Abstract
Toxicology is needed to implement in the occupational health and safety (OHS) curriculum. Teaching toxicology is very challenging as its multidisciplinary science. Keeping students engaged in learning is a difficult issue when introducing solely theoretical framework. To enhance student performance, educators need to be aware of different learning styles and teach students accordingly. This study aimed to examine preferred learning styles and to further investigate the impact of learning style on team allocation and the effectiveness of team-based learning (TBL) in toxicology. A cross-sectional study of OHS students was performed. The visual, aural, reading/writing, and kinesthetic (VARK) learning style questionnaire and the Grasha–Reichmann Student Learning Styles Scale (GRSLSS), which identifies independent, dependent, collaborative, participant, competitive, and avoidant learning styles, were used with 101 study participants. After classification, participants studied three aspects of toxicology in three respective situations: (i) individual learning, (ii) TBL with students of the same VARK learning style, and (iii) TBL with students of varying VARK learning styles. Afterward, participants wrote a test on each of the aspects. The dominant VARK and GRSLSS learning styles were reading/writing (33.33%) and collaborative (50.00%), respectively. The participants achieved the highest test scores (88.31%) when they studied in a team with the various VARK styles, followed by studying in a team with the same VARK style (83.43%). Individual learning produced the lowest average score (69.79%). The results of this study suggest that creating a successful heterogeneity team based on the preferred learning styles is an effective teaching method in toxicology. It might be useful to toxicology educators and research studies from a wide range of disciplines to enhance student performance.
Highlights
Toxicology is one of the essential medical subjects used in occupational health and safety (OHS) in order to assess the hazard and risk of chemical and biological in the working environment
The results in this study revealed that the most preferred learning styles among OHS students were reading/writing (R) in terms of the VARK and collaborative learning in terms of the Grasha–Reichmann Student Learning Styles Scale (GRSLSS)
Our result suggests that this Team-based learning (TBL) could be fitted with the collaborative learning style classified by the GRSLSS for several reasons
Summary
Toxicology is one of the essential medical subjects used in occupational health and safety (OHS) in order to assess the hazard and risk of chemical and biological in the working environment. Improving learning strategy of student is important for them to achieve the course learning outcome. Team-based learning (TBL) is one of the active learning strategies that allowed students to work in a small group format (3–5 students/group). TBL possesses the advantages of the student learning and social or group interactions [3]. The process increases the motivation for learning and creates a concept map that would lead to improve their recognition, application, and deep learning [4,5,6,7]. Several publications reported that TBL is a very well-received and effective format in health professions education [8]. The instructor must work to establish a social bond among members and/or group them to work together as a team
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