Using Debates to Mimic Clinical Discussion in Experiential Education

Abstract

Critical thinking and application of knowledge to an ambiguous patient care scenario are often difficult skills to cultivate in learners. Use of traditional teaching techniques (e.g. topic discussions and journal clubs) helps to develop these competencies within learners. However, alternative teaching strategies may help develop critical thinking and direct application. Debates have been used in healthcare education for decades with positive results. This paper provides supporting evidence for use of debates in pharmacy education and is designed to serve as a general guide for preceptors interested in implementing debates into the experiential setting. Specifically, the objectives are to: 1) highlight the pedagogical outcomes as reported in the literature, 2) offer practical considerations to implement debates as a teaching tool in experiential education, and 3) encourage future research and scholarship in this area.
 
 Type: Idea Paper

Students’ Views of Classroom Debates as a Strategy to Enhance Critical Thinking and Oral Communication Skills

“…Through such activities, the students' critical thinking is promoted. The skill of oral communication in this study is promoted by debates as reported in some previous studies (Hall, 2011;Hartin, 2017;Mumtaz & Latif, 2017;Nisly et al, 2017;Shaw, 2012;Zare & Othman, 2015). The skill of effective communication represents the heart of quality healthcare (Ralph & Moloney, 2015), affecting the success of the outcome of nursing care for patients (Kourkouta & Papathanasiou, 2014).…”

“…Research shows that debates are a pedagogical method that can be applied to promote critical thinking and oral communication skills among students (Doody & Condon, 2012;Hartin, Birks, Bodak, Woods, & Hitchins, 2017). Debates foster self-directed learning, participation in a shared dialogue, and teamwork (Nisly, Kingdon, Janzen, & Dy-Boarman, 2017). Debates allow students to develop knowledge of substantive topics and exercise skills through practice activities (Doody & Condon, 2012;Hartin et al, 2017) and offer the participants the ability to explore a topic in more than one correct stance.…”

“…Debates allow students to develop knowledge of substantive topics and exercise skills through practice activities (Doody & Condon, 2012;Hartin et al, 2017) and offer the participants the ability to explore a topic in more than one correct stance. Furthermore, debates promote students' use of the available evidence to support a stance and communicate a stance to other participants with differing opinions persuasively and professionally (Nisly et al, 2017), as well as increase students' active learning by giving them the responsibility to understand learning materials, which can transform their perspective from passive to active (Rodger & Stewart-Lord, 2020). One form of debates that are conducted in the classroom are known as classroom debates.…”

An Online, Multi-institutional Debate on Diabetes Medications by Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience Students

“…Debates require the exercise of logic, critical thinking skills, clear spontaneous communication, increased breadth of evaluated literature, and a more robust and engaging educational value for attendees. [8][9][10] Students must demonstrate that they can analyze and synthesize literature to argue their position, refute the opposition when necessary and apply data to real life scenarios. Thus, a debate more closely reflects the problem solving skills that are necessary for clinical decision-making during direct patient encounters and collaborative discussions with team members.…”