Problem-based Learning Experience Research Articles

Perception and Experience of Student-Facilitated Problem-Based Learning in Medical Education: A Qualitative Analysis in a Resource-Limited Setting of Nepal

Background: Shortage of trained faculty to facilitate problem-based learning (PBL) is a major challenge in resource-limited settings. Our study aimed to assess the effectiveness and shortcomings of student-facilitated PBL in such a setting in Nepal.Methods: First year and second year medical students (80 students) conducted student-facilitated PBL modules in Karnali Academy of Health Science, Jumla during March and April of 2024. This report presents the retrospective reflexive thematic analysis of the perceptions or experiences of the students and faculty involved in the PBL modules. The data comprised of presentation slides of six teams of student during wrap-up seminars and notes taken during four focus group discussions (25 participants in total) of the students and faculty members after the PBL modules. Results: The major themes included prior concerns and overall experience, facilitator and facilitation-related experience, group dynamics, learning experience, resource management and suggestions for training. Most of the students and faculty valued the student-facilitated PBL modules positively. More self-directed nature, in-depth study, hesitation-free discussions and development of problem-solving and leadership skills were among the perceived advantages of the PBL modules. Major challenges were related to inadequacy of the PBL process skills, team management and time management issues. Further training of students in those areas was suggested. Conclusions: The overall experience of the students and faculty members remained positive. Thus, student-facilitated PBL modules with the provision of faculty supervision and adequate training of students may serve as an alternative model of PBL in resource-limited scenarios.

The Second Life Metaverse and Its Usefulness in Medical Education After a Quarter of a Century.

The immersive virtual world platform Second Life (SL) was conceived 25 years ago, when Philip Rosedale founded Linden Lab in 1999 with the intention of developing computing hardware that would allow people to immerse themselves in a virtual world. This initial effort was transformed 4 years later into SL, a universally accessible virtual world centered on the user, with commercial transactions and even its own virtual currency, which fully connects with the concept of the metaverse, recently repopularized after the statements of the chief executive officer of Meta (formerly Facebook) in October 2021. SL is considered the best known virtual environment among higher education professionals. This paper aimed to review medical education in the SL metaverse; its evolution; and its possibilities, limitations, and future perspectives, focusing especially on medical education experiences during undergraduate, residency, and continuing medical education. The concept of the metaverse and virtual worlds was described, making special reference to SL and its conceptual philosophy, historical evolution, and technical aspects and capabilities for higher education. A narrative review of the existing literature was performed, including at the same time a point of view from our teaching team after an uninterrupted practical experience of undergraduate and postgraduate medical education in the last 13 years with >4000 users and >10 publications on the subject. From an educational point of view, SL has the advantages of being available 24/7 and creating in the student the important feeling of "being there" and of copresence. This, together with the reproduction of the 3D world, real-time interaction, and the quality of voice communication, makes the immersive experiences unique, generating engagement and a fluid interrelation of students with each other and with their teachers. Various groups of researchers in medical education have developed experiences during these years, which have shown that courses, seminars, workshops and conferences, problem-based learning experiences, evaluations, teamwork, gamification, medical simulation, and virtual objective structured clinical examinations can be successfully carried out. Acceptance from students and faculty is generally positive, recognizing its usefulness for undergraduate medical education and continuing medical education. In the 25 years since its conception, SL has proven to be a virtual platform that connects with the concept of the metaverse, an interconnected, open, and globally accessible system that all humans can access to socialize or share products for free or using a virtual currency. SL remains active and technologically improved since its creation. It is necessary to continue carrying out educational experiences, outlining the organization, objectives, and content and measuring the actual educational impact to make SL a tool of more universal use.

Evaluation of Problem-Based Learning Experiences Addressing Health Promotion in the Fourth Grade of Primary School.

