Developing Communities of Practice Model to Enhance Knowledge and Improve Learning among Faculty Members (Case Study: Tabriz University of Medical Sciences)

Background: Due to the importance of the teaching and learning process in medical sciences,it is necessary to provide an appropriate context to facilitate knowledge sharing. Communities of practice (CoPs) is one strategy for sharing explicit knowledge and learning among individuals.This research aim...

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Main Authors: Nayer Seyednazari, Sadegh Maleki Avarsin, Jahangir Yari Haj Atalou
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Tabriz University of Medical Sciences 2018-12-01
Series:Research and Development in Medical Education
Subjects:
Online Access:https://rdme.tbzmed.ac.ir/PDF/RDME_19751_20180901230237
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author Nayer Seyednazari
Sadegh Maleki Avarsin
Jahangir Yari Haj Atalou
author_facet Nayer Seyednazari
Sadegh Maleki Avarsin
Jahangir Yari Haj Atalou
author_sort Nayer Seyednazari
collection DOAJ
description Background: Due to the importance of the teaching and learning process in medical sciences,it is necessary to provide an appropriate context to facilitate knowledge sharing. Communities of practice (CoPs) is one strategy for sharing explicit knowledge and learning among individuals.This research aimed to develop CoPs model at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. Methods: This descriptive-survey research was conducted on 245 faculty members selected through a simple random sampling method at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences who had the rank of professor, associate professor and assistant professor in the 2017-2018 academic year. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed by analyzing main components that were verified by a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The reliability of components was calculated using Cronbach’s alpha. Results: The CoPs model consists of six components including participatory leadership, goals/aims, boundary and size, interactions, formal structures, and informal structures. There was a significant relationship observed between all components. The strongest correlations were observed between the boundary-size and interactions (0.85), goals/aims and leadership(0.78), and informal structure and leadership (0.76). In examining the relationships between each component, the strongest correlation was found between CoPs and informal structure(0.88), participatory leadership (0.87), and interactions (0.85) and the weakest relationship was observed between formal structure and CoPs (0.61). Results of determining fit indices indicated validity of the CoPs model (χ2/df =2.69, CFI= 0.92, IFI= 0.92, NFI= 0.88, RMSEA= 0.09). Conclusion: university managers using this model and strengthening the informal aspects of existing communities increase the possibility of faculty members’ interactions from different units and having them participate in decision making related to teaching and learning processes to take effective steps towards academic development of this university.
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spelling doaj.art-8ad43cd6bd674cd29d20b85c2d509dfc2022-12-21T18:50:33ZengTabriz University of Medical SciencesResearch and Development in Medical Education2322-27192018-12-0172829010.15171/rdme.2018.017RDME_19751_20180901230237Developing Communities of Practice Model to Enhance Knowledge and Improve Learning among Faculty Members (Case Study: Tabriz University of Medical Sciences)Nayer Seyednazari0Sadegh Maleki Avarsin1Jahangir Yari Haj Atalou2Department of Educational Sciences, Tabriz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, IranDepartment of Educational Sciences, Tabriz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, IranDepartment of Educational Sciences, Tabriz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, IranBackground: Due to the importance of the teaching and learning process in medical sciences,it is necessary to provide an appropriate context to facilitate knowledge sharing. Communities of practice (CoPs) is one strategy for sharing explicit knowledge and learning among individuals.This research aimed to develop CoPs model at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. Methods: This descriptive-survey research was conducted on 245 faculty members selected through a simple random sampling method at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences who had the rank of professor, associate professor and assistant professor in the 2017-2018 academic year. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed by analyzing main components that were verified by a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The reliability of components was calculated using Cronbach’s alpha. Results: The CoPs model consists of six components including participatory leadership, goals/aims, boundary and size, interactions, formal structures, and informal structures. There was a significant relationship observed between all components. The strongest correlations were observed between the boundary-size and interactions (0.85), goals/aims and leadership(0.78), and informal structure and leadership (0.76). In examining the relationships between each component, the strongest correlation was found between CoPs and informal structure(0.88), participatory leadership (0.87), and interactions (0.85) and the weakest relationship was observed between formal structure and CoPs (0.61). Results of determining fit indices indicated validity of the CoPs model (χ2/df =2.69, CFI= 0.92, IFI= 0.92, NFI= 0.88, RMSEA= 0.09). Conclusion: university managers using this model and strengthening the informal aspects of existing communities increase the possibility of faculty members’ interactions from different units and having them participate in decision making related to teaching and learning processes to take effective steps towards academic development of this university.https://rdme.tbzmed.ac.ir/PDF/RDME_19751_20180901230237Community ParticipationSocial LearningInformation DisseminationKnowledge Management
spellingShingle Nayer Seyednazari
Sadegh Maleki Avarsin
Jahangir Yari Haj Atalou
Developing Communities of Practice Model to Enhance Knowledge and Improve Learning among Faculty Members (Case Study: Tabriz University of Medical Sciences)
Research and Development in Medical Education
Community Participation
Social Learning
Information Dissemination
Knowledge Management
title Developing Communities of Practice Model to Enhance Knowledge and Improve Learning among Faculty Members (Case Study: Tabriz University of Medical Sciences)
title_full Developing Communities of Practice Model to Enhance Knowledge and Improve Learning among Faculty Members (Case Study: Tabriz University of Medical Sciences)
title_fullStr Developing Communities of Practice Model to Enhance Knowledge and Improve Learning among Faculty Members (Case Study: Tabriz University of Medical Sciences)
title_full_unstemmed Developing Communities of Practice Model to Enhance Knowledge and Improve Learning among Faculty Members (Case Study: Tabriz University of Medical Sciences)
title_short Developing Communities of Practice Model to Enhance Knowledge and Improve Learning among Faculty Members (Case Study: Tabriz University of Medical Sciences)
title_sort developing communities of practice model to enhance knowledge and improve learning among faculty members case study tabriz university of medical sciences
topic Community Participation
Social Learning
Information Dissemination
Knowledge Management
url https://rdme.tbzmed.ac.ir/PDF/RDME_19751_20180901230237
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