Instructional Design Methods in Interprofessional Learning Experience Development: A Pilot Study

Background: This study aims to inform researchers and educators about perspectives on the ID of activities and their effectiveness in achieving shared competencies.

Methodology: This exploratory pilot study included 10 participants selected through a Texas-based IPE consortium. The study's aim is to examine how interprofessional learning activities ae developed.

Results:

 Over half of IPE activities are supported through program-based IPE initiatives, while 40% utilize either dual (program and course-based) or course-based initiatives.
 Most TxIPE members are actively involved in the instructional design of IPE activities, while under half had not used or are not aware of a formal instructional design methodology implemented during activity development.
 Half of IPE activities are developed by formally-trained instructional designers through collaborations, 30% by formally-trained non-instructional designers, and 20% by self-taught participants.
 Over half of the participants involved with the IPE instructional design are aware of classical learning methodologies.
 The large standard deviations suggest disagreement regarding satisfaction with interactions with other professions and institutional initiatives.
 The study’s mean satisfaction scores demonstrate even satisfaction for all interaction types and support.

Conclusion: This study's preliminary results indicate that all TxIPE institutions have coordinated IPE initiatives but lack a clear understanding of the instructional design methodologies supporting these initiatives. This lack of knowledge may result from the fact that faculty and administrators with different experience levels and little or no instructional design training developed over half of the surveyed activities, which may also attribute to the disagreement in satisfaction with interactions between professionals during development and institutional initiatives. Recommendations for future studies should include focus groups to correlate study data and gain a deeper understanding through candid discussions between professionals on this topic.