The global issues of overweight and sedentary lifestyles require comprehensive responses from health systems. Despite this, health education remains fragmented and sporadic. This study aims to target primary school children to instil healthy habits using active learning strategies, with a specific focus on promoting a healthy diet and physical activity. This study employed problem-based learning (PBL) projects with fourth-grade primary students to encourage the acquisition of healthy habits. Conducted over four consecutive years at a two-line school, the study utilised an opportunity sample, evaluating intervention and control groups by comparing their corresponding scores. The control groups consisted of 54 students, while the intervention group included 159 students. Data collection involved pre-test and post-test questionnaires to measure outcomes. Differential evaluation scores revealed significantly higher results in the intervention groups compared to the control groups, with an average score increase of 3.62 points in control groups and 6.94 points in intervention groups, particularly in attitudinal competencies. The strategies employed facilitated the development of crucial skills such as information search, synthesis, representation, analysis, decision making, teamwork, and intrapersonal awareness. Additionally, they significantly broadened the knowledge acquired regarding healthy habits. The problem-based learning approach proved effective in helping children understand the importance of making healthy choices and encouraged the integration of such habits into their daily lives. These findings suggest that active learning strategies can significantly enhance health education and promote long-term healthy behaviours among primary school children.

Application of problem-based learning in marketing studies combined with silver-haired business opportunities

Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is an approach that focuses on practical problem-solving and places the student at the center of the learning process. Students work collaboratively in groups to apply theoretical concepts and solve problems. The instructional process consists of two main phases, with each class session divided into two units: teacher-led instruction and group discussions. During the teacher-led instruction unit, the teacher provides explanations of relevant marketing theories. In the group discussion unit, students engage in discussions related to the presented topics. To facilitate these discussions and familiarize students with the PBL teaching model, JAMBOARD and GOOGLE SITE software are utilized as tools during the first phase. In the second phase, the curriculum incorporates the topic of "silver-haired business opportunities" allowing students to gain an understanding of the needs of the old adults and develop marketing strategies specifically targeting this demographic. The effectiveness of PBL in enhancing students' focus, autonomy, learning value, and importance is demonstrated through the application of the Learning Motivation Scale and Learning Attitude Scale. Qualitative research highlights several advantages of PBL in marketing education, including its connection to real markets, promotion of cooperation, fostering of innovation and critical thinking, facilitation of autonomous and interdisciplinary learning, and enhancement of problem-solving abilities. Additionally, a fuzzy Delphi analysis indicates that students highly value effective teaching in the PBL experience.

Examining the Application of a Similar Problem-Based Learning Procedure in Teacher Education and Engineering Education Programs

This multiple case study aims to describe how Turkish students in English Language Teaching (ELT) and Electrical-Electronics Engineering Program (EEP) conceive of Problem-based Learning (PBL), and how they experience their studies within a PBL-oriented curriculum. With the inclusion of these two cases into the study, the rationale is to represent two different educational perspectives and to obtain in-depth, extensive, and comparable data. The participants from the ELT and EEP were first-year students who pursued courses in English, which is taught as a foreign language in Turkiye. During one semester, the data were collected through open-ended questionnaires and reflection reports, both of which were analyzed qualitatively with an interpretative phenomenological approach. The results revealed commonalities as well as differences in how students in these two comparable programs perceived and experienced PBL. Commonalities were many in number and involved positive perceptions along with beneficial experiences of PBL. Yet, differences only stemmed from the number of frequencies of some similar issues raised by both groups of students. The most eye-catching difference was that the EEP students emphasized the anticipated benefits of PBL less frequently than the ELT students did. However, at the end of the process, the EEP students proposed benefits gained from PBL more frequently.

A problem-based learning experience in a radiology rotation for sixth-year medical students

