Problem-based learning

INTRODUCTION: Problem based learning (PBL) has many benefits; however, research on PBL indicates that students are not quite good at integrating knowledge in basic sciences and clinical aspects. Case-based learning (CBL) might be an alternative method to enhance the integration of this knowledge. No research explored the way these two methods stimulate cognitive skills. This study aimed to explore the differences between PBL and CBL in stimulating cognitive skill by analyzing verbal interaction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This descriptive research was performed at the Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Islam Indonesia (FM UII). Twenty-one undergraduate students contributed voluntarily to this study. The students were then split up randomly into a PBL Group (n=10) and a CBL group (n=11). Each group performed twice discussion meetings facilitated by an experienced tutor. The discussion processes were video recorded and analyzed using a coding scheme categorizing the verbal interaction into five types: cumulative reasoning, exploratory questioning, procedural interaction, handling conflict about knowledge, off-task/ irrelevant interactions. RESULTS: Students in both PBL and CBL groups spent most of their time-sharing cumulative reasoning and then asking exploratory question. Students in the PBL group were more frequently asking exploratory questions. Students in both groups rarely handled conflict about knowledge since it was a high order thinking skill. Students in the CBL group were more frequent than the PBL group in performing procedural interaction. CONCLUSIONS: Students performed various cognitive skills in both PBL and CBL. Each method has its own strengths in stimulating reasoning skills of students.

Introduction Effective teaching is critical for student learning, especially in professional field, such as dentistry. To cope with the dynamic state of society, the changing pattern of diseases, a clear understanding of the links between basic sciences, technology, and health care systems are crucial. Future health care provider's education system should encourage the development of learning characteristics, such as critical thinking and problem-solving. Problem-based learning (PBL) is one such method. Aims and objectives To evaluate the efficacy of PBL vs lecture method of teaching among the final-year dental undergraduates. Materials and methods A comparative study with 38 finalyear dental students, 19 students in PBL and 19 students in lecture groups were undertaken. The PBL group was further divided into three smaller groups. Both the groups were given a topic from the undergraduate curriculum of Public Health Dentistry prescribed by Dental Council India (DCI) and were assessed for their academic performances through an internal assessment examination. Results Both the groups consisted of higher number of females. Mean marks obtained by PBL group was 6.63 ± 1.80, which was significantly higher as compared with the lecture group which was 4.84 ± 1.17 (p = 0.001**). Conclusion Students in PBL group showed better academic performance as compared with students in the lecture group. How to cite this article Rekha K, Naganandini S, Eshwar S, Manvi S, Markose J. Problem-based Learning vs Lectures— Comparison of Academic Performances among Dental Undergraduates in India: A Pilot Study. World J Dent 2017; 8(1):59-66.

We present an initial experiment in the teaching of haematology using the problem-based learning technique in the third year of medicine at the Bobigny Faculty of Medicine (Université Paris-Nord). This new approach to the clinical and bioclinical teaching of medicine is used in several hundred medical faculties throughout the world. It is based on students' integrated learning of concepts (scientific, clinical, psycho-social) through patient problems. The method alternates group meetings with a tutor and individual learning. Sixty-eight students with no previous training in haematology and eight tutors (eight groups) took part in this experiment, which lasted five weeks (with no other teaching) and enabled them to study ten patient problems representing the bulk of the objectives pursued in this discipline. The preparation of students and teachers for this experiment is described, as well as its conduct and the results obtained. These show that the problem-based learning students performed better in their clinical problem-solving examinations than did students from a previous year who had been taught using traditional methods for the same period of time. The comparison does not indicate, however, that problem-based learning students had any advantage in the acquisition of factual information. The high degree of satisfaction of the students beginning their third year and of tutors in respect of this experiment constitutes a very favourable point. The limitations of the experiment and the teaching method itself are also discussed.

Problem based learning (PBL) is based on the idea that learning is “grounded by experience. ” PBL curriculums in medical school highlight the importance of engaging students and allowing students to be the driver of their education. This mimics their work in the hospital where answers are rarely suited to a multiple-choice question, but a myriad of complex clinical questions, ethical decisions, and cost barriers. Teaching medical students from the start of medical school to handle multiple variables is an important aspect of their learning. Studies indicate that PBL students consistently score at or above the national average on board exams compared to their peers. Furthermore, evaluations of competence during clinical rotations show statistically significant advantages for PBL students in areas such as critical thinking, social and cognitive interactions, and patient comfort. Studies highlight a notable advantage in interpersonal skills among PBL students. Additionally, geographical access plays a critical role in enrollment, and personal responsibilities can hinder potential applicants from pursuing medical school. PBL can be utilized to create an environment where location-based barriers are minimized to increase the number of individuals entering the medical profession. This approach could ultimately reduce the healthcare burden and enhance medical services in underserved areas of the country. Here, we present a concise review of resources and approaches including online and digital platforms to facilitate curriculum development and implementation of flipped classrooms and independent learning that are well-suited for PBL.

