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Upon successfully completing a two-year master’s programme, Professor András Komócsi, Vice-Rector for Research at the University of Pécs and Dean-elect of the Medical School taking office on July 1, together with Dr. Gergely Csaba, research assistant at the Department of Behavioural Sciences Division of Medical Education Development of the Medical School, received their diplomas from Harvard Medical School on May 27. Their research was conducted within the Harvard Medical School Master of Medical Sciences in Medical Education programme and was closely connected to the educational development initiatives of the University of Pécs Medical School. Dr. András Komócsi examined opportunities for teachers’ professional development, with a particular focus on further training in a digital environment, while Dr. Gergely Csaba explored new perspectives on supporting student learning and on developing learning methods. We spoke with them about their research findings and their potential future applications.

Written by Rita Schweier

– Why did you choose Harvard University as the place to conduct your research?

A.K.: On the recommendation of Dean Miklós Nyitrai, we chose Harvard University because it is considered a global leader in medical education. We wanted to expand our knowledge from a credible source and gain insight into the latest developments available there.

G.Cs.: Similar programmes, mostly in English, are available in several places around the world, but it was Harvard that offered the particular focus on research methodology that was important to us. Another key consideration was the opportunity to meet people from a wide range of cultural backgrounds. Our classmates came from China, Indonesia, Canada, the United States, and the Middle East. This diversity is one of the programme’s major strengths.

– What motivated you to conduct research in the field of educational development?

A.K.: Over the years, I have held a variety of roles at the university, one of them was teaching itself, and for sixteen years I was also involved in curriculum management as secretary and later chair of the Curriculum Committee. In recent years, I have also joined the work of the Department of Behavioural Sciences Division of Medical Education Development and Communication. I also contributed to the development of the Medical School’s Learning Culture Concept, which is part of PotePillars, the faculty’s strategic plan. So, for all these reasons, it seemed worthwhile to engage more deeply in such research.

G.Cs.: I was already interested in educational development as a student; I got involved in it as the head of the Student Educational Development Group. It soon became clear that this was the field in which I wanted to conduct research, since both my own experiences and those shared by my fellow students convinced me that it is worth rethinking how learning should be approached and which learning competencies can help us.

– Although your projects focused on different aspects of educational development, they complemented one another: one from the perspective of teachers and the other from that of students. What were the main findings of your research regarding teacher development?

A.K.: Although these two fields appear as separate segments, they are in fact connected to the same responsibilities. When it comes to teacher development, there are several challenges and realities that we need to address. One of these is that at the Medical School, physicians teach future physicians, however, being a good doctor does not automatically mean being a good teacher. Another challenge—though I would rather call it an opportunity—is that by the time a doctor becomes a highly competent specialist, many aspects of medical practice have become automatic to them due to the complexity of the profession, which can create obstacles in teaching. Experienced physicians often take certain steps for granted that are far from obvious to students. Of course, this problem is not unique to medical education. A teacher must not only understand the discipline but also the way a beginner thinks. Residents and young specialists can play an important role in helping us bridge this gap. Teacher development is therefore not a one-way process; it is not only the senior generation teaching the younger one, but also vice versa.

In my research, I examined whether an online teacher further training programme could be made more effective using gamification. 73 teachers from Pécs participated in the study and were divided into two groups: one completed the learning materials in a traditional format, while the other used a gamified version. In this context, gamification meant incorporating elements commonly found in games into a non-game environment in order to make the learning process more transparent, motivating, and engaging. We found that using these elements did not make the professional content itself more interesting to participants, but they had a positive effect on the use of student-centred teaching methods and on the development of a student-friendly educational mindset. This was precisely our goal: to encourage teachers’ thinking and practice in this direction, and this objective was achieved more successfully in the gamified group. One of the most important lessons of the study is that gamification is not a miracle solution in itself; it becomes valuable when it aligns with the goals of the training, the needs of the participants, and with what we aim to develop.

Overall, it provides a framework that includes both the tools necessary for knowledge transfer and student-centred resources that support students in developing their own knowledge independently.

– What qualities and characteristics does a good teacher need to have? Who is a good teacher, and how can this be defined today?

A.K.: In medical education, this is a particularly relevant question because the goal is not simply to transfer information but also to develop clinical reasoning and responsible decision-making. A good teacher is characterised not only by extensive knowledge but also by the ability to consciously support students’ learning. It is not enough to explain the material well; the teacher must also recognise what students understand, what they misunderstand, the thought processes they use when approaching a problem, and how they can help them move forward. A good teacher is therefore also a facilitator: someone who creates learning situations, encourages thinking through questions, provides feedback, and helps students apply acquired knowledge to real-world problems. These competencies are what define a good teacher. Last summer, together with Gergő and Dr. Zsuzsanna Varga, we redesigned our programme entitled “Learning about modern teaching methods and developing teaching skills” specifically to provide educational support for the development of these teaching competencies and to create a foundation upon which we can continue to build.

– How will the findings of your research be reflected in the future practice of medical education?

