Purpose
Teaching is a ‘sensemaking’ task, meaning it asks educators to resolve new information and experiences with existing knowledge, beliefs, and experiences. Some of the properties of sensemaking overlap with common foci of teaching (e.g., environment, social dynamics), however some properties go beyond (e.g., retrospective, identity). In our (virtual) Medical Education Fellowship Program, participants completed an action research (Plan-Act-Observe-Reflect) project, which mirrors the teaching cycle (Plan-Teach-Reflect). Research demonstrates educator engagement in action research supports improvements in instructional practice and teacher identity growth. Therefore, we hypothesized that the AR project would allow educators to engage in all aspects of sensemaking. Then, facilitators might support a richer discussion around educators' teaching practice, one involving conversation beyond the typical foci of logistics and social dynamics.

Methods
Of the 12 fellows, 5 consented to participate our research. Coaching meetings and final interviews were recorded, transcribed and deductively coded for sensemaking properties and program outcomes.

Results
Educators engaged in all aspect of sensemaking during AR project: Retrospective- “I think I had this idea before…this was always the one that stood out to me because I thought about it during residency…”; Identity- “I certainly have found it a lot more difficult than I was expecting to teach trainees, whether they are medical students or residents. And it's not as simple as just, you know, I know what I'm supposed to do, and I just tell them that. It takes a lot more.”

Facilitators supported shifts in teaching practice during sensemaking conversations: “I think I've noticed more engagement. And I actually tried your suggestion from the last coaching session…and that seemed to actually work really well.”

Conclusion
Participants engaged in all sensemaking aspects during AR project, allowing facilitators to support participants’ instructional thinking. AR may be a useful tool for faculty development facilitators, particularly when supporting faculty/preceptors remotely.