# Practical tips to improve bedside teaching using learning theories and critical reasoning

## TL;DR

This paper offers practical advice for improving bedside teaching by applying learning theories and critical reasoning techniques.

## Contribution

The paper introduces practical strategies for integrating cognitive theories into bedside teaching to enhance clinical reasoning and decision-making.

## Key findings

- Applying cognitive load theory and experiential learning can improve bedside teaching effectiveness.
- Structured briefing and debriefing help reveal clinical reasoning processes in a more analytical way.
- Emotion and epistemic beliefs should be considered to adapt teaching to students' experience levels.

## Abstract

Bedside teaching offers the opportunity to integrate the different professional roles and competencies of doctors and medical students with one another. It should not be delivered uniformly to all students but must be adapted to the level of experience of the students. Students at an early stage of their studies need a greater degree of structure and scaffolding than advanced students, as they may still feel insecure regarding a variety of factors. It therefore seems useful to take a closer look at the cognitive theories behind bedside teaching while bearing in mind that, in comparison to other teaching and learning formats, findings about emotion, epistemic beliefs, visual thinking strategies, theories of cognitive load, experiential learning and scripting, critical reasoning, structured briefing and debriefing can improve bedside teaching. This paper provides practical tips to reveal the processes of clinical reasoning and decision-making in a more rational, structured, analytical and critical manner.