ObjectiveTo analyse a problem-based learning experience (PBL) in the sixth year of medicine, within a course organised in successive rotations of 12 school days for 7 annual groups. Material and methodsEach group was divided into subgroups of 6–8 students. Each subgroup was assigned two cases with radiographic images that they had to prepare and present in a joint session in which the students discussed each case and the teacher acted as moderator, without providing solutions. Finally, they had 15 days to complete the debate in an online forum and prepare a written report on each case. ResultsDuring 6 consecutive years, 1001 students participated, whose annual grades ranged between 7.7 ± 1.6 and 9.0 ± 0.7 (mean ± standard deviation). No correlation was found between the degree of difficulty assigned to the cases and the mean score obtained by each group (R2 = 0.0115). Sixty-six point two percent completed a questionnaire rating various aspects of this experience above 4 out of 5 points and providing overall scores above 8.3 out of 10 points in the different years. The students found this experience appropriate to the objectives of the subject and useful for their educational needs. ConclusionsPBL allows students to acquire skills of understanding, reasoning and deepening in radiological diagnosis. This study demonstrates that an experience based on PBL can be included in a radiology course organised in a traditional way, allowing students to be graded regardless of the difficulty of the cases.

A Systematic Review of Preservice Science Teachers’ Experience of Problem-Based Learning and Implementing It in the Classroom

A Systematic Review of Preservice Science Teachers’ Experience of Problem-Based Learning and Implementing It in the Classroom

Situations that prompt teachers in problem-based curricula to reflect on their beliefs, identity and mission

Teachers have different perceptions of how to enhance student learning. Whereas some take a teacher-centred perspective, others lean more towards a student-centred approach. Many studies in higher education have invoked Korthagen’s onion model (2014) to explain how teachers’ perspectives can impact their teaching practices. Spanning six interrelated layers, this model contains both outer (environment, behaviour, competencies) and inner (beliefs, identity, and mission) aspects. Focusing essentially on teachers’ outer aspects, previous studies have paid scant attention to how particular situations affect teachers’ inner aspects and, consequently, how teachers perceive student-centred learning. In this descriptive qualitative study, we explored situations that encouraged or discouraged teachers to embrace student-centred beliefs, identities and missions. We held three focus-group discussions with 18 teachers from two Indonesian medical schools, performing a thematic analysis of the data thus obtained. We found that certain situations made teachers reflect on their inner aspects, which either favourably or adversely affected their acceptance of a student-centred learning approach. Teachers’ outer aspects (i.e. their prior problem-based teaching and learning experiences, learning situations from their own training as well as clinical duties) strongly interacted with their inner aspects, thereby shaping their teaching perspectives. Understanding how specific situations can influence teachers’ inner aspects might help institutions to design faculty development programmes that address teachers’ specific educational needs.

Impact of Problem-Based Learning on the Perception, Understanding, and Application of Statistical Concepts in Business Administration and Management Students

We investigate the impact of the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) approach supplemented by student-created videos on the teaching of Probability Calculation and Inference Statistics in Business Administration and Management Studies. To that aim, we analyse survey results gathered from a sample of students from the Business Administration and Management and Law-Business Administration and Management degrees at the University of Zaragoza who participated in the PBL experience, focusing on their perceptions, skill development, dynamics of collaboration, and communication with teachers and classmates. Additionally, a comparative study of their final grades is conducted, comparing them with that obtained by students who did not engage in PBL. Our findings reveal that PBL significantly enhances students’ understanding and motivation, along with their communication with teachers, particularly among repeating students, and teamwork skills, particularly among beginners. Furthermore, students participating in PBL activities tended to achieve significantly higher grades than their nonparticipating counterparts did. Moreover, our study contributes to the discourse on sustainable education by highlighting the potential of PBL as a pedagogical approach aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals. By promoting active learning, collaborative problem solving, and communication skills, PBL fosters a culture of lifelong learning and empowers students to address real-world challenges in a sustainable manner. These findings have implications for educators, policymakers, and researchers seeking to promote sustainability in higher education through effective pedagogical practices.

Improving University Students' Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills: How Problem-Based Learning Works during COVID-19 Pandemic?

