Developing active learning activities for didactic perfusion courses

BackgroundIn the world of academia, traditional lecturing has been the most common pedagogical approach for centuries. However, it can create an environment for students to be passive learners in the classroom. Alternatively, active learning is a pedagogical approach intended to encourage students to engage with content in manners which have been associated with improved exam performance, final course grades, clinical reasoning skills, and critical thinking skills. Given that perfusion is inherently a profession where didactic information must be applied in practice, the implementation of active learning in didactic courses is worth considering. Although active learning is practiced in perfusion education through participation in simulations and clinical rotations, there are no easily identifiable active learning resources available to supplement didactic perfusion courses. In response, written active learning activities were specifically designed for didactic perfusion courses.MethodsThe activities were designed based on the format for guided inquiry worksheets, the incorporation of the learning cycle, and the implementation of process oriented guided inquiry learning (POGIL) strategies. Key concepts were identified, learning objectives were specified, and models (figures or tables of data) were created as targets of engagement and analysis. Following each model, questions and prompts are given to guide students through identifying, understanding, and exploring the concepts incorporated in the activity as well as opportunities to apply the newly gained knowledge and understanding.ResultsTen active learning activities have been developed based on the methods summarized above.ConclusionWhile the purposes of this paper are to inform the perfusion community of active learning and to share guidelines on how to create active learning activities for didactic perfusion courses, the goals of the activities are to provide examples to perfusion educators and to guide students in understanding basic perfusion concepts in a clinically relevant manner. It is recommended that perfusion students complete these activities alongside their didactic perfusion courses.