Assessing the teaching of procedural skills: can cognitive task analysis add to our traditional teaching methods?

Sullivan, Maura E.; Ortega, Adrian; Wasserberg, Nir; Kaufman, Howard; Nyquist, Julie; Clark, Richard

doi:10.1016/j.amjsurg.2007.08.051

« Previous Next »The American Journal of Surgery
Volume 195, Issue 1 , Pages 20-23, January 2008

Assessing the teaching of procedural skills: can cognitive task analysis add to our traditional teaching methods?

Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Surgical Education, Washington, DC, April 11–14, 2007

Maura E. Sullivan, Ph.D., M.S.N.
- Department of Surgery, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Corresponding author. Tel. +1-323-442-2368; fax: +1-323-442-2051.
Adrian Ortega, M.D.
- Department of Surgery, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Nir Wasserberg, M.D.
- Department of Surgery, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Howard Kaufman, M.D.
- Department of Surgery, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Julie Nyquist, Ph.D.
- Department of Pediatrics, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Richard Clark, Ed.D.
- Center for Cognitive Technology, Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Received 23 April 2007; received in revised form 10 August 2007

Abstract

Background

The purpose of this study was to determine if a cognitive task analysis (CTA) could capture steps and decision points that were not articulated during traditional teaching of a colonoscopy.

Methods

Three expert colorectal surgeons were videotaped performing a colonoscopy. After the videotapes were transcribed, the experts participated in a CTA. A 26-step procedural checklist and a 16-step cognitive demands table was created by using information obtained in the CTA. The videotape transcriptions were transposed onto the procedural checklist and cognitive demands table to identify steps and decision points that were omitted during traditional teaching.

Results

Surgeon A described 50% of “how-to” steps and 43% of decision points. Surgeon B described 30% of steps and 25% of decisions. Surgeon C described 26% of steps and 38% of cognitive decisions.