Abstract
ObjectiveTeam-based learning (TBL) is an increasingly popular teaching method in medical education. However, TBL hasn’t been well-studied in the ophthalmology clerkship context. This study was to examine the impact of modified TBL in such context and to assess the student evaluations of TBL.MethodsNinety-nine students of an 8-year clinical medicine program from Zhongshan Ophthalmic Centre, Sun Yat-sen University, were randomly divided into four sequential units and assigned to six teams with the same faculty. The one-week ophthalmology clerkship module included traditional lectures, gross anatomy and a TBL module. The effects of the TBL module on student performance were measured by the Individual Readiness Assurance Test (IRAT), the Group Readiness Assurance Test (GRAT), the Group Application Problem (GAP) and final examination scores (FESs). Students’ evaluations of TBL were measured by a 16-item questionnaire. IRAT and GRAT scores were compared using a paired t-test. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and subgroup analysis compared the effects among quartiles that were stratified by the Basic Ophthalmology Levels (BOLs). The BOLs were evaluated before the ophthalmology clerkship.ResultsIn TBL classes, the GRAT scores were significantly higher than the IRAT scores in both the full example and the BOL-stratified groups. It highlighted the advantages of TBL compared to the individual learning. Quartile-stratified ANOVA comparisons showed significant differences at FES scores (P < 0.01). In terms to IRAT, GRAT and GAP scores, there was no significant result. Moreover, IRAT scores only significantly differed between the first and fourth groups. The FES scores of the first three groups are significantly higher than the fourth group. Gender-specific differences were significant in FES but not the IRAT. Overall, 57.65% of student respondents agreed that TBL was helpful. Male students tended to rate TBL higher than female students.ConclusionThe application of modified TBL to the ophthalmology clerkship curriculum improved students’ performance and increased students’ engagement and satisfaction. TBL should be further optimized and developed to enhance the educational outcomes among multi-BOLs medical students.
Highlights
Traditional didactic lecture is the most common method for medical education
We aimed to assess the academic impacts of Team-based learning (TBL) on ophthalmology clerkships and sought to investigate whether any other effects of TBL would emerge in that context
In the TBL classes, the Group Readiness Assurance Test (GRAT) scores were significantly higher than the Individual Readiness Assurance Test (IRAT) scores, both overall and in the groups stratified by Basic Ophthalmology Levels (BOLs) (Fig 1)
Summary
Traditional didactic lecture is the most common method for medical education. It has the inherent advantage of being able to address and provide knowledge to a large group of students in a short period of time. It gives the students opportunities to apply their knowledge through a series of activities These include individual work, team work, immediate feedback, and task-based problem-solving assignments.[3] TBL has been studied extensively by a great number of medical educators on different audiences (second-year medical students,[4] clerkships[2,5,6,7] and residents[7,8]), in both short-term and long-term,[6,9,10] and in relations to various educational components (such as attitude,[11] leadership and professionalism [12]). We aimed to assess the academic impacts of TBL on ophthalmology clerkships and sought to investigate whether any other effects of TBL would emerge in that context
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