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Evolutionary trends of problem-based learning practices throughout a two-year preclinical program: a comparison of students’ and teachers’ perceptions

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Abstract

Implementation of a pedagogical approach is a continuous and evolving process. As an institution with more than 15 years problem-based learning (PBL), we studied how the learning and teaching processes are currently practiced in a 2-year preclinical basic sciences program to assess whether they still match the intended objectives. Using both students’ and tutors’ evaluations, we analyzed and compared their perceptions on the program content and its organization, on tutors’ functioning and on the duration of PBL sessions throughout 11 instructional units of the second and third-year of a 6 years medical curriculum. Whereas both tutors and students indicated that the content and problems selected for the curriculum were well adapted to the PBL process, they felt the references as well as the self-study time as moderately appropriate. Over the course of the 2-year program, tutorial sessions got linearly shorter, whereas reporting sessions got longer. While tutors knew well the PBL approach and were suitably prepared to their tutorials, they however, became less regular in providing feedback and in evaluating group functioning over the 2 years. Our results suggest that the practice of the PBL process evolves within and throughout a 2-year preclinical program and moves away from the original intentions. Possible underlying reasons and their implications are discussed within the context of tutors’ and students’ concepts of teaching and learning, the medical schools’ learning environment and teaching practices and the difficulty of developing and maintaining in the long term a deep and self-directed learning approach.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the students and tutors who completed the evaluation questionnaires and participated in the surveys, as well as Michèle Germond and Nadia Ammar for their help in the statistical analyses, and Dr. Mathieu Nendaz for his useful comments in reviewing the manuscript. The project has received partial support from the Gabriella Giorgi-Cavaglieri Foundation. The opinions expressed here are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Foundation.

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The protocol of this study was submitted to the Ethics Committee of our Institution and exempted from further analysis

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unit of Development and Research in Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

    Anne Baroffio, Nu V. Vu & Margaret W. Gerbase

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  1. Anne Baroffio
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  2. Nu V. Vu
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  3. Margaret W. Gerbase
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Correspondence to Anne Baroffio.

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Baroffio, A., Vu, N.V. & Gerbase, M.W. Evolutionary trends of problem-based learning practices throughout a two-year preclinical program: a comparison of students’ and teachers’ perceptions. Adv in Health Sci Educ 18, 673–685 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-012-9408-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-012-9408-6

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