Mayo Clinic Educator's Central

In this episode of In Practice, Stacy explores the subtle but important difference between coaching and evaluation, and how the way learners experience those interactions can shape openness, growth, and the learning process itself.

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Additional Resources:

What can we realistically teach in five minutes?

In environments where time is limited and demands are constant, educating rarely happens in structured sessions. It happens in motion. And yet, these brief moments hold more potential than we often realize.

In this “In Practice” episode, we explore what meaningful teaching can look like when time is constrained. Drawing from experiences working alongside educators, we explore how narrowing focus, making thinking visible, asking purposeful questions, and closing the loop can transform everyday interactions into powerful learning moments.  Rather than adding more to already full schedules, this episode invites us to rethink where learning is already happening,  and how small, intentional shifts can shape how learners think, reason, and grow.  Because five minutes isn’t enough for everything. But it might be enough for what matters most.

Questions? Feedback? Ideas? Contact us at [email protected]

How do we stay thoughtful, skilled, and grounded as AI accelerates faster than our instincts can adapt?

Questions? Feedback? Ideas? Contact us at [email protected]

Audio Editing: Celina Bertoncini

If medical education is meant to prepare people for the emotional realities of patient care, what might change if we taught students not only to do the work, but to fully inhabit the person they are becoming while doing it? Join host Stacy Craft, and guest Professor Dr. Carvalho Filho, as we explore an unexpected but deeply powerful intersection: the meeting of theater and medical education. Dr. Marco shares how the traditions of the stage, presence, imagination, emotional awareness, and co-creation, offer transformative possibilities for how we train future clinicians. Through stories of working with actors, facilitating embodied learning, and creating safe spaces for vulnerability, he reveals how theater can move education beyond checklists and simulations into something far more human.

We discuss why presence matters more than prescribed communication “skills,” how students can reclaim their identities while learning to care for others, and why cultivating joy, curiosity, and emotional resilience may be essential to the health of both clinicians and the profession itself. From co-constructed simulations to long-form theatrical workshops, this episode invites us to rethink what meaningful learning and meaningful care can look like.

Questions? Feedback? Ideas? Contact us at [email protected]

Audio Editing: Celina Bertoncini

Medical Education Empowered by Theater (MEET)
Batista, M. P., & Rios, I. C. (2020). Medical education empowered by theater: The MEET model. Academic Medicine, 95(4), 578–583. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32134785/

Curtis, F., Lamont, Z., & Waldman, O. (2024). Zoom improv is accessible and enhances medical student empathy: A randomized controlled study. BMC Medical Education, 24, Article 6017. https://bmcmededuc.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12909-024-06017-6

Vigone, G., et al. (2025). Medicine at theatre: A tool for well-being and health-care education. BMC Medical Education, 25, Article 6793. https://bmcmededuc.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s12909-025-06793-9.pdf

Sato, B., & Pinho, V. (2020). Forum theatre as a teaching strategy in health care education. BMC Medical Education, 20, Article 1965. https://bmcmededuc.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12909-020-1965-4

Rzepka, M., & Jagielski, P. (2025). Investigating the influence of role-playing on empathy and perspective-taking in medical learners. Perspectives on Medical Education, 14(1). https://pmejournal.org/en/articles/10.5334/pme.1482

Song, H. J., & Lee, S. (2025). Could empathy be taught? A systematic review of empathy training in medical education. Journal of Medical Systems, 49, Article 2144. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10916-025-02144-9

Thompson, R., & Vyas, K. (2024). The effectiveness of immersive virtual reality in teaching empathy to health-care students. Virtual Reality, 28, 1019–1032. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10055-024-01019-7

Shapiro, J., Morrison, E., & Boker, J. (2011). Using medical humanities to teach empathy to medical students: A scoping review. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 26(8), 981–987. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21268921/

What if the future of medicine depends not just on what learners know—but on who they are becoming? In this thought-provoking episode we sit down with psychologist and medical education expert Joke Fleer to explore the invisible but powerful process of professional identity formation. From the unspoken cultural norms that shape future physicians, to the risks of unchecked assumptions, Fleer unpacks how reflection, self-awareness, and safe learning spaces can help learners stay true to themselves while stepping into demanding professional roles. Whether you’re in healthcare, education, or any high-pressure field, this conversation offers insights that go far beyond the clinic.

Discover why reflection isn’t just a soft skill, and why grading it might be missing the point entirely.

Questions? Feedback? Ideas? Contact us at [email protected]

Audio Editing: Celina Bertoncini

Additional Resources

This month, we are revisiting a classic episode from 2021. Creating effective learning can be complicated – from our biology to our environment, there are a lot of elements that influence outcomes. And how can we get our learners curious anyway, especially in our increasingly digital spaces? Grab a hat and put it on (we mean it…. we’ll wait while you go get it)  because in this episode, celebrated author and science-based learning thinker, Stella Collins, joins Stacy Craft to explore learning and the brain, memory, the powers of sensory experiences, avoiding stagnation, community, and why there is a group of people who think “Brains!” when they bite into a bar of chocolate. We also take time to unpack the LEARNS strategy for designing and providing education that people will remember.

