Section 3: Teaching Introductory Material

TeamSTEPPS 3.0 has been taught in a two-day format, is often taught in a half-day format, and is also frequently taught in smaller segments only 15–30 minutes long. While in-person trainings have been the norm, virtual trainings using an online platform are now common and many people are learning TeamSTEPPS 3.0 independently using materials available on the TeamSTEPPS 3.0 website. The introduction and each of the four TeamSTEPPS 3.0 modules provide guidance to instructors on how to teach relevant content in the two-day, half-day, or short segment formats. The guidance that follows addresses five issues:

• Maximizing active learning in trainings
• Teaching objectives (relevant to all TeamSTEPPS training)
• Teaching the introduction in a 2-day format
• Teaching the introduction in a half-day format (using a subset of materials from the 2-day format discussion)
• Teaching the introduction in very short, focused training sessions

Maximizing Active Learning

Evidence shows that teaching through lectures is ineffective, but lecturing may still be common. Teaching through lectures is familiar to many instructors and allows the instructor to cover the greatest amount of content most quickly, although students may not absorb any of it.

Success of the TeamSTEPPS training is based on how many attitudes and behaviors are changed to produce higher-functioning teams.

Both long-term memory and attitudinal and behavioral change are much more likely when more active teaching approaches are used. As teaching norms have changed, students now expect to be actively engaged in learning. It is particularly important when training is delivered remotely through a web-based platform and when trainees' cameras are off.

Engaging training sessions enable students to quickly reference the TeamSTEPPS app* or the entire TeamSTEPPS website. Afterwards, they can refresh their memories or learn more about concepts or tools discussed in the training.

*The app is being updated to match the new TeamSTEPPS 3.0 curriculum. Information about the new version of the app will be available in fall 2023 on the TeamSTEPPS Pocket Guide main page.

Options for Maximizing Active Learning

Some options to limit the amount of time spent describing the content of the training slides include:

1. Before the training, have participants go to the AHRQ TeamSTEPPS 3.0 website and read the sections of the TeamSTEPPS 3.0  curriculum they will be trained on. That way, you’ll have more time for exercises or scenarios that will help participants apply the tools in their patient care teams.
2. Use clinical simulations to introduce the tools and concepts and incorporate them into practice. Have participants read sections before the simulations; or briefly introduce one or two tools or concepts before starting the simulation. The newly created video-based simulation trainings and other TeamSTEPPS videos on AHRQ's website have been used effectively in both in-person and virtual, web-based trainings.
3. If feasible, plan for small groups. In a group of six to eight trainees, if two trainees review one of three or four concepts or tools and then explain it to their peers, learning will be more active. The group time can be used for questions and discussions or on nondidactic group exercises. The instructor notes in the slides provide more guidance on how to conduct these activities. Peer teaching and learning are now widely used, and evidence for their value is strong.¹
4. Use stories to illustrate concepts. Ask trainees for a personal experience they’ve had that illustrates how a particular concept or tool was or could have been used to improve functioning in their team. Encouraging students to make connections between training content and their personal experiences promotes learning, and hearing stories from peers may yield more long-term knowledge gains.
5. Blend learning approaches. Using a variety of approaches may best serve participants whose learning styles and preferences differ. Over time you may find that some approaches work better for your training style or with certain types of participants. The easiest way to teach TeamSTEPPS may be reading instructor notes while advancing slides. However, active teaching methods will be more effective.

Teaching Goals

It's critical to lay groundwork for the time you spend with trainees learning TeamSTEPPS 3.0. As you begin your training, aspire to achieve the following goals to lay the foundation for the remainder of the training. These goals relate to how you present yourself and other faculty, how you define the relationships you’d like to develop with participants and the relationships you would like participants to develop with each other, and what you want participants to learn.

Trainer Goals

1. Show that you care about the importance of TeamSTEPPS 3.0 to patients, family caregivers, and healthcare workers. Show interest in what others say as they introduce themselves and share your own successes and failures on healthcare teams. This approach will lay a vital foundation for all that follows. For example, you might want to share a story of how participants in a recent training were able to resolve some long-term conflicts in their team using skills they learned.
2. Show that you are both a teacher and a learner. Effective trainers demonstrate that they are constantly seeking to learn and that important solutions and ideas come from participants as well as faculty. If participants sense your desire to learn, you’ll foster an environment where they will do the same.

Relationship Goals

1. It's crucial to create a relationship characterized by mutual respect, enjoyment, and transparency. You can’t achieve this goal if you present yourself as the instructor and your trainees as passive listeners. Laughing, acknowledging teamwork challenges shared by participants, and demonstrating that you are happy to engage with participants will help create an environment that fosters learning and attitudinal and behavioral change.
2. It's vital for participants to create connections with others in the training. Sometimes trainings give teams from the same organization time to bond with each other and plan for change. But trainings also allow participants to meet others with shared goals and challenges and to create connections that will benefit them after the training ends. Introductions allow participants to identify others they can interact with throughout the training. If you have a mix of in-person and virtual trainees, it can also reinforce the message that virtual teams and team members are equals to onsite team members and can be interacted with virtually in mutually supportive ways. 
3. Trainings are a way to foster the healthy and supportive relationships healthcare professionals strive to have with patients, their families, and caregivers. While patient stories can remind trainees that teamwork matters, including qualified and trained patients as part of the training teams can also reinforce this message.

Note

1. Tullis JG, Goldstone RL. Why does peer instruction benefit student learning? Cogn Research. 2020 Apr 9;5:15. DOI: 10.1186/s41235-020-00218-5. Accessed April 28, 2023.