Background:Medical students are prone to burnout, and several stressors have been associated with it. From the literature, it is yet unclear if type of curricula in medical schools plays a role in burnout among students.Aims:To assess the prevalence of burnout and its associated stressors in medical students in problem-based learning and traditional curricula at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University.Subjects and Methods:The analytical, cross-sectional study was conducted between February and May 2017 and included all third- to sixth-year medical students of Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia. In the 2016–2017 academic year, third- and fourth-year students were in problem-based learning, whereas fifth- and sixth-year students were in traditional learning. All eligible students were verbally invited to complete a 56-item questionnaire comprising three sections eliciting sociodemographic information, level of burnout (using a modified Copenhagen Burnout Inventory with personal, medical school- and faculty-related subsections) and stressors associated with burnout. Burnout was measured using a Likert-type scale, and scores of >50 were considered as high burnout. Chi-square and logistic regression analysis were used for statistical analysis.Results:Of 947 eligible students, 593 (62.6%) completed the questionnaire: 317 (53.5%) were in problem-based learning and 276 (46.5%) in traditional learning. Of these, 329 (55.5%) had high burnout, with no difference between type of curricula (problem-based learning = 178 [56.2%]; traditional = 151 [54.7%]; P = 0.73). All measured stressors were significantly associated with high burnout, including lack of sleep (odds ratio [OR] = 2.139, P = 0.005) and perceiving teaching staff as inflexible and unsupportive (OR = 2.995, P < 0.001).Conclusions:This study found high prevalence of burnout among medical students in a university from Saudi Arabia, but no significant difference between students in problem-based learning and traditional curricula. A longitudinal study is recommended to better understand the long-term effect of type of curricula on burnout.

The recent trend in medical education has been toward problem-based learning (PBL) and performance-based testing. An attractive alternative to traditional lecture-based instruction, problem-based learning emphasizes knowledge acquisition and its application in the clinical setting. In conjunction, performance-based testing offers a means of assessing student performance that measures not only the mastery of factual information, but also the application of knowledge in solving clinical problems often encountered in patient care. Since the installation of an undergraduate PBL surgery clerkship at the University of Kentucky (UKY) in 1989, several studies have shown that the performance of PBL students equals or exceeds that of students in lecture-based instruction on tests of factual knowledge. More importantly, PBL students perform significantly better on examinations designed to measure the clinical application of knowledge. The UKY studies also show that PBL students develop better clinical reasoning skills, increase their medical knowledge base significantly, and learn important time-management skills during the course of their PBL instruction. Moreover, the UKY data reveal clearly that performance-based testing provides an accurate and reliable method of assessing areas of student learning that traditional testing techniques (i.e. multiple-choice tests) fail to evaluate adequately.

This research is motivated by the low interest in reading and weak text comprehension skills among students, which are one of the main challenges in learning English. The main objective of this study is to analyze the effectiveness of the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) method in improving students' reading comprehension skills. This study uses a quantitative approach with a pretest-posttest control group design. The research subjects consisted of two classes, namely the experimental class taught using the PBL method and the control class taught using conventional methods. The results showed that the average reading comprehension score of students in the experimental class was significantly higher than that of the control class. The application of the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) model has a positive effect on students' reading comprehension skills. Students who learn through PBL are more active in the learning process because they are involved in solving problems directly related to the reading text. These findings prove that the PBL method is effective in improving students' reading comprehension skills. Thus, PBL can be used as an alternative reading learning strategy in teaching English in secondary schools.

The increasing use of mobile devices among health sciences students presents both opportunities and challenges to problem-based learning (PBL) in face-to-face tutorials and during self-directed learning. The purpose of the present study was to find out how common the use of mobile devices is among students in PBL, how they are used, and whether some general recommendations can be made to help students make more effective use of mobile devices during PBL. Based on the findings of focus interviews of students and facilitators (Chan et al., 2015), the authors developed a self-administered online questionnaire to examine students’ usage of mobile devices in PBL. The students from three healthcare professional programmes in a university in Hong Kong were invited to take part in the online survey. A total of 346 students (response rate of 31.89 %) completed the online questionnaire. It was found that almost all of them (99 %) own one or more mobile devices. Most of them (98 %) used their mobile devices in PBL, usually for educational purposes, such as the search and synthesis of information and the use of specific software on these devices, especially those for the visualization of knowledge (like atlases or software for creation of concept maps). There was a small percentage of students who never used mobile devices in PBL. The reasons included the facilitators’ explicit discouragement of their use, and the desire to focus on the discussion instead of searching for information. Based on the findings of the survey, the authors arrived at four recommendations aiming at more effective use of mobile devices in PBL: students should be free to choose to use mobile devices; mobile devices should be used for educational purposes only, such as the search for factual information or multimedia files; PBL tutorial time should mostly be spent on discussion, instead of searching for information; students should be encouraged to use cloud-based services for collaborative activities such as note-making and concept mapping in PBL.

