Faculty members at the University of Louisville Health Sciences Center (HSC) have launched an innovative website which serves as a one-stop resource for hands-on teaching tools. Developed by four faculty members as a part of their Leadership and Innovation in Academics Matter (LIAM) project, the website features a variety of novel teaching methods to educate the next generation of medical professionals.  

The project was facilitated by the LIAM program, a 10-month training program designed to develop the next generation of leaders at the University of Louisville. LIAM participants are immersed in monthly face-to-face workshops and weekly asynchronous content with capstone team projects preparing them to lead in an academic setting.

Motivated by research indicating that learners are more successful when less traditional methods of teaching are incorporated, Drs. Bickel (Pediatrics), Javid (Surgery), Hilgefort (Family and Sports Medicine), and Villalobos (Dentistry) developed Louisville Teaches, a comprehensive website for all faculty to access resources to help them integrate unique methods into their teaching such as using game-based learning, flipped classroom methods, and artificial intelligence. The department of Pediatrics has already begun using the resources.

LIAM is administered by the HSC Office of Professional & Educational Development and has more than 200 graduates, including faculty from all four UofL HSC schools, the College of Business, College of Education and Human Development and the College of Arts & Sciences.

The cohort celebrated their graduation from the LIAM program this week, but the doctors that developed Louisville Teaches plan to continue to add new content with monthly updates to the website. It is the hope of the team that future cohorts of the LIAM program will elect to expand Louisville Teaches through their own projects.

“As the LIAM program works to develop the next generation of leaders at UofL, we wanted to design a project that would extend far beyond the parameters of our cohort, creating a lasting impact on the School of Medicine and its doctors, the medical students, and the patients who receive care from these individuals,” says Scott Bickel, M.D., associate professor of Pediatrics. 

The website not only highlights the innovative work of faculty members, but also showcases collaborative efforts across various disciplines. By sharing resources, the project encourages faculty to incorporate these new methods into their teachings, which enhances our student’s overall educational experience.

“We are incredibly proud of the collaborative and creative efforts by our faculty in developing these resources,” said Jeffrey Bumpous, M.D., interim dean of the School of Medicine. “Louisville Teaches exemplifies our commitment to educational innovation, providing our faculty with the tools to create a dynamic learning environment for our medical students and others.”

Faculty and staff are encouraged to submit their own favorite resources or examples to be included on the site. For more information on the resources and to see how they can be applied in your own classroom, please visit louisvilleteaches.org.