Active Learning in medical physics

Yesterday, November 7, 2023, the AAPM Community of Medical Physics Educators Subcommittee (CMPESC) hosted a virtual Educator Club on Introduction to Active Learning over Zoom for AAPM members. 

​The session opened with a discussion on the benefits of active learning in medical physics education, emphasizing the significance of student engagement and hands-on activities.

A poll was conducted to gauge the participants' familiarity with active learning strategies, with 27% of participants reporting they were currently not incorporating active learning strategies in their teaching practice.

​Participants were divided into small group breakout rooms to discuss past experiences with passive lectures, success stories of active learning approaches, feasible active learning examples to incorporate into medical physics education, how to overcome associated challenges, and methods for creating a supportive environment to encourage student participation. The participants then reunited as a large group to share highlights from their discussions, including the concept of classroom psychology, specific examples of active learning strategies, the creation of a repository for medical physics education materials, and the power of project-based learning in residency education.

The group agreed that there is room for expansion on this topic and the value of creating topic-specific cohorts for further collaboration in the future.

The next Educator Club is on Tuesday, December 5, on Giving Effective Feedback: How can we provide better feedback to our learners for a growth mindset?

​AAPM members can signup here: https://w3.aapm.org/education/club/