With the COVID-19 pandemic spreading all around the world, higher learning institutions were forced to shut down or limit the people in contact to control the spread of diseases. Under this circumstance, remote learning that emphasized learning via online setting was embraced in higher education to replace the physical classroom during the pandemic time. This study designed a single Problem-Based Learning (PBL) module using remote learning to examine the students' experience in PBL, and to what extent the PBL module helps students improve their critical thinking and problem-solving skills. The remote learning PBL module was conducted using the reflection method to assess the students' experiences in PBL learning. On the other hand, a set of survey questionnaires was distributed to 34 undergraduate students to gather the responses for the assessment of critical thinking and problem-solving skills. This study employed both quantitative and qualitative analysis to investigate the students’ critical thinking, problem-solving skills and their experience in remote learning PBL. Using paired sample t-test to test the difference between pre- and post- remote learning PBL class, results indicated that there was a significant improvement in students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills after remote learning PBL class. On the other hand, thematic analysis of students’ feedback on remote learning PBL class- first, second, and third meetings, indicated that students gradually improved their critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Although students implied positive feedback on the class, however, some of them were facing difficulties in understanding the module or physical disruptions that distracted their learning. The findings gave insights for the lecturers to design a suitable learning course during the pandemic time. Moreover, the findings highlighted challenges that gave insights for the lecturers to look at the students’ feedback from time to time to improve the learning mechanisms and to create a better learning environment.

A 10-Step Process to Align Problem-Based Learning With Accreditation Expectations for Self-Directed and Lifelong Learning.

Self-directed and lifelong learning (SDLL) skills are essential skillsets in both undergraduate and graduate medical education (UME and GME). Hence, medical schools' accreditation bodies emphasize the requirements to acquire these skills in their accreditation standards. For example, in the United States, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) clearly defines the components of the SDLL process in Element 6.3 of Accreditation Standard Six. Among the active learning pedagogies, problem-based learning (PBL) provides ample learning opportunities where SDLL skills are effectively applied. The aim of this article is to streamline the process of developing, delivering, and evaluating PBL sessions in line with the SDLL accreditation requirements through a 10-step design and implementation process. Our 10-step process, detailed in the article, starts with developing learning objectives that inform the content of the PBL case and the required embedded learning triggers. The process carefully addresses the components of the SDLL process and other aspects of the accreditation needs within the framework of PBL. The approach to implementation, feedback, assessment, and evaluation is explicitly described to meet the regulatory expectations. In addition to the essential role in UME and GME, SDLL skills are vital requisites for continuing medical education of all physicians. Instilling this skillset early in medical students helps to cultivate their ability to apply these skills in their future professional roles. Using accreditation standards as a foundation for creating learning experiences, for example, PBL, requires careful content development and sequencing. Such a process needs explicit standardized steps that should not only be feasible, but also transferable for usage by different medical schools. Our streamlined 10-step process of designing and delivering an SDLL-oriented PBL experience can easily be adopted by other medical schools to address the SDLL skills acquisition as well as meeting the accreditation requirements.

Problem-Based Learning in Remote Learning Scenario Utilizing Climate Change Virtual Reality Video in Mobile Application to Train Critical Thinking

The imperative to address climate change in educational curricula stems from its profound implications for the sustainability of human life. A crucial aspect of this education is fostering critical thinking (CT) in students, as they form their perspectives on climate change. Traditional teaching approaches alone have proven inadequate in developing students' CT concerning this complex issue, particularly when learning remotely. To address this challenge, students must be actively engaged with the realities of climate change. In response to this need, the current study aimed to apply the problem-based learning (PBL) in remote learning scenario utilizing climate change virtual reality (VR) video in mobile application to train students’ CT skills. Utilizing a mixed method approach, the study involved 86 high school students, divided evenly between experimental and control groups, using a 'true experimental design' to quantify CT skill improvements. Complementing the quantitative data, the study also conducted semi-structured interviews with teachers participating in the interventions, providing valuable insights into their responses to the learning methods. The instruments used to measure students' CT skills were carefully validated for psychometric properties (validity and reliability). The study's overall findings indicate that the PBL approach integrated with climate change VR videos in mobile applications effectively enhances students' critical thinking skills, surpassing the outcomes of traditional teaching methods. Moreover, the feedback received from teachers who took part in the teaching interventions was overwhelmingly positive, reinforcing the efficacy of the learning approach. This research highlights the significance of implementing PBL and VR experiences to cultivate CT among students, particularly in the context of climate change education.