Do occupational therapy and physiotherapy students care about research? A survey of perceptions and attitudes to research. In this cross-sectional study, we have used a questionnaire to study perceptions and attitudes to research-related activities of Swedish occupational therapy and physiotherapy first (T1) and final term (T6) students. Two hundred and eleven students from programmes employing either problem-based learning (PBL) or traditional education methods participated. The results showed that students had a positive attitude towards research, particularly for the activity 'read research literature to update knowledge' and 'apply research findings to improve practice'. When T1 were compared with T6 students, the ability to perform research-related activities was rated significantly higher by T6 students regardless of educational methods. A comparison of PBL and the traditional educational method resulted in moderate but significant differences. The PBL students had a more positive attitude towards research and to a greater extent intended to engage in research activities in the future. The results give hope for a positive future development of the occupational therapy and physiotherapy professions and a PBL education method may be more conducive to the shaping of a research consumer than a traditional method, although more research is needed to substantiate these claims.

Problem-based learning (PBL) has been shown to be effective for promoting student competencies in self-directed and collaborative learning, critical thinking, self-reflection and tackling novel situations. However, the need for face-to-face interactions at the same place and time severely limits the potential of traditional PBL. The requirements of space and for meeting at a specific location at the same time create timetabling difficulties. Such limitations need to be tackled before all potentials of PBL learning can be realized. The present study aimed at designing and implementing an online PBL environment for undergraduate speech/language pathology students, and assessing the associated pedagogical effectiveness. A group of eight PBL students were randomly selected to participate in the study. They underwent 4 weeks of online PBL using Adobe Connect. Upon completion of the experiment, they were assessed via a self-reported questionnaire and quantitative comparison with traditional PBL students based on the same written assignment. The questionnaire revealed that all participating students enjoyed online PBL, without any perceived negative effects on learning. Online PBL unanimously saved the students travel time to and from school. Statistical analysis indicated no significant difference in assignment grades between the online and traditional PBL groups, indicating that online PBL learning appears to be similarly effective as traditional face-to-face PBL learning.

Today’s sprouting medical technology demands that students are more innovative in their approach towards medical practice. Problem based learning (PBL) has proven to be one of the most efficacious disciplines aimed at improving problem-solving skills and self-directed learning. The objective of this study was to review students’ perspectives on the implementation and effectiveness of PBL at Avalon University School of Medicine (AUSOM). A cross-sectional questionnaires survey was conducted among basic science students with qualitative and quantitative questionnaires. The response recorded and the data analysed using Stata-15 (StataCorp LLC). Most students believed PBL was beneficial to learning. 82.18% (n=83) agreed that they benefited from PBL and 91.09 % (n=92) were in concordance PBL provided a positive learning environment to enhance their understanding. The most important objectives of PBL identified by the students were to improve the presentation skills, enhance depth of understanding and develop critical thinking. PBL is helpful in improving students understanding of the basic medical science courses, allowing for self-improvement. PBL allows students to actively engage in the collaborative active learning process. It is imperative PBL should be introduced early in pre-clinical years and implemented effectively to enhance the learning environment with the favourable outcome.

Introduction: The rapid advancement in medical technology and science demands nursing education to become hybrid, combining traditional teaching methods with modern methodologies. Problem-based learning (PBL) is one of the new methods, which facilitates student's learning. Objective: The study aimed to assess and compare the nursing students' knowledge regarding myocardial infarction taught by PBL and traditional lecture method. Methods: A quantitative research approach with post-test-only research design was used. All 50 B.Sc. 2nd-year nursing students were included in the study. A structured knowledge questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge. Results: The findings revealed that the mean knowledge score of nursing students in the PBL group was 24.28 and in the traditional lecture group was 19.36. The obtained mean difference between PBL group and traditional lecture group was found to be statistically significant as evident from 't' = 2.71 at 0.05 level of significance. The study findings also revealed that in the PBL group, 16% of nursing students had acquired poor knowledge, 68% had acquired average knowledge and 16% had acquired good knowledge, whereas in the traditional lecture group, 40% of students had acquired poor knowledge, 52% had acquired average knowledge and 8% had acquired good knowledge. Conclusion: The study revealed that the mean knowledge score after post-test of nursing students in the PBL group was higher than mean knowledge score after post-test of nursing students in the traditional lecture group; hence, PBL method was more effective than traditional lecture method.

