Transferring effective learning strategies across learning contexts matters: A study in problem-based learning

BackgroundPhysician Associates have recently been introduced to the UK healthcare workforce. Their curriculum includes important topics in Geriatric medicine. As they undertake a 2-year intensive postgraduate course we wanted to explore if Team-based Learning is an effective and efficient learning strategy. In addition, we wanted to know how this approach compares to their current learning methods, namely Problem-based learning and lectures.MethodsThis was a qualitative study of Physician associate student perceptions of Team-Based Learning. After introducing four TBL sessions in the specialty of Geriatric medicine we sent students anonymous questionnaires asking them about their TBL experience and how it compared to PBL and lectures. We then undertook a thematic analysis of the responses.ResultsTwenty students responded to our online questionnaire. The thematic analysis utilised themes from previous studies as well as emergent ones. The key themes were that TBL requires more preparation, TBL is effective, TBL is preferred to PBL and lectures, but students did not want TBL to replace all their teaching.ConclusionsTBL is an effective learning strategy that can be used alongside other teaching methods. While Physician Associate students preferred TBL over PBL and lectures, they wanted to have TBL alongside lectures at least. This information is important when planning teaching for an intensive 2-year course.

Background: Teaching and learning are fundamentally different between conventional and problem based learning (PBL) curricula. There is a transformation in the College of Medicine, Taibah University, Saudi Arabia (CMTU) from the conventional to a PBL curriculum. Aim: To compare students’ approaches to learning and their perception of learning environment between conventional and PBL curricula at CMTU. Method: A cross sectional study was conducted through a self-administered questionnaire on a convenience sample from the third year undergraduate male and female medical students enrolled in both PBL and conventional curricula during the academic year 2015- 2016. Students' approaches to learning and perception of learning environment were measured using the “Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST)” and the “Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM)” instruments, respectively. Results: A total of 101 questionnaires (49 (48.5%) and 52 (51.5%) from traditional and PBL curricula, respectively) were analyzed. When compared to conventional curriculum students, PBL curriculum students showed a significantly higher overall DREEM (136.98 ±21.45 vs. 111.59 ±27.93; p <0.001) as well as all its subscales. Significantly higher ratings for strategic approach towards learning (60.77 ±9.12 vs. 56.35 ±9.93; p=0.02) and net learning orientation (deep approach + strategic approach - surface apathetic approach; 85.60 ±17.32 vs. 77.76 ±20.63; p=0.04) were seen in PBL curriculum students. Conclusion: The transformation to a PBL curriculum at CMTU was accompanied by a tilt in the learning style towards a desired deep and strategic learning styles and a definite improvement in the perception of learning environment among students.

In this article, we report the findings from a study exploring the effects of a problem-based learning (PBL) approach to teaching and learning on learning outcomes for master’s of social work (MSW) students. Students who participated in a PBL pilot project were compared with students who did not participate in 5 outcome areas: social work knowledge, values, and skills; confidence in practice skills; confidence in learning skills; motivation to engage in deep learning and use deep-learning strategies; and satisfaction with their MSW education. PBL and non-PBL approaches were equally effective in helping students learn social work skills, knowledge, and values and in developing learning skills; the non-PBL group reported a significant shift to a more situational approach to their learning.

Objective: Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is a potential constructivist learning strategy that empowers students’ Meta cognitive skill. PBL focuses on problem, involves thinking activity to solve problems, and correlates to cognitive function of students. Methods: The implementation of PBL reveals various benefits, but there are also some weaknesses in this learning strategy. Thus, it is necessary to implement a certain learning strategy that can cover the PBL weaknesses, such as Reading, Questioning, and Answering (RQA) learning strategy. RQA is a new learning strategy developed based on a fact that almost all students do not read the next lecture materials, causing failure of learning strategy planned and finally the students’ comprehension becomes low. RQA is also potential to empower students’ Meta cognitive skill. Findings: The integration of RQA and PBL learning strategy is called PBL-RQA learning strategy. This study was a quasi-experimental study designed to compare the effect of PBL, RQA, and PBL-RQA learning strategies on the students’ Meta cognitive skill of Faculty of Mathematics and Science, State University of Makassar. Application: The results of the study showed that the potency of PBL learning strategy in empowering the students’ Meta cognitive skill has been increased by integrating it to RQA learning strategy. The meta cognitive skill mean score of the students taught by PBL-RQA learning strategy was 21% higher than that of the students taught by PBL and 26.9% higher than that of the students taught by RQA learning strategy. Keywords: Answering, Meta Cognitive Skill, Problem-Based Learning, Questioning, Reading, PBL-RQA

