A CASE-STUDY APPROACH - FELLOWS PERCEPTIONS OF A TEACHING COURSE

Objective: To determine general and behavioral pediatric fellows' perc eptions of a formal teaching course. Design: Qualitative research desi gn using a case-study approach. Setting: Children's Hospital in Boston , Mass. Participants: All first-year general and behavioral pediatric fellows (n=5) taking the teaching course. Intervention: A 12-week teac hing course given to all participants. Measurements/Main Results: Data were collected using questionnaires completed by fellows; focused, op en-ended interviews with fellows; and student ratings of fellows' teac hing. Analysis revealed that after the course, the fellows perceived ' 'teaching'' as an interactive, student-directed process; attained a gr eater awareness of the value of feedback; recognized new teaching oppo rtunities; and changed their teaching strategies to reflect student-di rected teaching. Conclusion: This formal course influenced fellows' ap proach to teaching.