UMMS CRIT Teaching & Leadership: Small Group Facilitation Skills Susan J. Pasquale, PhD, MT-BC, NMT Director, Curriculum & Faculty Development

UMMS CRIT Teaching & Leadership: Small Group Facilitation Skills

Susan J. Pasquale, PhD, MT-BC, NMTDirector, Curriculum & Faculty Development

UMMS CRIT 2010 Teaching & Learning: Small Group Facilitation

Advancing Geriatrics Education (AGE) A UMMS initiative funded by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• Describe at least 1 key element of preparation for small group

teaching

• Identify at least 2 skills the effective facilitator needs to bring to

small group teaching

Learning Objectives



Offer one thing the effective facilitator needs to do to prepare

for small group teaching.

~ OR ~

Offer one skill the effective facilitator needs to bring to small

group teaching.



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…guide, probe and support students’ initiatives, not lecture, direct or

provide easy solutions. Faculty should empower students to take a

responsible role in their learning – and as a result, faculty must be

ready to yield some of their own authority in the learning

environment to their students.

Albanese, M.A. & Mitchell, S (1993), and Engel, J. (1991)

The facilitator’s role is to…



• Stop learners at critical points and ask them to elaborate on what

they are thinking

• Clarify why specific questions were asked

• Probe learners’ understanding of principles and concepts

• Summarize what is known and not known about the problem/issue

at hand

Effective facilitators…



• Build on comments made by learners

• Before intervening, listen as learners develop their ideas through

prolonged periods of discussion with one another

• Encourage learners to:

– Listen fully to each other

– Tolerate silence

– Interrupt one another infrequently

– Focus on areas in which they feel the greatest confusion or lack of

knowledge

– Assess their learning needs

Effective facilitators…



• Experience an open exchange of ideas

• Receive feedback from colleagues

• Examine their own beliefs and behaviors

• Incorporate new learning into their own personal repertoires

…pay attention to:

• Preparation (e.g., structure, roles)

• Process as well as content

Create a supportive environment in which learners can...



Prepare Ask Evaluate

1. Identify your key questions in advance.2. Prepare strategies for asking questions.3. After you ask a question, wait for an answer.4. Adapt questions to the level of learners’ abilities.5. Ask questions logically and sequentially.6. Vary the cognitive skills your questions ask for. 7. Follow-up on learners’ responses.

General Strategies for Effective Questioning



1. Exploratory questions

2. Challenge questions

3. Action questions

4. Cause-and effect questions

5. Extension questions

6. Hypothetical questions

7. Priority questions

8. Summary questions

8 Types of Questions



Documents

UMMS CRIT Teaching & Leadership: Small Group Facilitation Skills Susan J. Pasquale, PhD, MT-BC, NMT Director, Curriculum & Faculty Development