The Use of Cognitive Task Analysis to Reveal the Instructional Limitations of Experts in the Teaching of Procedural Skills

Abstract

This study supports previous research that experts unintentionally omit knowledge when describing a procedure. CTA is a useful method to extract automated knowledge and augment expert knowledge recall during teaching.

Standardizing bimanual vaginal examination using cognitive task analysis

“…Prior CTA research has targeted advanced procedures where finger movements can be visualized and may cause significant risk of physical harm to the patient . Risks associated with BVE are related to patient distress and diagnostic failures rather than to physical harm.…”

“…Firstly, the examination is “blind” in that internal finger movements cannot be visualized by the student or teacher. Students rely on the teacher's ability to verbalize their actions; however, some processes may be unconscious and experts are poor at verbalizing the steps . Secondly, the BVE process is not standardized and it may vary across subspecialties, which may result in students missing key steps for a safe examination, as well as adding more advanced steps that are beyond their educational needs and capabilities.…”

“…Students rely on the teacher's ability to verbalize their actions; however, some processes may be unconscious and experts are poor at verbalizing the steps. 8 Secondly, the BVE process is not standardized 7 and it may vary across subspecialties, which may result in students missing key steps for a safe examination, as well as adding more advanced steps that are beyond their educational needs and capabilities. Thirdly, obtaining clinical experience is increasingly difficult 9 as patients are reluctant to undergo intimate examinations for teaching purposes.…”

Defining Competencies for Ultrasound‐Guided Bedside Procedures

“…However, adjusted for multiple comparisons, there were no significant differences in the responses from experts in Calgary compared with those outside Calgary (data not shown), suggesting that regional differences between the groups are less likely to be profound. Last, by choosing experts to complete these surveys, we cannot exclude the possibility that automaticity in their knowledge/skills may have paradoxically made them more susceptible than nonexperts to omitting the most basic competencies 25 , 26 …”

Pediatric airway management education and training

“…Advanced airway learners can teach basic airway management or tracheal intubation to those not yet competent. Research shows that it is not necessarily the subject matter experts that make the best instructors, as basic elements of a task become automated over time, and experts, therefore, unintentionally omit cognitive components and decision steps when explaining the task to be performed …”