The document discusses the role of simulation in medical education, emphasizing the importance of cognitive theories and learning sciences to inform and evaluate its effectiveness. It raises questions about the nature of learning in simulation, the roles of participants, and the impact of social and environmental contexts on the learning experience. Additionally, it highlights various theoretical perspectives that can enhance understanding and design of simulations in medical training.

1. Educational Theory and Simulation
Exploring and Understanding Theories
About Why Simulation Works

2. Where am I SaIL
at
SaIL
at
Guy’s
Hospital
King’s
College
from? London
SaIL
at
St
Thomas’
SaIL at
SLAM
SaIL
at
Kings
College
Hospital

3. Who are we? Page
3
1. Nurse or Nurse Practitioner
2. Midwife
3. Doctor
4. Other Healthcare Professional
(e.g., Respiratory Therapist,
Pharmacist, etc)
5. Healthcare Administrator
6. Educator/Academic

4. Objec'ves
Understand how simulation as a medical
education medium can be informed by research
and theory on how people learn.
Propose a few cognitive theoretical perspectives
that could be used to inform the use and
evaluation of simulation in medical education.
Evaluate the applicability of various cognitive
theoretical perspectives on simulation as a
medical education medium.

5. Page
5
“You see, Grandmama,
before you extract the
contents of this bird's egg
by suction, you must make
an incision at one
extremity, and a
corresponding orifice at
the other.”
“Dearie me! And we used
to just make a hole at each
end.”

6. Page
6

7. Page
7

8. Page
8

9. What learning theory is most useful? Page
9
1. Instructional Design Theory/ISD
2. Expert/Novice Skill Acquisition Theory (Dreyfus)
3. See one, do one, teach one
4. Action learning (Argyris), Reflective Practice (Schön)
5. Experiential learning (Kolb, Honey and Mumford)
6. Deliberate Practice (Ericsson), Mastery learning (Bloom)
7. Constructivist Learning (Bruner)
8. Sociocultural theory (Vygotsky)
9. Communities of Practice (Lave and Wenger)
10. YOU DIDN’T LIST MY FAVORITE THEORY!

10. Learning Sciences: Help for Understanding Simulation? Page
10
Cognitive Computer
psychology science
Anthropology
Educational and other
technology What social
happens sciences
in
learning?

11. Page
11

12. Page
12

13. Page
13

14. Learning Sciences Research Questions Page
14
What is the nature of learning
that occurs in simulation?
What does learning look like?
How can we gather evidence of learning?
How is simulation reflective of practice?
How can we design learning experiences in
order to take advantage of what we know
about how people learn?

15. Learning Sciences Research Questions Page
15
Legitimate Peripheral Participation as a lens for
understanding what we are trying to do in simulation
• What roles do learners to take and why?
• What opportunities do we create for safe but legitimate
peripheral participation opportunities for simulation
learners?
• How can we bring highly trained and motivated faculty
into the world of simulation education?
• How do we push some learners to the margins in
simulation learning?

16. Learning Sciences Research Questions Page
16
Situated Cognition as a framework for appreciating,
evaluating, or understanding what is happening in
simulation
• To what extent is learning embedded in the social and
physical contexts of practice?
• How do traditional notions of fidelity need to be re-
examined in order to provide a valuable learning
experience?
• How does true inter-professional education in a
simulated environment impact the learning experience
for doctors, nurses, and midwives?

17. Learning Sciences Research Questions Page
17
Distributed Cognition as a way of understanding how
artifacts, people, and the environment work together
and how learning occurs in those settings
• How is learning to be a medical professional
distributed among the tools, the environment, and
other aspects of the context in which we work?
• How can we create meaningful learning environments
that recognize the distributed nature of our work?
• How does a group of professionals at a GP practice
work together in their own setting to manage rare
emergency events?

18. What
have
we
done?
Look at simulation as a medical education
medium that can be informed by research and
theory on how people learn.
Propose a few cognitive theoretical perspectives
that could be used to inform the use and
evaluation of simulation in medical education.
Evaluate the applicability of various cognitive
theoretical perspectives on simulation as a
medical education medium.

19. The emphasis on finding and describing “knowledge
structures” that are somewhere “inside” the individual
encourages us to overlook the fact that human
cognition is always situated in a complex sociocultural
world and cannot be unaffected by it.
—Hutchins, 1995
Dr Gabriel Reedy
Lecturer in Higher Education
King’s College London
Simulation and Interactive Learning (SaIL Centre)
gabriel.reedy@kcl.ac.uk