GSDM Faculty Participates in Faculty Development Program
Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine (GSDM) faculty members participated in two day-long Faculty Development Programs on Monday, December 21 and Tuesday, December 22, 2015. The theme for these two programs was “Critical Thinking Strategies for Health Professional Education.”
While both programs had the same general theme, the program on Monday, December 21 was specifically designed for all faculty, while the program on Tuesday, December 22 was specifically designed for Course Directors and Program Directors.
GSDM faculty members were joined on both days by faculty members from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Sargent College.
Both programs consisted of four sessions from Dr. Gerald Nosich, a noted authority on critical thinking and a former faculty member in the Department of Philosophy and Humanities at the State University of New York College at Buffalo. The sessions were designed to build and refine the faculty member’s critical thinking abilities, while teaching them skills to encourage critical thinking in the classroom.
After a brief breakfast, welcome addresses were delivered from Dr. Judith Jones, Assistant Dean for Faculty Development and Director of the Center for Clinical Research; and Dr. Neal Fleisher, Clinical Professor in the Department of General Dentistry and Director of Pre-doctoral Periodontology.
The first of the four sessions provided attendees with an introduction to critical thinking that focused on two main questions: “what is critical thinking?” and “why should we teach for critical thinking?”
The second of the four sessions focused on the “elements of reasoning.” This session allowed participants to analyze an important question or problem their students must think through in their classes, and to reflect on how the “elements of reasoning” can be used to solve that and other questions or problems.
The third session dealt with the “Standards of Critical Thinking.” In this session, participants were taught the steps of critical thinking—state, elaborate, exemplify, and illustrate—and discussed ways to help students internalize and apply the steps themselves.
The final session, session four, wrapped things up by allowing participants to discuss with each other different teaching strategies that they could use to encourage and grow a critical thinking culture in their classrooms.
GSDM Faculty Development Programs take place twice a year. The next Faculty Development program will take place in July, 2016.
“We were very excited to have Dr. Nosich come to GSDM,” said Dr. Jones. “His work made us think about how we can better teach our students to think critically so they learn to provide the best care for their patients.
She continued, “It was a great opportunity to learn from and be with our colleagues: physicians and physician assistants from the Medical Campus and faculty from Sargent College.”
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