A Cautionary Tale: Exploring Stakeholder Emotions During Curricular Change Using Group Concept Mapping.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education Research
• Organizational Change Management
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• Curricular change is vital but challenging, often failing due to poorly understood barriers.
• Existing literature on curricular change overlooks the critical role of stakeholder emotions.
• Understanding emotional responses can improve well-being and support successful change.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and characterize the emotional responses of various stakeholders during curricular change.
• To compare emotional profiles across different groups, including faculty, staff, and students in new and legacy curricula.
• To provide insights for optimizing change implementation strategies in medical education.

Main Methods:

• A mixed-methods approach using group concept mapping was employed at a North American medical school.
• Data collection involved brainstorming, sorting, and rating statements on emotional responses to curricular change.
• Multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analyses were used to generate and compare emotional profiles.

Main Results:

• Six themes of emotional responses were identified: enthusiastic, apprehensive, overwhelmed, missed opportunities, uncertain, and abandoned.
• The 'enthusiastic' theme received the highest ratings, while 'abandoned' received the lowest.
• Students experienced more apprehension, uncertainty, and overwhelm than faculty/staff; legacy students felt more abandoned, new students more enthusiastic.

Conclusions:

• Curricular change is emotionally taxing for all stakeholders, particularly students.
• Different stakeholder groups, especially legacy versus new students, exhibit distinct emotional responses.
• Tailored communication strategies are essential to address varied emotional experiences and prevent polarization during curricular change.