Foundations of SP Methodology Part I: Personnel

The first session of the Foundations series discusses the personnel and people involved in presentation of human simulation and what roles they play to present valuable educational events to learners. This session begins with the history of SP methodology followed by presentation and discussion on staffing and structure of SP programs. Then a significant portion of the workshop will focus on recruitment, hiring, and retaining of SPs.

Activities will include discussion, interactive simulation, large and small group conversation circles, opportunities for reflection and portfolio development. Templates, key resources, ASPE Standards of Best Practice (SOBP) and references will be provided. This workshop is intended to provide novice SP Educators (SPE) the tools to implement a successful SP program.  More experienced participants may gain a deeper understanding of SP methodology and how it applies to individual practice.

Foundations of SP Methodology will connect extensively to the ASPE SOBP and aligns with ASPE Modules presented through the Center for SP Methodology, which are recommended for attendees to access prior to attending this workshop. The presentation features thought leaders in SP Methodology as well as innovators of new opportunities in SP Methodology.

Research I: Basics of Scholarship

This Basics of Scholarship workshop is an immersive course providing foundational research skills to support SP Educators in transforming their daily work into scholarship.

Foundations of SP Methodology Part II: Programming  

The second session of the Foundations series will provide participants the opportunity to develop tools and strategies for building and developing the programming of their SP programs at a micro-level. This session begins with case development, providing attendees the content and experience of understanding how to develop a case that aligns with learning objectives and ASPE Standards of Best Practice (SOBP). The session then explores the role of assessment and how to set up programming to meet assessment needs. Finally, this session discusses the role of SP Training for successful programming. This portion of the workshop identifies training methods, training strategies for case portrayal and feedback, standardizing across SPs, assessing SPs and feedback. 

Activities include discussion, interactive simulation, large and small group conversation circles, opportunities for reflection and portfolio development. Templates, key resources, ASPE’s SOBP, and references will be provided. Novice SP Educators (SPE) will benefit most from this workshop. However, more experienced participants may gain a deeper understanding of SP methodology and how it applies to individual practice.

Foundations of SP Methodology will connect extensively to the ASPE SOBP and aligns with ASPE Modules presented through the Center for SP Methodology, which are recommended for attendees to access prior to attending this workshop. The presentation features thought leaders in SP Methodology as well as innovators of new opportunities in SP Methodology.

Research II: Foundations of Quantitative and Qualitative Methods

This workshop supports participants with basic knowledge/skills for quantitative and qualitative research methods. This is critical, as SP Educators must consider scholarly dissemination as part of project design and implementation. The first half of this workshop defines quantitative research principles of reliability and validity, reviews examples of validity evidence, and applies these concepts in the context of SP methodology. As multiple validity frameworks are available, clarification is needed so that SP Educators can be discerning as they develop and evaluate the quality of their assessments. The second half of this workshop explores basic qualitative research principles including crafting research questions, interviewing, focus groups, participant observation, coding, and more. Qualitative methods are most useful for answering open-ended research questions that consider how and why certain phenomenon exist in the world around us. Participants will receive qualitative study examples related to healthcare education as they consider applications to their own simulation work.

Foundations of SP Methodology Part III: Program Management 

This workshop will provide participants the opportunity to develop tools and strategies for managing their SP program on a macro level. This session begins with a discussion on leadership, followed by strategic management of a SP program. Next, the session covers policy and procedure and will explore information and communication management for a SP program. Finally, this workshop concludes with an exploration of advanced SP program management concepts, such as managing a virtual program, and working with diverse groups of people to ensure successful program administration. 
Activities include discussion, interactive simulation, large and small group conversation circles, opportunities for reflection, and portfolio development. Templates, key resources, ASPEs standards of best practice and references will be provided. More experienced SP Educators will benefit most from this workshop. However, novice SP Educators experienced participants may gain a deeper understanding of SP methodology and how it applies to large SP program systems. Foundations of SP Methodology will connect extensively to the ASPE SOBP and aligns with ASPE Modules presented through the Center for SP Methodology, which are recommended for attendees to access prior to attending this workshop. The presentation features thought leaders in SP Methodology as well as innovators of new opportunities in SP Methodology. This workshop is highly recommended for new human simulation program builders/directors and new SP educators. Attendees are encouraged to access lessons on the ASPE's Center for SP Methodology prior to attending this workshop to support prerequisite learning.

