Abstract
ABSTRACTIntroduction: There have been a number of published studies examining the link between the effectiveness of the problem-based learning (PBL) process and students’ performance in examinations. In a hybrid PBL/lectures curriculum, the results of such studies are of limited use because of the difficulty in dissociating the knowledge gained at lectures from that gained through PBL-related activities. Hence, the objectives of this study were: (1) to develop an instrument to measure the performance of tutors and students at PBL tutorials, and (2) to explore the contribution of such performances to the marks attained by students from the hypotheses generated at PBL tutorials.Methods: A monitoring instrument for assessing the performances of non-expert tutors and students at tutorials was developed and validated using principal component analysis and reliability analysis. Also, a rubric was formulated to enable a content expert to assign marks to the quality of hypotheses generated.Results: The monitoring instrument was found to be valid and reliable. There was a significant correlation between the performance of tutors at tutorials and hypotheses marks. In contrast, there was no significant correlation between the performance of students and hypotheses marks.Discussion: The monitoring instrument is a useful tool for improving the PBL process, especially where the medical programme depends on non-expert PBL tutors. In addition to ensuring good PBL processes, it is important that students achieve the desired output at PBL tutorials by producing hypotheses that help them understand the basic sciences underlying the clinical cases. The latter is achieved by the use of an open-ended rubric by a subject expert to assign marks to the hypotheses, a method that also provides additional motivation to students to develop relevant and detailed hypotheses.
Highlights
There have been a number of published studies examining the link between the effectiveness of the problem-based learning (PBL) process and students’ performance in examinations
The monitoring instrument is a useful tool for improving the PBL process, especially where the medical programme depends on non-expert PBL tutors
The current study focused on the latter two elements with the following objectives: (1) to validate a monitoring instrument to measure the performance of tutors and students in a tutorial, i.e., how students learn; (2) to determine the extent to which the performance of tutors and students in a tutorial influenced the hypotheses generated by students, i.e., what students learn
Summary
There have been a number of published studies examining the link between the effectiveness of the problem-based learning (PBL) process and students’ performance in examinations. The objectives of this study were: (1) to develop an instrument to measure the performance of tutors and students at PBL tutorials, and (2) to explore the contribution of such performances to the marks attained by students from the hypotheses generated at PBL tutorials. Methods: A monitoring instrument for assessing the performances of non-expert tutors and students at tutorials was developed and validated using principal component analysis and reliability analysis. There is hardly any reported work that uses an independent PBL specialist to monitor performance of tutor and students during PBL tutorial sessions and how their performance affects the quantity and quality of hypotheses generated by the tutorial group
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