From Lecture to Learning Tasks: Use of the 4C/ID Model in a Communication Skills Course in a Continuing Professional Education Context

Abstract

This article describes the use of four-component instructional design (4C/ID), a model to plan educational interventions for complex learning. This model was used to design a continuing education course on communication skills for health professionals in a context that is hierarchical and communal. The authors describe the 4C/ID model and provide an example of its application in designing the course. In the 4C/ID model, learning tasks serve as the backbone of the course, with lectures and other supportive information organized around them. The 4C/ID model is different from traditional models that base the course on lectures on different topics and connect part-task assignments to these topics. The use of the 4C/ID model to develop the educational intervention moves the paradigm from lectures to learning tasks to better prepare learners for real practice.

Designing instruction for complex learning: 4C/ID in higher education

“…Examples of task-centred models are cognitive apprenticeship (Brown, Collins, & Duguid, 1989), elaboration theory (Reigeluth, 1999), first principles of instruction (Merrill, 2002) and the four-component instructional design model (4C/ID model) ( van Merriënboer, 1997). The 4C/ID model is characterised by a strong research base and a spreading popularity, as evidenced by the increasing number of publications in various contexts, such as medical education (Maggio, Cate, Irby, & O'Brien, 2015), communications training (Susilo, van Merriënboer, van Dalen, Claramita, & Scherpbier, 2013), technical training (Sarfo & Elen, 2007), information problem-solving (Wopereis, Frerejean, & Brand-Gruwel, 2015), and teacher training (Kreutz, Leuders, & Hellmann, 2019). The accompanying Ten Steps approach (van Merriënboer & Kirschner, 2018) provides guidelines for analysing real-life tasks in order to uncover the different types of knowledge and skills needed in daily practice (cognitive task analysis) and guidelines for designing a blueprint for an educational programme comprising four components: learning tasks, supportive information, procedural information and part-task practice.…”

Practising evidence-based medicine (EBM): a descriptive analysis of medical students’ whole-task EBM assignments

“…As noted, whole-task approaches provide opportunities for learning transfer11 12 and have been implemented in medical education 13 14. Building on such findings, this project demonstrates additional benefits to a whole-task approach for EBM teaching, such as increased engagement with uncertainty and student opportunities for legitimate peripheral participation.…”

“…Although whole-task approaches for teaching communication13 and clinical reasoning14 in medical education have been reported, there are few accounts of whole-task activities for teaching and practising EBM. One recent paper describes efforts to integrate whole-task activities in a clerkship curriculum in the form of educational prescriptions 15.…”

Challenges to Learning Evidence-Based Medicine and Educational Approaches to Meet These Challenges

“…Recently, the use of wholetask learning to teach complex tasks has become popular 27 and has been applied in teaching medical topics. 28 Researchers have identified that whole-task learning approaches provide learners with a holistic model of how to practice EBM and have linked these approaches to learners' increased ability to transfer skills into practice. 21,29 Whole-task learning approaches are the foundation for several instructional design approaches, 30 This study describes challenges to students learning EBM and the educational approaches used by a select sample of medical schools to overcome these challenges.…”