Krista Longtin

Permanent URI for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/1805/40147

Improv(ing) Communication About Science and Health: How Theatre Can Help Experts Connect and Collaborate with the Community

Communication is a fundamental part of the human experience and a critical element of the scientific process. We’ve learned so much in the past 50 years about how to communicate effectively, especially in science and health, but we’ve struggled to get that new knowledge into education programs. Dr. Krista Longtin's research seeks to answer the questions: what is the best way to train experts on how to talk about science and health? And, how can we revise curriculum to teach physicians, scientists, and healthcare providers to communicate most effectively to non-experts, including patients, children, and policymakers?

Dr. Longtin is proud to have worked with multiple community organizations to improve science and health communication. For example, she worked with the Evangelical Community Church in Bloomington and the Center for Interfaith Cooperation to hold community conversations about the shared values between science and faith. Each year, the Communicating Science graduate minor program and workshop series trains hundreds of students and faculty on what works in communication strategies. Dr. Longtin and her collaborators actively seek to upend the “deficit model” of science communication, a misconception that just simply giving more information will change decision-making behavior. Rather than just sharing information, physicians and scientists must be engaged in helping their patients and community members see themselves as collaborators in sharing information and making decisions. By dispelling this myth and teaching collaborative communication, Dr. Longtin and her collaborators help regular Indiana people make better decisions about health and science every day.

