title: Use of narratives to enhance learning of research ethics in residents and researchers.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Past didactic pedagogy on biomedical research ethics and informed consent in our program had resulted in passive memorization of information and disengaged learning within psychiatry residents and clinical researchers. The question is how do we better motivate and engage learners within the session. Thus, we incorporated narratives into the learning environment and hypothesised that the use of narratives in the teaching of biomedical research ethics and informed consent would be associated with greater engagement, motivation, understanding, reflective learning and effectiveness of the teaching session.
  
  
  METHODS
  The narratives were chosen from the history of research ethics and the humanities literature related to human subject research. Learners were asked to provide post-session feedback through an anonymised questionnaire on their learning session. An outcomes logic model was used for assessment with focus on immediate outcomes such as engagement, motivation, understanding and reflective learning.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, 70.5% (N = 273) of the learners responded to the questionnaire. Amongst the respondents, 92.6% (N = 253) of the participants ranked use of narratives as most helpful in appreciating the historical context of research ethics and informed consent in research. The majority felt engaged (89.8%, N = 245), more motivated to learn (77.5%, N = 212) and better equipped (86.4%, N = 236) about the subject matter. Better appreciation of the learning topic, engagement, motivation to learn, equipping were strongly correlated with the promotion of reflective learning, effectiveness of teaching, promotion of critical thinking and overall positive rating of the teaching session on research ethics (all p < 0.001). Multivariate analyses found that the use of narratives was associated with higher overall rating of the teaching session (p = 0.003) and promotion of critical thinking (p = 0.02).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results revealed that the use of narratives could enhance engagement, appreciation of biomedical research ethics and informed consent, and address underlying motivational factors behind learning and understanding of research ethics.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Psychiatry, Institute of Mental Health, 10 Buangkok View, 539747, Singapore. kang_sim@imh.com.sg.|Research Division, Institute of Mental Health, 10 Buangkok View, 539747, Singapore. kang_sim@imh.com.sg.
authors.forename: Kang
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sim
authors.affiliation: Research Division, Institute of Mental Health, 10 Buangkok View, 539747, Singapore. min_yi_sum@imh.com.sg.
authors.forename: Min Yi
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Sum
authors.affiliation: Health Professions Education program, Center for Interprofessional Studies and Innovation , Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions, Charlestown Navy Yard, 36 First Avenue, Boston, MA, 02129-4557, USA. DNavedo@mghihp.edu.
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Navedo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate / Q000379:methods*; D004521:Educational Measurement; D004992:Ethics, Medical / Q000193:education*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007858:Learning; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D033262:Narration; D058996:Quality Improvement; D012108:Research Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods*