A novel extension of problem-based learning: problem-based lecture presentation by students

Abstract

A pilot study of student-prepared and student-delivered systematic lectures in the fields of community health and parasitology is reported as a novel extension of problembased learning methods. The aim of the study was to encourage interprofessional and intergroup collaboration among the students in the first year of the programmes in medicine, dentistry and veterinary medicine at the Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of the West Indies, Trinidad. The study shows that studentprepared and -delivered lectures retain many of the advantages of an overview lecture but also encourage the students' self-learning.When the new basic sciences course at the University of the West Indies (UWI) was planned, a decision was taken to move from the traditional didactic lecture system developed in the 1940s and '50s in Jamaica, to a problem-based, self-directed curriculum. Unlike the more established problem-based learning (PBL) systems, such as McMaster University (Neufeld & Barrows 1974), the approach taken at UWI supplements the self-directed small-group tutorial sessions with a limited number of overview lectures dealing with concepts and context. However, the importance of the students' responsibility for their own learning remains a key aim of the programme [Faculty Steering Committee (FAST) 1977; Barrows & Tamblyn 19801. In an effort to foster the goals of the development of good oral communication skills, self-directed learning, a team approach to learning and a degree of intergroup collaboration and cooperation, it was decided to use the sessions addressing the ecology of disease to develop student-researched and student-presented lectures on the major parasite diseases in the Caribbean and in the Tropics.A series of five lecture sessions, each lasting 2 hours, were used in this pilot study as an extension to the PBL curriculum. As a guide to the students regarding the expected format and content of these sessions, the first session was presented in traditional lecture style to the whole first-year class of 118 students. Thereafter, each tutorial group (five to eight students per group) was allotted a part of subsequent topics to be presented by the group to the whole class. The intention was that each student and each group would be able to see how their particular contribution linked to that of their colleagues and how it formed part of an integrated whole. Two weeks prior to the presentation, students were provided with a comprehensive guideline of the nature and content of their particular contribution. Each group was required to develop a 20-minute illustrated oral presentation and an informative printed hand-out sheet for their colleagues.Unlike the usual small-group self-directed sessions the specific objective to be presented by each group was selected by a single member of the teaching staff in order to minimize overlap between groups and to ensure that each topic was covered in sufficient breadth. However, wider reading and consultation were encouraged. The group was required to prepare all audiovisual ...

The ‘expert’ in problem-based and case-based learning: necessary or not?

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Experiences of using an interactive audience response system in lectures

“…Didactically, lectures are good for presenting information and providing explanations, but because they lack active participation they have been neglected, especially as active participation has become the dominant postulate of student learning. It has even been suggested that lectures should be steered towards problem-based learning for large groups [1,2]. …”

Problem-Based Learning in Anesthesiology: An Evaluative Study of a Medical Student Clerkship

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