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Developing and Implementing an Educational Research Agenda
Elizabeth Hoppe
Health Professions Educational Research SymposiumNova Southeastern University
January 14, 2007
Disclaimer!• Not representing the views of any
organization or institution
• Solely my opinions
• What I look for as an administrator when I am mentoring or evaluating a faculty member
• What I wish someone had told me!
Step One: Make sure your institution values and rewards educational
research!
Two Important Things:Value and Reward
• Tangible benefits: grant $
(with indirects)specific benefit to the program
(e.g., improved retention rates, better board scores)
• Merit, promotion and tenure documents
Grants – the Sad StoryFund for the Improvement of Post Secondary Education (FIPSE)
Appropriations 2000 - 2006
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
$million
Grants – the Sad Story
• FIPSE – no projects were funded in 2005
• Competition reinstated in 2006
• Federal funding in 2007 will be frozen at last year’s levels
-- The Chronicle of Higher Education
January 5, 2007
Grants – A new opportunity?
• What about private foundations?
• Has anybody had any success?
• What about professional associations?
• Has anybody had any success?
Rewards
• Merit, Promotion and Tenure documents
• Educational research should show up in 2 places:
Teaching
Scholarly Activity (Research)
• “Two-fers” are not cheating! Document your work in both areas for each project
Teaching
• Not usually a problem for most health professions educators
• Document using teaching portfolio
• Another topic for another day!
Scholarly Activity
• Gold Standard: Peer-reviewed publication
• Alternatives are often less valuedon-line or e-journalsposterspresentations
• Do both – poster or presentation first, followed by a peer-reviewed publication
Focus, Focus, Focus!
• Advantages:easier literature reviewsynergistic effortsreputationimpact
• Stick with it for a while (3-5 years)• You can pick another focus when you
are done
Your Research Agenda
• Plan each project to get multiple benefits
• Maximize your benefits and results from limited funding available
• It’s not “cheating” – it’s good academic strategy!
Hypothetical Example…
• You decide to implement a new learning module about providing health care to individuals with significant physical disabilities
• Document your teaching activity via your teaching portfolio
• Structure an assessment plan
Hypothetical Example…
• Look for a validated instrument to measure student knowledge, attitudes, beliefs that has been published in the literature
• Can be advantageous to look in other disciplines
Hypothetical Example…• Research Design Gold Standard -- RCT
Students enrolled in study – baselineassessment of
knowledge, attitudesbeliefs
RA
ND
OM
IZE
Educational Intervention
No or Other Intervention
MEASURE, CLASSIFY, COMPARE
Hypothetical Example…Publications List
• “Optometry Students’ Knowledge, Attitudes and Beliefs about People with Physical Disabilities”
• Description of baseline survey instrument results and student characteristics associated with responses (e.g. gender, age, undergrad major, GPA)
• Poster/Presentation #1
• Peer-reviewed Manuscript #1
Hypothetical Example…Publications List
• “A Model Curriculum to Teach Optometry Students about Patients with Physical Disabilities”
• Description of the curriculum you have designed, theoretical constructs, why it’s important
• Poster/Presentation #2
• Peer-reviewed Manuscript #2
Hypothetical Example…Publications List
• “Effectiveness of an Educational Intervention on Improving Student Attitudes about the Disabled”
• Results from your RCT, heavy on statistical analysis
• Poster/Presentation #3
• Peer-reviewed Manuscript #3
Hypothetical Example…Publications List
• If your validated instrument came from another discipline…
• “A comparison of attitudes towards people with disabilities – does choice of health profession reflect differences?”
• Compare the results from your students versus the results from the other study, e.g. optometry and nursing
• Poster/Presentation #4• Peer-reviewed Manuscript #4
What have we published lately?
• Optometric Education
• Descriptions of curricular changes, classes, or teaching techniques
• Assessment of effectiveness of a class or curricular component
• Surveys describing some characteristics or aspects of educational programs, faculty, residents, or students
Do you want to publish?
• If you presented something at this meeting – What are your plans to publish it?
• Optometric Education
www.opted.org
Thank You!
time for discussion / questions?