Research III: Essentials of Survey Design and Analysis

This workshop provides foundational skills in survey design and data analysis. Surveys are an important tool for gathering information about every aspect of SP work. This session will enable participants to create more reliable surveys to improve the quality of their program evaluation and scholarship.

Exploring the Application of the ASPE Standards of Best Practice Via Case Studies

The ASPE Standards of Best Practice (SOBP) consist of five domains with associated principles, practices, and values to guide optimal application. Importantly, the ASPE SOBP are aligned with the Healthcare Simulation Standards of Best Practice^TM and the SSH Healthcare Simulationist Code of Ethics. The purpose of this workshop is to provide attendees the opportunity to learn, share, and apply ASPE SOBP via case studies as well as explore application of the ASPE SOBP with our affiliates' adjunct simulation standards of practice and aspirational values.

Capacity Analysis: Using a Simple Metric to Tell Your Story

As simulation education methodology advances and grows, program leaders often struggle to articulate a convincing need for additional staffing. The search for an effective way to quantify the 'busy-ness' that simulation programs experience continues to be a challenge. Further, the often-used benchmarking tool that reports the quantity of education hours delivered is unable to capture the wide range of course development and course evaluation work that is necessary before and after any given course or training. Program leaders have a critical need to be able to articulate resource utilization and needs to a variety of stakeholders.

Given a lack of established protocols for measuring productivity capacity, the session's presenters have worked together with other simulation programs to define, develop and implement a successful process which quantifies staffing capacity and productivity through data collection, analysis, and insight. Furthermore, each center has begun translating the information into a compelling story to solicit buy-in from stakeholders and promote staff retention and engagement.

During the workshop, participants will be introduced to the staffing capacity analysis tool and have the opportunity to customize and apply their staffing in order to quantify and target program capacity more accurately. Discussion of appropriate data collection, identification of key metrics, and translation of the data to compelling stories will be included.

This shared model of staffing capacity gives simulation programs relevant data to successfully benchmark staffing appropriately and accurately, providing quantifiable justification for program growth. In addition to the capacity tool, participants will gain access to other known simulation programs using similar methodology, allowing further benchmarking collaboration in the industry.

Identifying Behaviors: Training SPs to Be Better Observers

A challenge in training individuals to be proficient in completing checklists and/or providing feedback lies in developing their observational skills. This workshop will outline the use of a tool to train SPs to become stronger, self-reflective, observers. The Behavior-Inference-Judgment (BIJ) conceptual model is a framework that allows individuals to sort their reactions to a situation in three categories: behaviors observed, inferences made, and resulting judgments. In context with simulated/standardized patients (SPs) this model is a simple, reflection tool so SPs can practice reflecting on their thought process as it relates to their experience in simulation. Given the cognitive load and attentional demands of SPs, training SPs to develop their ability to notice learner behaviors and articulate how those behaviors impact overall impressions can be an important step. Further, applying a framework that trains SPs to distinguish behavior from inference to judgment can allow SPs to exercise their observational skills in ways that account for factors such as emotional strain and bias. This model promotes the importance of increased awareness regarding an individual’s ability to articulate behavioral observations and additional contributors that influence their inferences. An additional impact is the ability to identify non-behavioral contributors to inferences as they relate to mitigating the impact of bias and preconceptions on scoring and feedback. Participants will engage in theory bursts, large and small group discussions, and will practice applying the model in varying contexts (e.g. art analysis, clinical context).