STFM Family Medicine Curriculum Resource (FMCR) Project

Glossary (1/28/03) - by Kent Sheets, PhD

 

Background:

In order to have a common shared language for developing and disseminating the FMCR materials, we have developed a glossary of terms for the FMCR Project.

General Terms:

 

Resources  Materials that have been developed and/or identified for use within the framework of the FMCR Project and its associated products
Strategies  Techniques or methods use to implement proposed instructional, assessment, evaluation, and/or curricular activities
Goals  Goals describe the overall learning outcomes in nonspecific terms; they provide a global perspective on knowledge, attitudes, and skills that students will learn in the curriculum.
Program Goals  A goal is the broad target of an educational program. Goals provide a general focus for an activity or set of experiences. (ACGME definition)
Objectives 

Objectives are statements that describe in precise, measurable terms what learners will be able to do at the end of an instructional sequence. An objective must also represent an accomplishment which advances the learner toward the corresponding goal. An objective must be 1) measurable, 2) understandable, and 3) attainable within the curriculum time frame for the appropriate level of learner.

Learner objectives should address knowledge, attitude, and skills as appropriate for each curricular unit.

Competencies 

Practical applications of learning objectives

Competencies act as organizing principles for curriculum development the preclerkship and clerkship components along with goals, objectives, methods, and strategies.

A complex set of behaviors built on the components of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and "competence" as personal ability (from Carraccio et al, 2002)

Competence  Achievement of learning objectives in a specific domain.
Knowledge 

Specific facts; ways and means of dealing with specifics (conventions, trends and sequences, classifications and categories, criteria, methodology); universals and abstractions in a field (principles and generalizations, theories and structures) [from Bloom's Taxonomy]

The remembering (recalling) of appropriate, previously learned information. [from Bloom's Taxonomy]

Attitudes 

Affective Domain (emphasizing feeling and emotion)

This domain includes the manner in which we deal with things emotionally, such as feelings, values, appreciation, enthusiasms, motivations, and attitudes. [from Bloom's Taxonomy]

Skills   

Psychomotor Domain

The psychomotor domain includes physical movement, coordination, and use of the motor-skill areas. Development of these skills requires practice and is measured in terms of speed, precision, distance, procedures, or techniques in execution.[from Bloom's Taxonomy]

Delivery systems  Means by which curriculum is delivered to the learners. Examples include:
  • Clinical/classroom/laboratory/independent
  • One-on-one, small group, large group
  • Traditional lecture and discussion 
  • Multi-media (computer, DVD, etc)
Instruction  Instructional strategies are the ways learners will learn the curricular objectives. Some objectives require only one instructional strategy; other objectives require multiple instructional strategies. Instructional strategies and activities are defined as those teaching AND learning methods used to achieve learner goals and objectives.
Assessment  Assessment strategies are ways to determine if the learners have achieved the course objectives.
Evaluation  Once the curriculum has been designed and implemented it is important to assess the effectiveness of the various components and products of the curriculum. Based on the evaluation of the curriculum, the various curriculum components should be revised as necessary. Curriculum evaluation approaches include the collection of data on learner knowledge and satisfaction, collection of data on faculty utilization and satisfaction, and external review by curricular or content experts from other departments or schools. Suggestions for curriculum evaluation are very similar to those offered for identifying evaluation strategies. These include collecting data from as many data sources as possible and collecting data on as many components of the curriculum as possible.
Formative evaluation  Findings are accumulated from a variety of relevant assessments designed for use either in program or learner evaluation to provide constructive feedback or to improve program quality. (ACGME)
Summative evaluation Findings and recommendations are designed to accumulate all relevant assessments for a go/no-go decision. In program evaluation, is used to judge whether the program meets the accepted standards for the purpose of continuing, restructuring, or discontinuing the program (ACGME)
Types of Educational Programs

The FMCR materials may be used in different types of educational programs that would include, but would not be limited to:

  • Sequences
  • Courses
  • Clerkships
  • Electives
  • Preceptorships
  • Workshops

 

 

Examples of instructional and assessment strategies:

 

Instructional strategies

reading
interview
lecture
patient contact
discussion
case presentation
demonstration
audiovisual material
site visits
case conference
self-instruction
rounds
article files
simulations
computer-aided-instruction
role play

 

Assessment strategies

Written record or Log
Direct Observation
Attendance
Case Presentation
Written Exam
  1. Objective
  2. Essay
  3. Short answer
  4. Simulations
    1. Linear
    2. Branching
Oral Examination
  1. Structured (oral Patient Management Problem)
  2. Short answer
Multi-method assessment
Videotape and Audiotape Review
Peer assessment
Simulated Patient
Portfolios
Objective Structured Clinical Exam (OSCE)
Self-assessment
Computerized system of assessment

 

 The following verbs are useful in developing instructional objectives:

Adapted from Benjamin S. Bloom, Bertram B. Mesia, and David R. Krathwohl (1964). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (two vols: The Affective Domain & The Cognitive Domain). New York. David McKay.

 

1. Those verbs that communicate knowledge.

Information

cite
identify
quote
relate
tell
count
indicate
read
repeat
trace
define
list
recite
select
write

describe
name
recognize
state

draw
point
record
tabulate

Comprehension

associate
describe
explain
locate
translate
classify
differentiate
express
predict
compare
discuss
extrapolate
report
compute
distinguish
interpolate
restate
contrast
estimate
interpret
review

Application

apply
employ
locate
relate
sketch
calculate
examine
operate
report
solve
complete
illustrate
order
restate
translate
demonstrate
interpolate
practice
review
use
dramatize
interpret
predict
schedule
utilize

Analysis

analyze
debate
distinguish
inventory
appraise
detect
experiment
question
contract
diagram
infer
separate
criticize
differentiate
inspect
summarize
 

Synthesis

arrange
construct
formulate
organize
produce
assemble
create
generalize
plan
propose
collect
design
integrate
prepare
specify
compose
detect
manage
prescribe
 

Evaluation

appraise
determine
judge
recommend
test

assess
estimate
measure
revise

choose
evaluate
rank
score

critique
grade
rate
select
 
 

2. Those verbs that impart skills.

diagnose
integrate
measure
percuss

empathize
internalize
palpate
project

hold
massage
pass
visualize
   
 

3.Those verbs that convey attitudes.

acquire
exemplify
realize
reflect
     
 

These verbs are better avoided:

appreciate
have faith in

believe
learn
know
understand