Abstract
California Health Sciences University College of Osteopathic Medicine established an 8-week Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) Preparatory Course that implemented Team-Based Learning (TBL) with the goal of identifying to what extent students perceived working in a team impacted their learning and ability to perform well on the MCAT. Students were exposed to information in both lecture-based learning (LBL) and TBL formats. TBL sessions followed the typical progression- the dissemination of pre-work beforehand, individual readiness assessment test (IRAT), team readiness assessment test (TRAT), and application exercises. Students were in sessions for a total of 112 h, 88 of which used a traditional lecture model, while 32 h followed the TBL format. All professors developed lessons using AAMC published content outlines but were given the flexibility to prepare based on their expertise and experience. At the conclusion of the course, students responded to a 14-item survey asking for their perspective of the impact of TBL on their course outcomes. Surveys reported positive perspectives on course outcomes with a mean of 4.23 out of 5 on a Likert-type scale. Question means ranged from 4.07 to a high of 4.44. Individual student means ranged from 2.21 to 5.00. Study findings showed that TBL is perceived as an effective modality for teaching MCAT materials and that students find that it positively impacts their learning.
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The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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The Authors would like to acknowledge California Health Sciences University for sponsoring this MCAT preparation program.
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Steed, K.S., Holcomb, B.M., Graneto, J. et al. Pre-professional student perceptions of team-based learning applied in a medical college admission test preparatory course. SN Soc Sci 3, 193 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-023-00781-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-023-00781-w