Theories of learning and teaching methods used in postgraduate education in the health sciences: a scoping review.

Objective: The objective of this scoping review was to determine the theories of learning and methods used in teaching in postgraduate education in the health sciences. The longer-term objective was to use the information gathered to design a workshop for teachers of postgraduate students.

Introduction: Whilst undergraduate teaching in the health sciences has received considerable attention in the literature in terms of methods used, innovative ideas and outcomes, the same cannot be said of postgraduate education. A considerable amount of postgraduate teaching takes place in the workplace and often in the form of informal teaching. The increasing complexity of health problems calls for innovative teaching.

Inclusion criteria: Papers included in this review were those that considered postgraduate education in the health science disciplines, including but not limited to medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, pharmacy and dentistry, and that described theories of learning and/or teaching methods used in teaching.

Methods: Five databases were searched for the period 2001 through 2016. PubMed yielded the most records (3142). No relevant papers were identified through hand searching of the references of the included papers. A data extraction table was developed and used to extract relevant information from included papers.

Results: Sixty-one papers were included in the review. Most of the included papers were from the USA, with 17 published in 2015. Descriptive study designs were the most frequently identified study design. Most of the papers were from the medical disciplines. Twenty-seven papers did not refer to a teaching and learning theory, a further group referred to a theory but often towards the end of the paper, and seven papers had as their focus the importance of theories in medical education. The theories named were of a wide variety. Likewise, a wide range of teaching methods were identified.

Conclusions: It is clear that a range of theories and teaching methods are used in postgraduate health science education, with educators feeling the need to explore more innovative methods.