3 Module 3: Communication skills for instructors

Giving feedback

Provide specific examples. Always talk about the behaviors seen (your description of the anatomy of the distal limb of the horse was inaccurate), not the personality of the individual being assessed (you clearly cannot remember anything about anatomy). Be clear that the feedback is intended to help guide changes in the tutee’s approach to learning. Reinforce effort or work process rather than 100% accuracy in facts and make sure to spend as much time reinforcing what went well as is spent on what went poorly. We all hold biases and beliefs that may influence how we see the behavior of others. Before giving feedback, consider how any biases you may hold could influence the type of feedback you provide to a learner. Be kind, yet clear.

Characteristics of effective feedback are the following (Reynolds and Ende, 2009):

• Feedback should represent shared goals that are meaningful and important for the tutee and tutor.
• Feedback should be expected by the learner, and should be timely.
• Feedback should be based on firsthand data and should deal with specific behaviors, not generalizations.
• Feedback should be regulated in quantity so as not to overwhelm the tutee.
• Feedback should be phrased in descriptive, non-evaluative language (“You will need to understand renal physiology well to help you succeed in clin path” versus “You don’t know enough to get through tougher classes that are coming later on”).
• Feedback should deal with decisions and actions rather than assumed intentions or interpretations (“You chose not to review large animal anatomy and that makes it hard for us to discuss lameness well” versus “I know you don’t like large animals but you have to learn this stuff”).

Handling difficult situations

If you see the above problems and cannot rectify them with the strategies shown, contact Dr. Root for assistance with academic concerns (rootk001@umn.edu) and  Dr. Hampel-Kozar for assistance with personal concerns (hampe004@umn.edu). If you are unsure who to contact, either Dr. Root or Dr. Hampel-Kozar can assist you.

Sometimes students struggle academically because of personal problems that are interfering with their ability to focus on veterinary school. The student may need other supports or resources outside of Vet Pac coaching.If you see any of the behaviors below, the student needs outside help. Contact Dr. Hampel-Kozar immediately.

• Peer does not respond to your setting boundaries and persists in talking about personal issues instead of coursework
• Peer talks about harming themselves and/or discloses thoughts of suicide
• Peer shows sudden change in demeanor (fatigue, decline in personal hygiene)
• Peer is hostile toward VetPAC coach or expresses hostile intent toward others
• Peer is unexpectedly absent, or nonresponsive to attempts to reach out or schedule sessions
• Peer appears to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol
• Peer shows extreme difficulty understanding directions or completing specific tasks

Facilitating small group learning

You may lead small group meetings to facilitate student learning for difficult courses. In the 2022-2023 academic year, small groups meetings ideally will be held by Zoom but can be held in-person as long as everyone is comfortable with biosecurity precautions taken.

A small group is one with ten students or fewer. Functional small group learning is characterized by an informal atmosphere, lots of open discussion pertinent to the topic, sharing of knowledge and freedom to disagree by all participants, and a sense of awareness of group function, as is presented to all of you in GOALe and other small group work. Your primary functions as a small group leader are to set goals, to keep the discussion moving while staying on topic, to periodically summarize, and to ensure all members are learning from the activity and are being given opportunities to participate (Tiberius, 2009).

Small group learning should be active learning, not a small lecture session. Active learning is defined as the use of educational methods that provide students with opportunities to work with the information by reflection, evaluation, analysis, synthesis, and communication (Fink 2003; Michael 2006). Activities demonstrated to increase student learning include discussion with peers within a group including debate, and having students talk through their thought process in how they completed written assignments (Baillie et al, 2009; Mazur 1997; Root Kustritz, 2013).

You may wish to start a small group session by asking everyone to write down their most burning questions as individuals, and then looking through that group of questions to arrive at those that are most concerning for the majority of group members. Using Zoom, these can be entered into Chat or emailed to you directly. Once you have a specific question open for discussion (how do you use various clotting tests to help you think about the intrinsic and extrinsic pathways and why does it matter), you may ask the group to come up with what they already know about the topic and then you act as the scribe (blood components, how clotting occurs, what the intrinsic and extrinsic pathways are, what tests are performed in a clotting profile, etc). Then you can clarify that everyone agrees with the facts you’ve listed and start to lead the group in making connections between those facts by asking appropriate questions (so if you had no platelets, which tests are likely to change in the clotting profile and how). You are unlikely to get to every topic of interest to every person in the group in a single small group session. If a given small group works well together, you can always schedule another session to work through specific topics of interest to them.

Facilitating large group learning

At no point should you, as a VetPAC coach, feel like you are being asked to take the place of an instructor. You should never provide a large group with a second iteration of a presentation they received in class. If a large group of students wishes to discuss a specific set of topics, they should be split into smaller groups that you provide with work as described above and facilitate as you see fit. For example, you may ask the small groups to generate their list of what they already know and then take a moment to collate that data and bring to the large group the collated data before setting them on another small group assignment. If the vast majority of a class is looking for review of specific material, let Dr. Root know so she can talk to the instructor of that course.

Effective listening for coaching

Good listeners pay attention to both non-verbals and verbals to help them completely understand what someone is saying. They believe that listening is more important than speaking and give the person with whom they are working their full attention. Good communicators do not:

• Interrupt
• Share worthless information
• Avoid difficult conversations
• Show impatience

REFERENCES

• Baillie S, Shore H, Gill D, et al. Introducing peer-assisted learning into a veterinary curriculum: A trial with a simulator. J Vet Med Educ 2009;36:174-179.
• Fink LD. Creating significant learning experiences: An integrated approach to designing college courses. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2003.
• Mazur E. Peer instruction. Upper Saddle River (NJ): Prentice Hall, 1997.
• Michael J. Where’s the evidence that active learning works? Advanc Physiol Educ 2006;30:159-167.
• Reynolds EE, Ende J. Feedback for medical education. In: Distlehorst LH, Dunnington GL, Folse JR, eds. Teaching and learning in medical and surgical education. New York: Psychology Press, 2009.
• Root Kustritz MV. Effect of increasing student engagement on multiple-choice tests scores in the theriogenology diagnostics course. Clin Therio 2013;5:63-65.
• Tiberius RG. Small group teaching. In: Distlehorst LH, Dunnington GL, Folse JR, eds. Teaching and learning in medical and surgical education. New York: Psychology Press, 2009.