You are invited to attend the next quarterly TLA seminar offered by the Division for Learning and Teaching Enhancement
Speaker: Prof. Marianne Unger (Division of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences) (SU Teaching Fellow)
Topic: Curriculum Renewal: Balancing Clinical Competence and Critical Skills Development
Date: 31 August 2023
Time: 12:45-14:00
Venue: Room 3008, Faculty of Education (GG Cillié Building)
This is a face-to-face seminar and limited seating is available. RSVP Roshnique Pharo:
rdaniels@sun.ac.za or (021) 808 3717
Summary of seminar
The increasing demand for producing graduates capable of making a difference requires professional programs in health sciences to help students learn skills and develop attributes that extend beyond clinical competence. An already overloaded curriculum and student and staff wellness are currently major threats to the success of our physiotherapy program. However, problem-based learning provides an opportunity for students to develop the critical skills of collaboration, communication, leadership, advocacy and scholarship (Yew & Goh, 2016) while simultaneously learning physiotherapy and developing clinical competence. Bringing real-world problems into the classroom provides those tipping moments for transformation (Mezirow, 2018). If carefully designed and starting on day one of year one, the issues of fragmentation, compartmentalisation, and the transfer paradox, typical of hierarchical modular curricula, can be addressed (Frerejean et al., 2022).
In this seminar I share with you our journey, the how and why and the challenges in our efforts to develop competent physiotherapists AND critical citizens.
Biography of speaker
Prof. Marianne Unger is a passionate lecturer in physiotherapy offering 27 years of experience, having served on and chaired various committees including undergraduate program- and research ethics committees. She has a PhD degree in paediatric neurology with a special interest in better understanding movement strategies for improved interventions in children with cerebral palsy. Concerned about future physiotherapy practice and education, she furthered her training in T&L and recently completed an SU teaching fellowship. Prof. Unger drives their program’s curriculum renewal and is excited to discover new and innovative methodologies to better students’ experiences while preparing them for the changing scope of future physiotherapy practice.
References
· Frerejean, J., Dolmans, D.H., & van Merrienboer, J.J. (2022). Research on instructional design in the health professions: from taxonomies of learning to whole‐task models. Researching Medical Education, 291-302.
· Mezirow, J. (2018). Transformative learning theory. In Contemporary theories of learning (pp. 114-128). Routledge.
· Yew, E.H., & Goh, K. (2016). Problem-based learning: An overview of its process and impact on learning. Health Professions Education, 2(2), 75-79.
