Development and implementation of a formative instructional coaching program using the Teaching Practices Inventory within a health professions program

BACKGROUND: A growing body of literature describes teaching practices that are positively associated with student achievement. Observing, characterizing, and providing feedback on these teaching practices is a necessary, yet significant challenge to improving teaching quality. This study describes the design, implementation, and evaluation of an instructional coaching program created to provide formative feedback to instructors based on their use of evidence-based teaching practices. METHODS: The program was designed for formative purposes utilizing an instrument adapted from the Teaching Practices Inventory. All faculty were invited to participate in the program on a voluntary basis when the program launched in Fall 2019. Program coaches included any School personnel who completed required training. Two rounds of instrument development were conducted with multiple observers and assessed using Krippendorff’s Alpha. The program was evaluated using an anonymous post-session survey. RESULTS: Interrater reliability of the form improved over two rounds of piloting and no differences were found in scoring between trainees and education professionals. Seventeen observations were completed by nine coaches. Instructors indicated that feedback was practical, timely, specific, and collegial, suggesting that including student perspectives (e.g., focus groups, student course evaluations) in the coaching program might be helpful. CONCLUSIONS: Creating programs that emphasize and foster the use of evidence-based teaching are critical for health professions education. Additional research is needed to further develop coaching programs that ensure teaching practices in the health professions are optimizing student learning.