Chapter Four - Learning Strategies

Recent research shows the importance to teach students the self-regulated use of effective learning strategies at university. However, the effects of such training programs on students’ metacognitive knowledge, use of learning strategies, and academic performance in the longer term are unknown. In the present study, all first-year pharmacology students from one university attended a learning strategy training program, i.e., the ‘Study Smart program’, in their first weeks. The 20% (n = 25) lowest scoring students on the first midterm received further support regarding their learning strategies. Results showed that all students gained accurate metacognitive knowledge about (in)effective learning strategies in the short- and long-term and reported to use less highlighting, less rereading, but more interleaving, elaboration, and distributed practice after the training program. Academic performance was compared to the prior cohort, which had not received the Study Smart program. While in the previous cohort, students in the top, middle, and bottom rank of midterm 1 stayed in these ranks and still differed significantly in the final exam, students in the Study Smart cohort that received the training program improved throughout the year and differences between ranks were significantly reduced. A learning strategy training program including a remediation track for lower performing students can thus support students to study more effectively and enhance equal chances for all students at university.

Many medical schools are shifting to a problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum, some without any transition period, others using periods of parallel-track curricula. The authors report on and discuss a third strategy for implementing PBL: using a pilot course as a model to facilitate the transition. After the Université de Montréal Faculty of Medicine chose to switch PBL, one course in the third year of the traditional curriculum was changed to PBL format 11 months before the new curriculum was to start in September 1993. This was done to develop local expertise, to gain confidence, to test the feasibility of the method, to produce a showcase, to assess more accurately the resources required, and to provide a practice ground for the curriculum planners and managers and the faculty-development training team. The authors discuss the planning of the pilot course, the training of the faculty in various aspects of PBL (writing problems, tutoring methods, etc.), the course implementation, and the course evaluation. Overall, the pilot course was well received by both the faculty and the students and provided much beneficial information that assisted the university in its transition to a new PBL curriculum.

This research aims to determine whether the learning outcomes of computer systems for students taught with the Problem-based Learning (PBL) learning strategy assisted by Linktree are better than the learning outcomes of students taught with the Expository learning strategy in class IX MTsN 3 Langkat. The research was a quasi-experiment, involving two classes that were given different treatments. The research design used in this research is Pre-test Post-test control group design, namely by looking at the differences in influence on post-test learning outcomes between the experimental and control groups. Statistically, using the t-test, it was concluded that the learning outcomes of students who were taught using the Linktree-assisted Problem Based Learning (PBL) Learning Strategy were better than the learning outcomes of students who were taught using the expository strategy in informatics subjects at MTsN 3 Langkat in systems material. computer, this is proven from the results of hypothesis testing where t count &gt;t table , namely 13.77&gt;1.666 .

Status of Medical Education Reform at Saga Medical School 5 Years After Introducing PBL

The purpose of the present study is to investigate effective English language learning strategies (LLSs) employed by successful language learners. The participants in this study were 20 student interpreters enrolled in the graduate school of interpretation and translation in Korea. Data on LLSs were collected through unstructured essay writing, a method employed to encourage participants to freely reflect on their language learning experiences and report what strategies and study methods helped them develop a high level of English proficiency. Qualitative data analysis produced several findings related to the use of learning strategies. Specifically, metacognitive strategies, such as disciplined approach to language learning and monitoring of progress, and cognitive strategies, such as reading-aloud and text analysis, were frequently mentioned as effective strategies. In addition, a number of participants emphasized the importance of conscious attention to language input during language learning activities. Testimonies of advanced English language learners in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context suggest that learner autonomy manifested in self-regulated learning activities may be crucial for successful foreign language learning. These and other findings are discussed with respect to their pedagogical implications for strategy-based instruction in English education.

