Abstract
This article was migrated. The article was not marked as recommended. Objectives: In recent years, the rapid development of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) in Chinese medical colleges and universities is a self-directed learning mode comprising student- centered, issue-based and discussion-centered. This study evaluates the quality of PBL implementation and examines factors that affect the medical learning effect. Methods: Based on the continuous application of PBL course among 234 of undergraduates majoring in clinical medicine from 2014 to 2018, we assessed the learning effect and curriculum implementation through examination and questionnaire. Results: PBL preliminarily promotes the learning abilities of medical students in several aspects, including literature inquiry ability (83.76%), autonomous learning ability (74.79%), teamwork ability (60.26%), interpersonal communication ability (61.11%), language expression ability (72.22%) and critical thinking ability (53.85%). However, further analysis reveals that there are still many underlying issues to be solved, such as rapid decrease of learning interest and involvement, low learning efficiency in unit time, etc. We make a thorough discussion and put forward some recommendations. Conclusions: This study indicates that PBL is an effective learning mode for undergraduate medical education, which would be beneficial by flexible adjustment of PBL curriculum practice, applying different cases in accordance with student's aptitude and enhancing the training of experienced clinical tutors.
Highlights
In recent years, Problem-Based Learning (PBL) mode has been used more and more widely in medical education in China
We examined students' performance in literature retrieval, autonomous learning, teamwork, interpersonal communication, language expression and critical thinking, respectively
The results showed that PBL preliminarily promoted the learning ability in different aspects. 83.76% (n=196) of the students thought that PBL model could improve their literature retrieval ability, 74.79% (n=175) of the students thought that autonomous learning ability had been improved, more than 60% (n=140) of the students thought that language expression ability and teamwork ability had been improved, 53.85% (n=126) of the students thought that their critical thinking had been exercised (Figure 1B)
Summary
Problem-Based Learning (PBL) mode has been used more and more widely in medical education in China. While it has achieved good results in the process of continuous improvement and innovation, it faces new challenges and dilemmas. Different from the lecture-based learning (LBL), PBL mode inspires students' autonomous learning instead of traditional teacher's teaching. PBL guides students to study independently through group cooperation by case settings, and tutors help them to achieve teaching objectives and enhance students' abilities. As one of the most basic elements of PBL, the case must include two characteristics: one is that students may encounter the unstructured problems in the "real world" in the clinical field, and the other is that there is no fixed solution and process. Self-evaluation and group evaluation after each case are crucial (Yin et al, 2015)
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