Exploring teachers' motivation to teach: A multisite study on the associations with the work climate, students' motivation, and teaching approaches

What influences clinical educators' motivation to teach? A BEME systematic review and framework synthesis based on self-determination theory: BEME Review No. 90

BACKGROUND

Health professions learners are taught by full-time university faculty and by clinicians who teach alongside their clinical practice. This distributed healthcare education model ensures high-quality education but is at risk due to high learner demand, shortage of educators, and economic pressures. Understanding what factors influence clinical educators' motivation to teach may contribute to the model's sustainability and educator retention. The present review therefore aimed to systematically search and synthesise factors influencing clinical educators' motivation to teach.

METHODS

Multiple databases, relevant journals, and the grey literature were searched for studies reporting on clinical educators' motivation to teach. Data were analysed using a framework synthesis method, based on self-determination theory's amotivation (e.g. disinterest or unachievable challenges), controlled (e.g. interest in rewards or pressure avoidance), and autonomous (e.g. personal importance and interest) concepts, and nested within a motivation from 'above' (i.e. interactions with stakeholders and societal expectations), 'within' (i.e. personal beliefs and personality dispositions), and 'below' (i.e. perception on learners' motivation and engagement) framework.

RESULTS

Twenty-nine studies were included, published between 1998 and 2022, which reported on educators from diverse disciplines and settings. Educators reported autonomous over controlled motivation to teach, favouring enjoyment, connectedness, professional development, feeling valued for their teaching efforts, and altruistic reasons to teach, over being motivated by incentives and rewards. These results are presented in relation to their origin, as factors influencing motivation 'above', 'within', and 'below'.

CONCLUSIONS

Results from this study have important implications for the development of contextual strategies to optimise learning/work environments and maximise autonomous reasons to teach, enhancing clinical educators' job satisfaction and retention.

Exploring motivators and challenges for preceptors to teach in the clinical settings: a survey-based study

BACKGROUND

The retention of qualified faculty in medical colleges is hindered by low salaries and inadequate faculty-to-student ratios, despite intrinsic motivators like job satisfaction playing a critical role in faculty motivation. This study aims to understand and address the specific motivating factors and constraints within Saudi Arabia's medical education sector.

METHODOLOGY

A cross-sectional, validated online survey was conducted from November 2023 to January 2024 among physicians in Saudi Arabia's governmental and private sectors. Participants ranked teaching motivators and challenges using a Likert scale ranging from 5 (very important) to 1 (not very important). The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Chi-square test.

RESULTS

Of the 145 respondents, 62.1% were male, with a mean age of 38.2 years (SD = 8.9). Saudi nationals comprised 54.5% of the sample. Sharing knowledge (64%) and educating the next generation (63%) were the top motivators. Notably, student preparedness was crucial for 45.5%. In contrast, extrinsic factors like financial gain (20%) and recognition events (9.7%) ranked lowest. The main challenges were heavy clinical workload (31.3%) and lack of time (28%).

CONCLUSION

Preceptors were primarily motivated by intrinsic factors, with student preparedness being the most significant external factor. Time constraints and clinical workload were the major challenges to teaching. These insights can guide strategies to better support clinical educators.

The effect of flipped learning on students' basic psychological needs and its association with self-esteem

BACKGROUND

Modification of the learning environment enhances academic performance, and meta-motivational skills. Yet it is largely unknown which underlying cause potentiates these effects. The study's goal is to analyse flipped classroom (FC) effect on basic psychological needs and self-esteem.

METHODS

40 undergraduate medical students participated in a one-site two phased study. In Phase I, students attended a traditional lecture-based classroom (TC). In Phase II, the same group attended FC. Upon completion of each Phase students completed two questionnaires: Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale, and Rosenberg self-esteem scale.

RESULTS

Autonomy satisfaction was significantly higher in FC (n = 40, z = 5.520, p < .001), the same tendency was seen for Competence satisfaction in FC (n = 40, z = 5.122, p < .001). As for the frustration of all three needs, the statistical difference was observed for all three subscales between TC and FC. In FC, autonomy (n = 40, z = - 5.370, p < .001), relatedness (n = 40, z = 4.187, p < .001), and competence (n = 40, z = - 5.323, p < .001) frustration was significantly lower. Self-esteem was significantly higher in FC (n = 40, z = 5.528, p < .001). In TC self-esteem negatively correlated with autonomy frustration, (r(38) = - 0.430, p < .01), and competence frustration, (r(38) = - 0.379, p < .05). In FC, self-esteem positively correlated with autonomy satisfaction (r(38) = 0.316, p < .05), and competence satisfaction (r(38) = 0.429, p < .01).

CONCLUSIONS

FC better fulfils students' basic psychological needs, specifically needs for autonomy and competence, and self-esteem compared to TC. Collaborative work, and academic scaffolding, contributes to behavioural engagement of students in the learning process. FC with the main focus on students' active involvement may better meet millennials' needs. Implementing validated questionnaires to measure students' psychological needs should become a regular practice in medical schools, specifically during the process of curriculum redesign.

