SIMULATION PRACTITIONER INQUIRY

Practitioner Inquiry (PI) is model for individuals to develop their own teaching practice and is a great tool for reflective & empowered professional development in healthcare simulation.

The focus is around a question which can be answered - with the focus on a greater understanding of, or change in, practice and therefore enhance learner experiences.

PI projects tend to be small, messy and personal and therefore are unique to the educator and their teaching environment, albeit lessons learnt can sometime be transferable to others. The benefits follow from principles of autonomy (self-chosen focus of development), disruptive innovation (complexity and norms become clearer), while following elements of good research design often may not require full ethical approval (albeit this may be worth discussing with local research groups to check).

To undertake a PI consider addressing the following points:

  1. What is the problem - is the problem really a problem (this may form part of the PI itself)

  2. What is known on the topic (in essence a review of the literature)

  3. How will change be measured (consider PDSA / reflective cycles)

  4. What happened and what was learnt, i.e. how will practice change

  5. What can be shared about personal development / for others

This can roughly be roughly translated into a 'What's going on' followed by subsequent 'What happens if' cycles, commonly seen similarly to quality improvement principles but for teaching. A full review of how to undertake PI is available in the references below, in particular Ref 6, pg 35-58.

Not sure where to start? Get in touch via our CONTACT US page or why not try and FIND A MENTOR who can help?

References:

  1. The General Teaching Council for Scotland - What is Practitioner Enquiry? - https://www.gtcs.org.uk/professional-update/research-and-practitioner-enquiry/practitioner-enquiry/what-is-practitioner-enquiry.aspx

  2. Practitioner_inquiry_and_academic_work-based_learning - https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Laura_Hills/publication/44096511_Practitioner_inquiry_and_academic_work-based_learning/links/00463527102bfb5b22000000/Practitioner-inquiry-and-academic-work-based-learning.pdf

  3. ENGAGING IN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT THROUGH TEACHER PRACTITIONER ENQUIRY: A PRAGMATIC OR NAÏVE APPROACH? - https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/141885561.pdf

  4. Engaging with research through practitioner enquiry: the perceptions of beginning teachers on a postgraduate initial teacher education programme - https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09650792.2012.676310

  5. At Last: Practitioner Inquiry and the Practice of Teaching: Some Thoughts on Better - https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1154&context=gse_pubs

  6. Teachers and Teacher Educators Learning Through Inquiry: International Perspectives - https://researchprofiles.herts.ac.uk/portal/files/12126687/Teachers_and_Teacher_Educators_Learning_Through_Inquiry._International_Perspectives_2017.pdf

  7. Practitioner Enquiry - The Pedagogy Princess blog - https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/glowblogs/uodedukrweportfolio/2015/10/27/practitioner-enquiry/