Do they teach what they need to? An analysis of the impact of curriculum mapping on the learning objectives taught in a lecture series in surgery

• Published in: Medical teacher 2019-04, Vol.41 (4), p.417-421
• Main Authors: Sterz, Jasmina, Hoefer, Sebastian H., Janko, Maren, Bender, Bernd, Adili, Farzin, Schreckenbach, Teresa, Seifert, Lukas Benedikt, Ruesseler, Miriam
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Clinical Competence; Competency-Based Education - statistics & numerical data; Curricula; Curriculum - statistics & numerical data; Educational objectives; Goals; Humans; Learning; Lecture Method; Lectures; Mapping; Surgery; Surgical Procedures, Operative - education
• ISSN: 0142-159X; 1466-187X
• DOI: 10.1080/0142159X.2018.1481282

Introduction: Curriculum mapping shows concordances and differences between the intended and the taught curriculum. To our knowledge, no previous studies describe the effects that this mapping has on the curriculum. The aim of the present study is to map the content of a lecture series in surgery to the National Catalogue of Learning Objectives in Surgery and analyze the effects this mapping has on the content of the following lecture series. Methods: All lecturers in the lecture series were directly observed by a minimum of two reviewers and learning objectives and the level of competence were documented. After the lecture series, the results were visualized within the catalog of learning objectives and were sent to the lecturers. In the following lecture series, learning objectives were documented correspondingly. Results: In the first lecture series, 47% of the learning objectives were taught. After the mapping, the number of learning objectives that were taught increased to 59% (p