The best of the old and the best of the new: the postgraduate experience of problem-based learning during COVID-19

The best of the old and the best of the new: the postgraduate experience of problem-based learning during COVID-19

What does learning sound like? A STEM outreach experience

What an acoustic engineer does is generally not well understood by high school students, and this likely applies to the broader architecture and design fields. Acoustic engineers and architects who are engaged in the design of high schools and classrooms also may not have been in a class of students since they left school. This presentation outlines a Problem Based Learning experience run for high school students in Australia which provided insight into the above gaps for both students and practitioners. The student-centred challenge has been run in two formats. The first was run weekly over three 100 minute sessions, while a condensed format was later run as an 80 minute hands-on design challenge. Both formats involved an architect(s) and an acoustician facilitating the challenge. The students considered the use, acoustic requirements and affordances of design in a classroom. Students were given a classroom with poor acoustics and challenged to develop and present a design solution which improved the area for learning, including room acoustics. The challenge involved mathematics (Sabine equation), measurement (including scale and reverberation time), and architecture.

Examining students’ perceived reasoning skills in wiki-based PBL internship courses

This study aimed to investigate whether web-based problem-based learning (PBL) implemented using wiki applications (wikis) would result in differences in undergraduate students’ relationship commitment, interpersonal trust, knowledge-sharing behaviour (KSB) and reasoning skills in healthcare courses. Wikis have some features (e.g., extensive editing, version preservation and multi-user content editors) that are useful for enhancing collaborative learning, knowledge co-creation and authentic problem-solving in the PBL context. A quasi-experimental design was adopted to execute this survey. A total of 185 students were separated into either an experimental group (EG) with wikis or a control group (CG) without wikis, according to their PBL activities. Independent t tests showed a significant difference in four variables between the EG and the CG. The EG students exhibited a statistically significantly higher degree of relationship commitment, interpersonal trust, KSB and reasoning skills than the CG students. The conclusion of the results can provide beneficial information on students’ PBL experiences for instructors who aim to redesign their course materials and improve their higher education teaching methods. The research findings thus enrich the literature on healthcare education by addressing the influence of wikis on students’ PBL effectiveness, which is an under-researched area. Implications for practice or policy: Wikis’ collaborative authoring function can encourage collaboration. Using a wiki-based PBL approach can enhance students’ trust and commitment. Using a wiki-based PBL approach can facilitate students’ KSB. Using a wiki-based PBL approach can enhance students’ reasoning skills. Using a collaborative learning method can complement wiki-based PBL approach.

Digital Redesign of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) from Face-to-Face to Synchronous Online in Biomedical Sciences MSc Courses and the Student Perspective

PBL is a widely used teaching approach that is increasingly incorporating digital components. Although, by its nature, a face-to-face approach is the preferred mode of delivery, its digital counterpart is gaining ground. The current paper discusses the digital redesign of PBL in an MSc in Biomedical Sciences. Face-to-face and online PBL followed the seven steps of the PBL process, and each case was completed in three sessions. For the delivery of online PBL, collaborative tools were utilized, including CiscoWebex, the online platform for synchronous meetings, and OneDrive, shareable PPT, and Moodle for synchronous and asynchronous self-directed learning. Three cohorts were followed, and students had both face-to-face and online PBL experiences. Student feedback was obtained using focus groups, and data analysis utilized a deductive and inductive approach. Our data indicate that CiscoWebex is a suitable and user-friendly platform for synchronous online PBL. The students enjoyed both formats and stated that online PBL is an effective teaching approach for promoting student learning. In regards to student interaction, the face-to-face mode was preferred, while online PBL was perceived as more organized. The redesign allowed for effective student learning and could pave the way forward for a fully online MSc program in Biomedical Sciences.

