Attitudes and examination performance of female and male medical students in an active, case-based learning programme in anatomy

Abstract

An active, case-based project (CBP) learning programme in anatomy was run for second-year medical students in 1995 and 1996, and each was more student-centred and less teacher-centred than had been used in previous years. The design of the programme run in 1996 encouraged the students much more towards independent learning and deep understanding, and earlier studies had suggested possible differences in learning styles between female and male medical students. The purpose of this study on the 1996 programme was to measure the extent to which the female and male students perceived the initial discussion sessions to develop deep learning skills, and in addition to determine the performance of female and male students on the CBP and the essay components of the written examination. The results show that the female students viewed the initial discussion sessions as developing deep learning skills to a much greater extent than did the male students. Also the female students (not including the special overseas entrants from Malaysia) performed better than the males on the CBP component relative to the essay component in the examination. Gender differences are important in regard to a number of issues including the growth of PBL curricula, admissions policies, the increasing proportions of female students in medical schools and future career structure.