From Expert to Facilitator: Unveiling the Teaching Styles of Singapore's Medical Practitioners
1Department of General Medicine, Sengkang General Hospital, Singapore.
Background:
A teaching style is the approach a teacher uses in choosing instructional methods. Grasha's model categorises them as 'expert', 'formal authority', 'personal model', 'facilitator' and 'delegator'. The teaching styles of doctors in Singapore have yet to be studied. In the author's department, teaching is often didactic. This study aimed to explore senior doctors' preferred teaching styles and whether these styles explained the consistent use of didactic approaches.
Methods:
A web-based survey using Grasha's Teaching Styles Inventory (TSI) was conducted among senior doctors in the Department of General Medicine at Sengkang General Hospital, Singapore from September 2020 to February 2021. Participants were recruited through convenience sampling. Due to non-normal distribution, TSI scores were analysed using non-parametric tests, while additional demographic data offered insights into factors influencing these preferences.
Findings:
Out of 68 senior doctors, 40 responded, showing the strongest preference for 'facilitator' teaching style. Female doctors were less likely to adopt 'expert', 'formal authority' and 'personal model' styles than males. Those with formal education training endorsed all teaching styles more than those without, although not all differences were statistically significant. Only 35% of the senior doctors preferred a combination of teaching styles associated with didactic lectures.
Conclusion:
The study showed a preference for student-centred teaching styles among senior doctors and highlighted a disparity between actual teaching practices and preferred teaching styles. These findings provide valuable information for instructional designers to enhance their faculty development programmes and call for further investigation into the persistence of didactic lectures in medical education.
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