Neher: Get a Commitment

Resist the temptation to fill the silence with your own ideas; instead, ask the learner what they think about the issue.

• Allowing the learner to interpret information is the first step in diagnosing their learning needs.
• Mistakes in problem formulation identify teaching opportunities.
• Without adequate information about the learner's knowledge, teaching might be misdirected and unhelpful.
• The learner assumes greater responsibility for their learning (and patient care) while creating a collaborative role in problem solving.
• This method helps the learner to create a "conceptual scaffold" by forcing the recall of previously learned materials and setting up the targeted exchange of information between teacher and learner. 

Example Questions

• What do you think is going on with this patient?
• What would you like to accomplish with this visit/interaction?
• The commitment can be as tentative as a hunch or best guess:  "Let's start with your gut feeling..."