Themostnoticeable change in the fifth edition is on the cover—the addition of a third
author, Dr JohnCairney. Theneedforonewasobvioustous:Streinerhasretiredthree
times (so far), and Norman is getting to the stage where he is contemplating his first.
This bookhasbeensuccessful beyond whatwecouldeverhaveimagined,andwewant
to see it continue and keep up with developments in the field, but, to paraphrase the
f
ilm mogul, Samuel Goldwyn, ‘Include us out’. The solution was to involve a younger
colleague, Cairney. A word about why him.
Whenthe Faculty of Health Sciences at McMaster University began 45 years ago, it
pioneered a newformofteaching, called problem-based learning, with an emphasis on
small-group tutorials. These sessions were led by ‘non-expert tutors’, whose role was
to guide the students’ learning, rather than formal teaching. Consequently, knowledge
of the content area wasn’t required, and indeed, Streiner, a clinical psychologist by
training, tutored sessions in cardiology (after spending a weekend learning where the
heart was located). Although both of us were in at the beginning and helped shape the
learning environment (and, in fact, Norman was, until recently, the Assistant Dean
of Educational Research and Development), we never subscribed to the notion of the
non-expert tutor in the courses we taught; we always believed you needed in-depth
content knowledge in order to lead a class of learners. Eventually, the medical pro
gramme also learned this profound lesson (thereby ensuring that none of us had to
waste our time and theirs tutoring medical students)