A.K.: In the long term, it is important that we move beyond thinking in terms of individual courses and instead develop a supportive system that systematically builds competencies and accompanies teachers throughout their careers. Gamification may be one of the tools within such a system. Our goal is to offer effective development opportunities that can be integrated into everyday work and adapted to teachers’ other responsibilities while also addressing the challenges they identify themselves.

G.Cs.: An important part of this process is that this year we are further developing the in-person version of our course “Learning about modern teaching methods and developing teaching skills”, incorporating the knowledge and experience we gained at Harvard. The digital, online version already exists and was renewed last year.

– How can teachers be supported in practising lifelong learning?

A.K.: I believe the first step is recognising the problem, while the key to change lies in the community. If we can make these aspects part of our shared understanding of our roles and responsibilities, then we will be able to implement them effectively and sustainably at the Medical School. It is important to emphasise that these are not revolutionary discoveries but rather principles that have formed the core of the existing dynamic in pedagogy for decades, and therefore, they do not appear as foreign elements in medical education either. Our aim is to provide institutional support to facilitate their implementation.

G.Cs.: We are seeing increasing participation in programmes aimed at teachers, such as the teacher skills development workshops and the “Módszertani Morzsák” series, which suggests that the problem has already been recognised and that a supportive community culture is beginning to take shape. More and more colleagues would like to contribute actively to the wider adoption of evidence-based teaching and assessment methods across the Medical School, which can help ensure that better-prepared physicians graduate from our training.

– Your research concerning students was based on an elective developmental course launched by the faculty in 2022 under the title “Learning Methodology and Career Socialisation”. The course is coordinated by Dr. Boróka Gács, senior lecturer at the Department of Behavioural Sciences. How receptive were students to this course?

G.Cs.: Fortunately, we did not need to recruit students, because they were interested from the very beginning and their number is growing every year. This is not a lecture-based course, students work in a seminar format instead, and small-group sessions are also included. We are currently working on increasing the number of teachers, which will also allow us to increase the number of students.

– Did your research confirm that the course supports general medicine and dentistry students in becoming more conscious and effective learners?

G.Cs.: At this stage, it is difficult to provide a definitive answer because we do not yet have long-term data, but we would like to continue the research using follow-up studies. What we were able to assess is that students gained a better understanding of which learning strategies are less effective and which have been shown to be effective, and they were able to distinguish between them. According to self-reported data, students who attended the course used self-regulated learning skills and active learning strategies more than those who did not participate.

We also examined whether academic performance improved among students who completed the course, but we observed no significant changes. One possible explanation is that developing learning competencies is a lengthy process because it requires changing well-established habits.

A.K.: The current structure of our training does not support effective learning methods, so for this reason, one of our medium-term goals is to redesign the basic structure of the basic modules. In this sense, Gergő’s research was somewhat like “swimming against the current,” as he was encouraging students to adopt active learning methods while still being assessed within an examination system that rewards mainly memorisation. It is important that students do not simply learn the material for the exam, but that they adopt learning methods that support long-term development and lead to significantly greater effectiveness throughout their professional careers.

– What does the concept of self-regulated learning mean, and why is mastering it so important?

G.Cs.: The essence of self-regulated learning is that it includes a planning and preparation phase, followed by a self- reflective and evaluative phase once the learning process has been completed. Our aim is to make this process as conscious as possible. It is important to recognise habits that are ineffective and then change them. That is precisely the purpose of the course.

During the planning phase, it is important to consider the student’s motivation: are they studying to earn good grades, gain recognition, or simply to avoid failure and punishment? It is important to highlight that these are external motivational factors and tend to be less stable. Our goal is to encourage intrinsic motivation: students should learn because they want to understand the material more thoroughly, develop stronger practical skills, and ultimately become better physicians by applying that knowledge.

Since the volume of material is considerably greater than in secondary education, it is also important to understand how the learning process can be planned, what goals can be set, how those goals can be monitored, and which pieces of information are essential and which are less important.

During the learning process, active retrieval and self-assessing practices are particularly important; their use leads to knowledge that is more stable and more readily applicable in the long term.

The learning environment also plays a role, including where students study and how frequently they take breaks. Spending an entire day in the library from morning until late at night and standing up only twice for a short break is not necessarily a sign of effective learning. Maintaining concentration is another important skill.

In the self-reflective phase—whether students are assessing themselves or receiving the exam results—the key factors are drawing appropriate conclusions, being willing to make changes, and having the ability to do so.

Developing a self-regulated learning process can also help ensure that continuous learning remains effective not only within the current curriculum structure—consisting of classes, exams, and final exams—but also after graduation, when regular assessments are no longer part of everyday life.

– Can further research projects on teacher development be expected?

A.K.: Even as a result of the current research, numerous developments have already taken place at our School, which will also continue in the future, as will teacher training itself. The platform we have created may also provide opportunities for further research, although I cannot yet say whether we will continue working on the topic with publication goals in mind.

It is certain that the ongoing development of teacher training—measured through a variety of indicators—creates opportunities for evidence-based improvement, and this is also something we intend to continue.

On 16 June 2026, Dr. András Komócsi and Dr. Gergely Csaba also presented their research and findings at a teacher skills development workshop. Materials related to these presentations are available on the OOKT platform of POTEpedia.

Photos:

Dr. András Komócsi

Dávid Verébi