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6: Enhancing Vitality in Academic Medicine
(Wiley, 2013) Palmer, Megan M.; Hoffmann-Longtin, Krista; Ribera, Tony; Dankoski, Mary E.; Ribera, Amy K.; Nelson Laird, Tom F.
The prevalence of low satisfaction and increased stress among faculty in academic medicine makes understanding faculty vitality in this field more important than ever before. To explore the contributors to and outcomes of faculty vitality, we conducted a multi-institutional study of faculty in academic medicine (N = 1,980, 42 percent response rate). Faculty were surveyed about climate and leadership, career and life management, satisfaction, engagement, productivity, and involvement in faculty development. Analysis reveals that controlling for other factors, academic medicine faculty who participate regularly in faculty development activities are significantly more satisfied, engaged, and productive.
Stepping Stones: Nine Lessons from Women Leaders in Academic Medicine
(Texas A&M University, 2013) Palmer, Megan M.; Hoffmann-Longtin, Krista J.; Walvoord, Emily C.; Dankoski, Mary E.
Women now make up half of all medical school matriculates; yet few women hold leadership positions in academic health centers. The reasons for this gender gap are complex and have been the subject of much discussion. However, the experiences of women who successfully ascend to positions of senior leadership are rarely examined. It is critical to develop a greater understanding of women's paths to leadership positions in order to inspire and enable more women to seek such opportunities. Using a semi-structured protocol, we interviewed 16 women leaders who were willing to share their career journeys in a public forum. These leaders were asked to share pivotal moments or milestones, referred to as "stepping stones," in their careers. The interviews were taped, transcribed and analysed for significant patterns and consistent themes. Nine themes were identified and included: hold fast to your values; be open to unexpected opportunities; surround yourself with people who believe in you and people you believe in; be assertive in your communication and actions; continually refine your leadership skills; don't take things personally; stay organized; build positive relationships and welcoming environments; and when and if necessary, prove them wrong. The women leaders had strikingly similar lessons to share. This study develops a deeper understanding of the career paths of women in leadership positions, setting the stage for future study as well as encouraging and empowering more women to climb the leadership ladder.
Just Ask: Using Faculty Input to Inform Communication Strategies
(Wiley, 2014) Hoffmann Longtin, Krista; Palmer, Megan M.; Welch, Julie L.; Walvoord, Emily C.; Dankoski, Mary E.
Faculty members today are bombarded with information, yet limited in time and attention. Managing communication with faculty is an increasingly important function of faculty development offices. This study explored how communication frameworks can be paired with web design principles and attention economics to increase the effectiveness of communication with faculty members. We developed and tested communication approaches designed to enhance faculty members’ identification and involvement with our programs. The advantages, disadvantages, and effectiveness of each model are presented. Ultimately, the study reframed our understanding of communication strategies, not as static tools, but rather as opportunities to engage faculty.
Despite faculty skepticism: Lessons from a graduate-level seminar in a hybrid course environment
(Taylor & Francis, 2014) Palmer, Megan M.; Shaker, Genevieve; Hoffmann-Longtin, Krista
A recent survey of 2,251 university faculty members revealed that only one in five agreed that online courses can achieve learning outcomes equivalent to those of in-person courses (Lederman and Jaschik 2013). In an effort to determine if online graduate courses can be effective, in this study we explore the extent to which qualities commonly found in graduate level seminars can be replicated in hybrid graduate-level courses. A course for students in a higher education graduate program titled “The American Community College” serves as the study case. The course was developed as a hybrid with synchronous, asynchronous, and in-person elements intended to foster highly interactive exchanges of information, deep analysis of subject matter, and advanced means of communicating one’s ideas: all elements of a successful graduate-level course. Web technologies including wikis, blogs, and podcasting provided creative and varied pedagogical tools, which could be fully realized only when students were immersed in the online learning environment. Data collected from students across two semesters and assessment of learning outcomes indicate the value and success of the approach and several advantages to in-person courses, generating a set of implications.
The Work/Life Portal: An Innovative Navigation Tool for Faculty Benefits & Policies
(AAMC Group on Faculty Affairs Professional Development Conference, 2014-07-19) Ganci, Aaron; Krista, Hoffmann-Longtin
Project Benefits and policies of large academic medical centers can be challenging for faculty to navigate. A recent survey of faculty at our institution reported large gaps in their knowledge about and use of benefits and policies related to career flexibility. For example, nearly half of our faculty didn’t know about clock stoppage policies and expressed concern about how polices were communicated. Thus, the goal of this project was to develop a web-based solution to clearly convey work life benefits and policies. Methods In partnership with our school of art and design, a two-phase project was developed to design a new web portal for benefits/policies. In phase one, we conducted qualitative, usability testing of current web and print resources with the goal of further explaining the survey results. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with new and veteran faculty, as well as campus HR staff. They reviewed the current resources; provided feedback on what was unclear or hard to find; and finished by drawing their “dream website.” Results In phase two, the team used the design-thinking methodology to develop a prototype of the website. After systematically testing ideas, the team settled on a modified natural language user interface, where a faculty member types in a question or idea (e.g. “I’m having a baby”) and a series of policies is returned, associated with keywords within the question. The simple design of the interface allows faculty affairs office staff to assign word tags to policies/benefits that may appear in the user’s questions. A free online tool (http://wordpress.org) was used to create the portal. Conclusion The new portal allows our institution to create a clear online presence for work life benefits and policies, demonstrating our institutional commitment to supporting faculty. At the same time, the program uses resources efficiently. The only expenses incurred have been faculty and staff time to conduct the study and develop the portal. Implications While the portal is still in development, it demonstrates a promising shift in how faculty affairs offices can collaborate with faculty and internal partners. By designing and testing ideas with faculty and HR professionals, we created buy-in for the project early on. These individuals have the potential to become early adopters of the new portal, sharing their positive experiences with others.
By chance or by design? How clerkship and course directors navigate academic medicine
(Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2015-04-17) Hoffmann-Longtin, Krista