Background:Knowledge of community medicine is essential for health care professionals to function as efficient primary health care physicians. Medical students learning Community Medicine as a subject are expected to be competent in critical thinking and generic skills so as to analyze community health problems better. However, current teaching by didactic lectures fails to develop these essential skills. Problem-based learning (PBL) could be an effective strategy in this respect. This study was hence done to compare the academic performance of students who were taught Community Medicine by the PBL method with that of students taught by traditional methods, to assess the generic skills of students taught in a PBL environment and to assess the perception of students toward PBL methodology.Materials and Methods:This study was conducted among seventh-semester final-year medical students between June and November 2014. PBL was introduced to a randomly chosen group of students, and their performance in an assessment exam at the end of postings was compared with that of the remaining students. Generic skills and perception toward PBL were also assessed using standardized questionnaires.Results:A total of 77 students took part in the brainstorming session of PBL. The correlation between self-assigned scores of the participants and those assigned by the tutor in the brainstorming session of PBL was significant (r = 0.266, P = 0.05). Out of 54 students who took part in the presentation session, almost all 53 (98.1%) had good perception toward PBL. Demotivational scores were found to be significantly higher among males (P = 0.024). The academic performance of students (P < 0.001) and success rates (P = 0.05) in the examination were higher among students who took part in PBL compared to controls.Conclusion:PBL helped improve knowledge of students in comparison to those exposed only to didactic lectures. As PBL enabled students to identify the gaps in their knowledge and enhanced their group functioning and generic skills, we recommend PBL sessions: They would help optimize the training in Community Medicine at medical schools. Good correlation of tutor and self-assessment scores of participants in the brainstorming session suggests that the role of tutors could be restricted to assessment in presentation sessions alone. Demotivation, which hinders group performance in PBL, needs to be corrected by counselling and timely feedback by the tutors.

This study addresses the low level of student understanding in the Catholic Religious Education and Character subject (PAKBP) at SDN 013 Balikpapan Kota, as evidenced by learning evaluation results that did not meet the Minimum Mastery Criteria of Learning Objectives (KKTP). The lack of interactive learning models has limited student engagement, prompting the researcher to implement the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) method, which emphasizes active problem-solving. The research focused on sixth-grade students and explored whether PBL could improve learning outcomes, particularly on the topic of the Church as the Communion of Saints. This Classroom Action Research (CAR) was carried out in two cycles, each consisting of planning, implementation, observation, and reflection phases. The subjects were six sixth-grade students. Findings revealed significant improvements following the PBL implementation. In the first cycle, 83.3% of students achieved the “competent” category, while 16.7% were in the “proficient” category. Participation levels included 16.67% in “developing,” 50% in “competent,” and 33.33% in “proficient.” By the second cycle, student outcomes improved, with 66.7% reaching the “proficient” level and 33.3% attaining “advanced.” Active participation also rose, with 66.67% in “proficient” and 33.33% in “advanced.” These results demonstrate that the PBL method is effective in enhancing both learning outcomes and student engagement in Catholic Religious Education, especially in fostering deeper understanding of core religious concepts.

This study aims to address the low student participation in Catholic Religious Education (CRE) learning in class VIII of SMP St. Fransiskus II, East Jakarta. Preliminary observations revealed students’ lack of engagement in class discussions, presentations, and group activities, which is suspected to result from the continued use of conventional teaching methods. To overcome this, the study implements the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) method, which emphasizes contextual problem-solving and student-centered learning. Using the Classroom Action Research (CAR) model, the study was conducted in two cycles consisting of planning, action, observation, and reflection stages. Learning activities were designed based on the PBL approach. Data were collected through observation sheets focused on student participation indicators such as discussion activeness, presentation ability, group collaboration, and task completion. Quantitative data were analyzed descriptively, while qualitative data from teacher reflections and field notes were used to explore learning dynamics. The findings showed a notable improvement in student participation: from 65% in the first cycle to 85% in the second. All indicators improved, including more active involvement in discussions, better presentation quality, and timely task completion. Qualitative data supported these results, showing increased student motivation, enthusiasm, and collaboration. In conclusion, the implementation of the PBL method effectively enhanced student participation in CRE learning. It not only increased activeness but also supported the development of critical thinking, collaboration, and communication skills. The study suggests PAK teachers consider adopting the PBL method to improve engagement and learning outcomes.