, Y. (1992). Twelve tips for conducting effective workshops. Medical
Teacher, 14(2-3), 127-131.
5. Steinert, Y. (1996). Twelve tips for effective small-group teaching in the health
professions. Medical Teacher, 18(3), 203-207.
6. Tiberius, R. G. (2013). Small group teaching: A trouble-shooting guide.
Routledge.
7. van Diggele, C., Burgess, A., & Mellis, C. (2020). Planning, preparing and
structuring a small group teaching session. BMC Medical Education, 20(2), 1-8.
8. van Diggele, C., Roberts, C., Burgess, A., & Mellis, C. (2020). Interprofessional
education: tips for design and implementation. BMC Medical Education, 20(2),
1-6.
9. Westberg, J., & Jason, H. (2004). Fostering learning in small groups: A practical
guide. Springer Publishing Company.
10. McKimm, J., & Morris, C. (2009). Small group teaching. British Journal of Hospital
Medicine (2005), 70(11), 654-657.