The implementation of an active inquiry learning centered "7E" teaching mode in the cell biology course enhances the learning effects of postgraduate students

The primary objective of science postgraduate education is to foster students' capacity for creative thinking and problem-solving, particularly in the context of scientific research quality. In order to achieve this goal, the "7E" teaching mood has been implemented in the cell biology course for postgraduate students to promote student-centered active inquiry learning instead of breaking away from traditional indoctrination-based teaching methods. This study demonstrates that the implementation of the "7E" teaching mode, through content programming, process design, and effect evaluation, effectively meets the needs of the majority of students, fosters their interest in learning, enhances their performance in comprehensive questioning, and enhances their innovative abilities in scientific research. Consequently, this research offers a theoretical framework and practical foundation for the development of the "7E" teaching mode in postgraduate courses, aiming to cultivate highly skilled scientific professionals.

Optimizing teacher basic need satisfaction in distributed healthcare contexts

Optimizing teacher motivation in distributed learning environments is paramount to ensure high-quality education, as medical education is increasingly becoming the responsibility of a larger variety of healthcare contexts. This study aims to explore teaching-related basic need satisfaction, e.g. teachers' feelings of autonomy, competence and relatedness in teaching, in different healthcare contexts and to provide insight into its relation to contextual factors. We distributed a digital survey among healthcare professionals in university hospitals (UH), district teaching hospitals (DTH), and primary care (PC). We used the Teaching-related Basic Need Satisfaction scale, based on the Self-Determination theory, to measure teachers' basic needs satisfaction in teaching. We studied relations between basic need satisfaction and perceived presence of contextual factors associated with teacher motivation drawn from the literature. Input from 1407 healthcare professionals was analyzed. PC healthcare professionals felt most autonomous, UH healthcare professionals felt most competent, and DTH healthcare professionals felt most related. Regardless of work context, teachers involved in educational design and who perceived more appreciation and developmental opportunities for teaching reported higher feelings of autonomy, competence, and relatedness in teaching, as did teachers who indicated that teaching was important at their job application. Perceived facilitators for teaching were associated with feeling more autonomous and related. These results can be utilized in a variety of healthcare contexts for improving teaching-related basic need satisfaction. Recommendations for practice include involving different healthcare professionals in educational development and coordination, forming communities of teachers across healthcare contexts, and addressing healthcare professionals' intentions to be involved in education during job interviews.

Work Climate Scale in Emergency Services: Abridged Version

This study is based on a 40-item work climate scale in hospital emergency services (WCSHES). Teams working in these emergency services experience a heavy workload and have a limited amount of time with each patient. COVID-19 has further complicated these existing issues. Therefore, we believed it would be helpful to draft an abridged version of the 40-item WCSHES, considering both validity and reliability criteria, but giving greater weight to validity. One hundred and twenty-six workers between the ages of 20 to 64 (M = 32.45; standard deviation (SD = 9.73)) years old participated voluntarily in the study. The validity, reliability, and fit model were evaluated in an iterative process. The confirmatory factor analysis yielded appropriate global fit indices in the abridged 24-item version (Χ²(248) = 367.84; p < 0.01, RMSEA = 0.06 with an interval of 90% from 0.05 to 0.07, SRMR = 0.08, GFI = 0.9, AGFI = 0.96, CFI = 0.98, NFI = 0.95, and NNFI = 0.98), along with test criteria validity (ρ_XY = 0.68, p < 0.001) and excellent reliability (α = 0.94 and ω = 0.94), maintaining the same conceptualization and usefulness of the original scale. The abridged 24-item version was used to measure four work climate factors (work satisfaction, productivity/achievement of aims, interpersonal relations, and performance at work). Evidence of the usefulness of the new abridged scale is provided along with a description of our study limitations and future areas for development.

Supporting motivation in teams working remotely: The role of basic psychological needs

The current disruptive and abrupt transition to remote activities that educational institutions are facing represents a major challenge for the entire academic community. While most concerns have centred on how learning activities may successfully transit from face-to-face to remote delivery, little attention has been given to how educators can be supported in this new unchartered territory. In this article, we discuss the crucial role of team leaders and how their management and leadership style may have great potential to support educators' motivation. Based on Self-determination Theory, we offer a framework through which team leaders may contribute to create optimal remote working environments for educators. We argue that educators' autonomous motivation depends on how they perceive their remote work environment as supportive of their basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence and relatedness. Then, we highlight a series of practical recommendations by which team leaders may be more needs-supportive. Working from home requires space, trust, open communication and flexibility, especially considering that team members may have different clinical or personal circumstances. We therefore hope these suggestions are helpful to cultivate educators' autonomous motivation, which is beneficial not only for themselves but also for others in their institution, including their co-workers and students.