Rethinking Workplace Learning and Development Catalyzed by Complexity

Watkins, Karen E.; Marsick, Victoria J.

doi:10.1177/15344843231186629

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…4 The Marsick and Watkins Model of Informal and Incidental Learning (IIL) in the workplace represents one way to describe this process of meaning making. 4 IIL in the clinical environment is "implicit, unintended, opportunistic and unstructured" and rarely facilitated by a teacher. 5 Marsick and Watkins characterize IIL as integrated with daily work and routines and triggered by an impetus that is not highly conscious, often haphazard, and influenced by chance and an inductive process of reflection and action.…”

Section: Although a Range Of Educational Interventions Have Been Desc...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This "learning in the moment" is likely to occur informally and haphazardly during complex and uncertain clinical contexts, where novel problem-solving strategies are required. 4 The Marsick and Watkins Model of Informal and Incidental Learning (IIL) in the workplace represents one way to describe this process of meaning making. 4 IIL in the clinical environment is "implicit, unintended, opportunistic and unstructured" and rarely facilitated by a teacher.…”

Section: Although a Range Of Educational Interventions Have Been Desc...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Making decisions “in the dark”: Learning through uncertainty in clinical practice during Covid‐19

Vaid,

Lundgren,

Watkins

et al. 2023

AEM Education and Training

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PurposeThe purpose of this study was to explore how decision making and informal and incidental learning (IIL) emerged in the clinical learning environment (CLE) during the height of the Covid‐19 pandemic. The authors’ specific interest was to better understand the IIL that took place among frontline physicians who had to navigate a CLE replete with uncertainty and complexity with the future goal of creating experiences for medical students that would simulate IIL and use uncertainty as a catalyst for learning.MethodUsing a modified constructivist, grounded theory approach, we describe physicians’ IIL while working during times of heightened uncertainty. Using the critical incident technique, we conducted 45‐min virtual interviews with seven emergency department (ED) and five intensive care unit (ICU) physicians, who worked during the height of the pandemic. The authors transcribed and restoried each interview before applying inductive, comparative analysis to identify patterns, assertions, and organizing themes.ResultsFindings showed that the burden of decision making for physicians was influenced by the physical, emotional, relational, and situational context of the CLE. The themes that emerged for decision making and IIL were interdependent. Prominent among the patterns for decision making were ways to simplify the problem by applying prior knowledge, using pattern recognition, and cross‐checking with team members. Patterns for IIL emerged through trial and error, which included thoughtful experimentation, consulting alternative sources of information, accumulating knowledge, and “poking at the periphery” of clinical practice.ConclusionsComplexity and uncertainty are rife in clinical practice and this study made visible decision‐making patterns and IIL approaches that can be built into formal curricula. Making implicit uncertainty explicit by recognizing it, naming it, and practicing navigating it may better prepare learners for the uncertainty posed by the clinical practice environment.

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Section: Although a Range Of Educational Interventions Have Been Desc...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Although a Range Of Educational Interventions Have Been Desc...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Making decisions “in the dark”: Learning through uncertainty in clinical practice during Covid‐19

Vaid,

Lundgren,

Watkins

et al. 2023

AEM Education and Training

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The Marsick and Watkins model of IIL in the workplace is one way to describe this process of meaning making. 14…”

Section: Focus On Sensemaking: Lessons From Covid-19 Using a Complexi...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Informal and Incidental Learning in the Clinical Learning Environment: Learning Through Complexity and Uncertainty During COVID-19

et al. 2022

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In the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, where clinical environments are plagued by both uncertainty and complexity, the importance of the informal and social aspects of learning among health care teams cannot be exaggerated. While there have been attempts to better understand the nuances of informal learning in the clinical environment through descriptions of the tacit or hidden curriculum, incidental learning in medical education has only been partially captured in the research. Understood through concepts borrowed from the Cynefin conceptual framework for sensemaking, the early stages of the pandemic immersed clinical teams in complex and chaotic situations where there was no immediately apparent relationship between cause and effect. Health care teams had to act quickly amidst the chaos: they had to first act, make sense of, and respond with intentionality. Informal and incidental learning (IIL) emerged as a byproduct of acting with the tools and knowledge available in the moment. To integrate the informal, sometimes haphazard nature of emergence among health care teams, educators require an understanding of IIL. This understanding can help medical educators prepare health professions learners for the cognitive dissonance that accompanies uncertainty in clinical practice. The authors introduce IIL as an explanatory framework to describe how teams navigate complexity in the clinical learning environment and to better inform curricular development for health professions training that prepares learners for uncertainty. While further research in IIL is needed to illuminate tacit knowledge that makes learning explicit for all audiences in the health professions, there are opportunities to cultivate learners’ skills in formal curricula through various learning interventions to prime them for IIL when they enter complex clinical learning environments.

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