BackgroundProblem-based learning (PBL) involves discussions among students who resolve loosely-structured problems to facilitate learning. In the PBL curriculum, faculty tutors are employed as facilitators for small groups of students. Because of lack of time and staff shortage, the effectiveness of tutorless PBL has been discussed as an alternate option.MethodsSessions in which tutored and tutorless PBL groups are mixed were presented by 1st-year medical students, who experienced both tutored and tutorless groups alternately in the two sessions of a year. To examine the effectiveness of tutored and tutorless PBL, written examination scores (WES) and self-contentment scores (SCS) were statistically analysed.ResultsWES averages did not significantly differ between the tutored and tutorless groups; however, a significantly greater variation was observed in WES in the tutorless group. SCS averages tended to be higher in the tutored PBL than in tutorless PBL groups.ConclusionsStudents in these tutorless PBL groups performed well in their written examinations, whereas those in the tutored PBL groups, achieved this and reported better self-contentment with their learning experience. Tutorless PBL sessions were considered to be comparable to tutored PBL sessions at least in the early stages.

Problem-based learning (PBL) is an educational reform that is now becoming a household word in higher education, particularly in medical schools. Many medical schools have implemented a full problem-based learning curriculum (PBLC) While some have included PBL into selected units of the course in an otherwise conventional curriculum (embedded PBL) and others run their tutorials in a PBL manner within a modified conventional curriculum (hybrid curriculum). Yet there are others who claim that small components of PBL in a conventional curriculum are not PBL at all. Thus amateurs in the subject matter find difficulty in evaluating the logistics and outcome of these variations. This article focuses on the general characteristics of PBL and how this learning method can help enhance independent learning and critical thinking, whether in a full, embedded or hybrid curriculum. The extent of PBL to be included and which of the three types is to be adopted depends on the objective of theundergraduate medical course as determined by the faculty, resources available, limitations, feedback on the existing curriculum and various other factors.

This study’s main goal was to investigate how PBL, a learning strategy, might improve students’ oral vocabulary, which is one component of their speaking abilities in an EFL class with grade 11 students as the emphasis. The experimental (treatment) and comparative groups were the two research groups. Biftu Nekemte Secondary School was the site of the study (BNSS). The study’s population comprised all eleventh grade students enrolled in the academic year of 2014–2022. As a type of quasi-experimental research, the current study used a non-randomized pre-test, post-test comparison group design. The researcher used a multi-phase sampling strategy. 48 students from the experimental group and 49 from the comparison group took part in the study. The pre- and posttest instruments were adapted from the speaking performance rubric by Brown (2004). In fact, the researcher simply applied the rubric’s vocabulary part. The study’s quantitative portion was calculated using a number of statistical procedures. Calculations were made using descriptive statistics tools for the pretest and posttest groups to determine if the data was parametric or not. Additionally, separate t-tests were conducted. Cohen’s D (Effect Size) and Cohen’s Kappa (for inter-rater reliability) were also conducted, and they were equally significant. The usage of problem-based learning as a learning approach was found to considerably enhance EFL learners’ oral vocabulary skills, which is one facet of speaking abilities. Therefore, it is advised that various stakeholders take into account using PBL as a learning technique in EFL classes, especially for the teaching and acquisition of oral vocabulary.

Problem-Based Learning Curriculum as a Tool to Increase Medical Student Exposure to Radiation Oncology

&lt;p&gt;The study is aimed at finding an effective learning strategy that can increase metacognitive knowledge. Metacognitive knowledge is a standard that based on 2016-revised edition of 2013 curriculum needs to be achieved by every graduate in all level of education in Indonesia. The study is conducted in three different schools and engages 207 students, which then divided into six groups. The groups are students who study under mind mapping strategy, concept mapping, reciprocal teaching using summary notes, reciprocal teaching using mind mapping, problem-based learning, and investigation group. The results showed that those studying under problem-based learning strategy spent a significantly higher numbers in metacognitive knowledge in biology learning and followed by students who study under reciprocal teaching using mind mapping. According to the finding, it is expected that teachers of Biology will practice problem-based learning strategy in their classroom in order to increase the Metacognitive knowledge.&lt;/p&gt;