Abstract
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.
Highlights
Problem-based learning (PBL) involves discussions among students who resolve loosely-structured problems to facilitate learning
The two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) recognised a significant effect associated with the year, but no significant effects according to sessions were observed
Tutorless PBL can potentially produce learning outcomes that are comparable to tutored PBL; tutorless PBL is different from faculty/staff-tutored PBL and student-tutored PBL
Summary
Problem-based learning (PBL) involves discussions among students who resolve loosely-structured problems to facilitate learning. PBL facilitates the acquisition of knowledge and that of other generic desirable attributes such as effective communication skills, ability to work in a team (team work), problem-solving skills, self-directed learning ability, ability to share information, appreciate other points of view and identification of personal strengths and weaknesses [2]. Because many of these skills are related to the tutorial process and group dynamics [3], the tutors’. There have been many reports suggesting that studenttutored PBL can be just as effective as faculty-tutored
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