Academic medical centers (AMCs) are complex, bureaucratic organizations with multiple, interconnected missions and constituencies (Brater, 2010). What happens in the classroom affects the operating room and lab. As the responsibilities to treat patients, discover new medical knowledge, and train future physicians become more complex, it is critical to define and situate the pathways to and roles of medical education leaders within the system, so that institutions can fully benefit from their contributions. This study uses an organizational communication lens to develop a theoretical understanding of the relationship between faculty members who are clerkship and course directors (CDs) and AMCs in the U.S. Clinical faculty who become CDs often do so because they are gifted educators. They are responsible for developing faculty, as well as managing curriculum and assessment. These complex roles often lack clear position descriptions and expectations. Though CDs value education, they may face economic pressures to spend more time in clinical duties at the expense of their education responsibilities (Cooke et al., 2006). This can create conflicts in organizational identity and values, as well as an unclear path to tenure, promotion, and rewards (DeAngelis, 2004). This study uses in-depth interviews to explain how CDs manage the multiple (sometimes competing) values and priorities of their roles. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight CDs, from institutions of similar size and type, to investigate three interrelated concepts: how faculty become CDs; how they make sense of their roles and values in relationship to those of the institution; and how the structure of AMCs shapes the roles and values of CDs. A qualitative approach, as applied in this study, is useful to understand behavior in complex organizational contexts (Castillo-Page et al., 2012). Interview findings were aggregated into significant narratives and organized by theme, including: pathways to the role; a conflict in values; inconsistent funding; and structural challenges. A grounded theory was developed to explain the process by which CDs manage their complex roles. Findings from this study indicate that CDs are critical to the education mission and can be powerful in shaping the institution, though they face significant challenges. They can feel isolated, because each institution might only have a few individuals that serve these functions. Diverse responsibilities of CDs might also mean that their paths to promotion are unclear or tenuous. Further research is necessary to understand the process of socialization and impact of the reward structure for CDs. Clerkship and course directors do seem to value their sense of organizational identification within multiple contexts, including the medical school, discipline, and the hospital system. In the same vein, it would be helpful to have a better understanding of the connections among their multiple identifications. Additionally, exploring the identification of university faculty in multiple settings may serve to expose subtle differences for identification management used in different contexts for faculty with different roles. Results of the study can be used to shape policies and faculty development efforts for CDs, leading to a clearer sense of purpose and reward system. A deeper understanding of the experiences of CDs benefits both faculty and institutions. Faculty receive more role clarity and individual agency, and AMCs receive information on how to better meet the needs of this population, thus improving the efficacy of medical education.
Improv(ing) the Academy: Applied Improvisation as a Strategy for Educational Development
(Wiley, 2016) Rossing, Jonathan P.; Hoffmann Longtin, Krista
Improvisational theater training (or “improv”) is a strategy employed by many business leaders and educators to cultivate creativity and collaboration amid change. Drawing on improv principles such as “Yes, And…” and “Make your scene partners look good,” we explore the ways in which educational developers might apply principles of improv in 3 contexts: teaching and building classroom community, organizational development, and research collaboration. Faculty developers who successfully engage the principles of improv have the potential to help colleges and universities respond more effectively to complex problems and to manage the uncertainty of the future. By highlighting successful applications of improvisation principles across higher education, we hope to spark further discussion and research on how applied improvisation might be a strategy for overcoming resistance to change and encouraging an environment where innovation is valued.
Making Science Make Sense: Applied Improvisation in Health and Life Sciences
(Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2016-04-08) Hoffmann-Longtin, Krista; Rossing, Jonathan
Abstract Both in and out of the classroom, physicians and scientists must speak in a way that generates excitement about their disciplines (Berrett, 2014). They also must communicate vividly to funders and policy makers about their work and why it matters. In every context, these experts must tell engaging stories, respond spontaneously to the needs of the moment, and explain their work in terms nonscientists can understand. In response, some universities have turned to the techniques of improvisational theater to help scientists to speak more spontaneously, responsively, and engagingly. Over the past year, we have conducted a series of workshops (N=54) for a variety of audiences including, doctoral and post-doc students in the sciences, for educators, for physicians and research scientists, and for doctoral nursing students. The workshops help participants make stronger connections to their multiple audiences. They include content on improvisation skills such as presence and listening, acceptance, recognizing offers, and storytelling to help scientists translate their research in ways that engage their audiences. This approach moves faculty toward understanding communication as a process of collaborative meaningmaking, thus helping them to address the “curse of knowledge” by which experts forget the time when they were novices in their field (Bass, 2015). This poster will report on four key areas of the intervention and evaluation: 1) the need for communication training in the health professions and sciences, 2) the development of the programs, 3) the program efficacy and outcomes. Higher education presents unique challenges for the practice of applied improvisation. While enthusiasm for the work has grown in industry, some audiences within the academy seem resistant to the methods, especially within the sciences. This poster will also address the ways expertise, prestige, and rank affect the practice of applied improvisation in higher education, and we will propose strategies for mitigating resistance.
Twelve tips for using applied improvisation in medical education
(Taylor & Francis, 2017) Hoffmann-Longtin, Krista; Rossing, Jonathan; Weinstein, Elizabeth; Communication Studies, School of Liberal Arts
Future physicians will practice medicine in a more complex environment than ever, where skills of interpersonal communication, collaboration and adaptability to change are critical. Applied improvisation (or AI) is an instructional strategy which adapts the concepts of improvisational theater to teach these types of complex skills in other contexts. Unique to AI is its very active teaching approach, adapting theater games to help learners meet curricular objectives. In medical education, AI is particularly helpful when attempting to build students’ comfort with and skills in complex, interpersonal behaviors such as effective listening, person-centeredness, teamwork and communication. This article draws on current evidence and the authors’ experiences to present best practices for incorporating AI into teaching medicine. These practical tips help faculty new to AI get started by establishing goals, choosing appropriate games, understanding effective debriefing, considering evaluation strategies and managing resistance within the context of medical education.
Stepping Stones: A Leadership Development Program to Inspire and Promote Reflection Among Women Faculty and Staff
(Wiley, 2017-06) Hoffmann-Longtin, Krista; Morgan, Zachary S.; Schmidt, Lauren Chism; Walvoord, Emily C.; Palmer, Megan M.; Dankoski, Mary E.; Communication Studies, School of Liberal Arts
Women frequently benefit from focused faculty development opportunities not because they need to be “fixed,” but rather it is a means to demonstrate that success, even in chilly environments, is possible. The Stepping Stones program uses a unique design to provide participants with inspiration, time for reflection, and strategies for how to navigate one's career, through hearing about the journeys of successful women. In this article, we describe the program and evaluation results. Post‐event and longitudinal follow‐up surveys indicate that the program and its unique narrative format help to debunk the superwoman myth and leave participants with a sense of optimism about their future careers.

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