The application of team-based learning in gastroenterological clinical teaching

Abstract

Objective To compare the learning outcomes of team-based learning (TBL) and traditional in gastroenterological clinical teaching. Methods Sixty students on eight-year program of clinical medicine were randomly divided into group and tradition group. The two groups adopted and traditional respectively in gastroenterological clinical teaching. The scores for Individual Readiness Assurance Test-baseline (IRAT-baseline), Group Readiness Assurance Test (GRAT) and Individual Terminal Test (ITT) in group were compared. The scores for IRAT-baseline, ITT and clinical practice in group were contrasted with those in tradition group. Besides, students in group were investigated by questionnaire after the experiment. Results Compared with tradition group, group spent more time on before clinical teaching [(85.70±11.43) vs. (35.00±9.47), P=0.000]. In addition, the form of was more diversified in group than that in tradition group. Students in group achieved higher scores in IRAT-baseline [(17.78±5.07) vs. (12.57±4.26), P=0.000], ITT [(23.66±5.36) vs. (18.52±4.54), P=0.000] and clinical practice test [(16.53±5.10) vs. (12.24±4.59), P=0.001] when contrasted to tradition group. group gained higher scores in GRAT than those in IRAT-baseline [(27.82±3.12) vs. (17.78±5.07), P=0.000]. After the teaching intervention, the scores for ITT were higher than those for IRAT-baseline in both group and tradition group [(23.66±5.36) vs. (17.78±5.07), P=0.000; (18.52±4.54) vs. (12.57±4.26), P=0.000]. However, there was no statistical difference in the growth of scores from IRAT-baseline to ITT between group and tradition group [(5.69±2.76) vs. (5.36±2.00), P=0.754]. The result of the questionnaire showed that a majority of students in group (>70%) approved of I was actively involved in TBL is helpful for self-study I've benefited from teacher's explanation in I have benefited from group discussion in and TBL is more attractive than the traditional pedagogy. Nevertheless, more than half of students in group also indicatedKnowledge learned in is more fragmented than that in traditional pedagogy and TBL increased my course load. Conclusions TBL contributes to improving abilities of autonomous learning, clinical thinking, teamwork, communication and knowledge application. This teaching mode could arouse students' learning interests and enhance clinical teaching outcomes. is worth popularizing in gastroenterological clinical teaching. Key words: Gastroenterological diseases; Team-based learning; Clinical teaching