Questions? Feedback? Ideas? Contact us at [email protected]

Stellar Labs Resources

6 Tricks to Making Learning Sticky!  LEARNS

Teacher Centered Vs Learner Centered

Nine Things Educators Need to Know About the Brain

BASIC & LEARNERS Mnemonic/Acronyms

Articles

Benjamin C. Ingman (2019) Novelty and educational experience, The Curriculum Journal, 30:1, 69-90, DOI: 10.1080/09585176.2018.1564684

Tyng, C. M., Amin, H. U., Saad, M. N., & Malik, A. S. (2017). The influences of emotion on learning and memory. Frontiers in psychology, 8, 1454.

Roumell, E. A. (2019). Priming adult learners for learning transfer: Beyond content and delivery. Adult Learning, 30(1), 15-22.

Videos

The Neuroscience of Learning – Bruce McCandliss

Neuroscience, AI and the Future of Education | Scott Bolland | TEDxSouthBank

Stellar Labs Take 5 Video Channel

This month, we are revisiting a classic episode from 2020.  With the continued evolution of emerging technology and the power that AI to help invigorate frameworks like problem based learning, we need to be ready to leverage insights from educational science in ways that can be collaborative and transformative. From workplace training to higher education settings, team based small group activities around problems are a staple. However, when we talk about the models of Team Based Learning vs Problem based Learning, how these interact, differ, where they come from, as well as how to implement them meaningfully, we can sometimes get lost. This can get especially complex when we move these strategies to a virtual environment. In this episode, Stacy Craft talks with esteemed Professor and researcher in the field of innovative learning arrangements Dr. Diana Dolmans from Maastricht University, the Netherlands to shed light on these complex topics as well as help us navigate new spaces that re-envision how we use these principles and translate them into practice.

Questions? Feedback? Ideas? Contact us at [email protected]

Additional Resources

Seven principles of effective case design for a problem-based curriculum

Should we choose between problem-based learning and team-based learning? No, combine the best of both worlds!

Implementation of modified team-based learning within a problem based learning medical curriculum: a focus group study

Problem Based Learning Stanford Commons

How can we create environments and opportunities where connections between educators, students, and meaning not only exists but thrives? Join host Stacy Craft, and guest Professor Dr. Carvalho Filho, as we uncover the power of authentic connections in revolutionizing both education and healthcare, through the transformative concept of the “pedagogy of connection” and its profound impact on medical education and patient care. We explore the critical importance of student-centered education for achieving patient-centered care and the vital role of emotional intelligence in building meaningful relationships with patients. Inspired by Paulo Freire’s educational philosophy, we also explore the need for education to develop critical consciousness and the ability to enact change.

Questions? Feedback? Ideas? Contact us at [email protected]

Audio Editing: Celina Bertoncini

How can we distill complex medical concepts into bite-sized, engaging content? What role does social media play in revolutionizing education? Can nano learning connect learners and foster a community of shared knowledge? Join host Stacy Craft and guest Dr. Catherine Albin, a neurointensivist and clinical educator at Emory University School of Medicine to delve into the innovative world of “tweetorials” and nano-learning, exploring how these bite-sized educational tools are transforming medical education and all education.

Special Thanks to Dr. Andrea Leep Hunderfund

Questions? Feedback? Ideas? Contact us at [email protected]

Audio Editing: Celina Bertoncini

To close out the year, we are revisiting a classic episode from 2020- because it feels important and timely.  With the rise of personalized learning and the power that AI to help us meet the dream of personalized learning, we are now, more than ever, ready to leverage insights from educational science in ways that can be helpful and not helpful.  Many new technologies have emerged promising to identify learner’s Learning Styles and customized learning experiences to align with learning styles. So, understanding the differences between learning styles, preferences, and their impact on learning has become crucial to creating more effective and personalized learning experiences.

FROM 2020: Let’s talk about learning styles! The idea that we learn better in our “preferred learning style” is pretty pervasive and has become part of popular culture. Scores of consumer sites sell and promote various examples and models, urging people to “find your learning style”. But, is there any evidence to support this? As educators, do we have a duty to follow the science? Join Stacy Craft and Associate Professor of Psychology Dr. Tesia Marshik as they unpack the learning styles neuromyth, the culture around this popular idea, why it is harmful and how to persevere to create quality effective educational experiences that still allow learners to reflect on how they learn.

Questions? Feedback? Ideas? Contact us at [email protected]

Additional Resources

Sun, X. (2024). Debunking the Myth of Learning Styles: A Case for Evidence-Based Instruction and Communication. Intercom.

The Myth of Learning Styles by Cedar Riener and Daniel Willingham

Stop propagating the learning styles myth by Paul A. Kirschner

Learning Styles as a Myth – Yale University

Daily Prompt: Learning Styles

Videos:

https://youtu.be/NvM4mnEIxuQ – The Myth of Individual Learning Styles with Dr. Robert Bjork

Learning Styles and the importance of critical self-reflection with Tesia Marshik – TEDxUWLaCrosse – https://youtu.be/855Now8h5Rs

Books:

Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning by by Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III, Mark A. McDaniel