Towards a partnership model for developing core abilities

A tutor and a student together propose a model for integrated student and staff engagement that concentrates on developing students’ core abilities. They build upon their respective experiences of self-managed problem-based learning and of the purposeful promotion of core abilities. They explore the potential of collaborative interaction between trainee tutors and their students, who are both freshly engaged in self-managed experiential learning. The authors’ use of the Kolb Cycle as a framework is exemplified in the student-author’s experiential learning. They relate and comment upon the tutor-author’s iterative attempts to overlap experiential learning cycles for trainee tutors and their students, and extend the emerging model by adding purposeful peer interactions and regular evidence-based evaluations. Their completed scheme features a partnership wherein tutors’ growing experiences of structuring and facilitating socio-constructivist learning are integrated with students’ reflective reviews of recent developmental experiences.

Una experiencia de aprendizaje basado en problemas en un rotatorio de radiología para estudiantes de sexto curso de Medicina

ObjectiveTo analyze a problem-based learning experience (PBL) in the sixth year of medicine, within a course organized in successive rotations of 12 school days for 7 annual groups. Material and methodsEach group was divided into subgroups of 6-8 students. Each subgroup was assigned two cases with radiographic images that they had to prepare and present in a joint session in which the students discussed each case and the teacher acted as moderator, without providing solutions. Finally, they had 15 days to complete the debate in an online forum and prepare a written report on each case. ResultsDuring 6 consecutive years, 1001 students participated, whose annual grades ranged between 7.7±1.6 and 9.0±0.7 (mean±standard deviation). No correlation was found between the degree of difficulty assigned to the cases and the mean score obtained by each group (R2=0.0115). Sixty-six point two percent completed a questionnaire rating various aspects of this experience above 4 out of 5 points and providing overall scores above 8.3 out of 10 points in the different years. The students found this experience appropriate to the objectives of the subject and useful for their educational needs. ConclusionsPBL allows students to acquire skills of understanding, reasoning and deepening in radiological diagnosis. This study demonstrates that an experience based on PBL can be included in a radiology course organized in a traditional way, allowing students to be graded regardless of the difficulty of the cases.

Video Didactic Preparation Augments Problem-Based Learning for First Year Medical Students.

Problem-based learning (PBL) utilizes a self-directed strategy. This process relies on group participation to succeed. Students without a background in biology or medicine can feel overwhelmed by the complexity of the subject matter and unable to participate in the group learning process. We incorporated curated educational videos in the PBL curriculum to help address this situation. First year medical students participated in this study in the form of a typical PBL session. They were then assessed on basic and clinical science knowledge and their learning experience. Student basic science and clinical knowledge were similar between the student groups. However, the students given a list of suggested videos scored higher in their learning experience, perception of feeling prepared, and participating in the group PBL experience than students who were not given the video list. Results from this study indicate that videos can be utilized to enhance the PBL process.

Adoption of Problem-Based Learning in Medical Schools in Non-Western Countries: A Systematic Review

Phenomenon: In recent decades, medical education practices developed in Western countries have been widely adopted in non-Western countries. Problem-based Learning (PBL) was first developed in North America and it relies on Western educational and cultural values, thereby raising concerns about its ‘lift and shift’ to non-Western settings. Approach: This review systematically identified and interpretively synthesized studies on students’ and teachers’ experiences of PBL in non-Western medical schools. Three databases (ERIC, PsycINFO, and MEDLINE) were searched. Forty-one articles were assessed for quality using the Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP) checklist and synthesized using meta-ethnography. The final synthesis represented over 5,400 participants from 18 countries. Findings: Findings were categorized into three different constructs: Student Engagement, Tutor Skills, and Organization and Planning. Our synthesis demonstrates that medical students and teachers in non-Western countries have varied experiences of PBL. Students engage variably with PBL, consider knowledge to be better acquired from authoritative figures, and deem PBL to be ineffective for assessment preparation. Student participation is limited by linguistic challenges when they are not native English speakers. Teachers are often unfamiliar with the underlying philosophical assumptions of PBL and struggle with the facilitation style needed. Both students and teachers have developed modifications to ensure that PBL better fits in their local settings. Insights: Given the significant adjustments and resource requirements needed to adopt PBL, medical school leaders and policy makers in non-Western countries should carefully consider possible consequences of its implementation for their students and teachers, and proactively consider ways to ‘hybridize’ it for local contexts.