Thoughts on PBL?

[lizlemon123]

I'm writing secondaries and finding a lot of schools that have shifted toward a PBL learning model.
I have been a classroom teacher at the K12 level and we have recently been shifting toward PBL lessons as well.

My experience with them has been that
1. When planned well, they give students the ability to be self-directed in their learning and usually the information sticks with them better/longer because they remember it in relation to the "problem" they solved.
2. They are VERY difficult to plan and implement well.

A lot of times, my students left with less content knowledge than they would have if I had just lectured, because some of the information didn't fit well into the PBL problem. Other times, if I did not structure the PBL well, a lot of students would get frustrated because they had no idea where to start looking for information, and what was relevant to the problem. However, I'm also a novice teacher and I know these things get easier with experience. That said, I'm nervous that the same thing will happen for me with PBL in medical school.

From my experience, PBL is great for motivating students. However I'm already motivated and would dedicate the same effort to a lecture-based curriculum. I am a visual learner who learns by reading and outlining, and by doing things myself (for things like laboratory steps).

Do any current students have experience with PBL? Do any of you attend schools with a PBL focus (Cornell, Northwestern, etc.)? Any thoughts?

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[lizlemon123]

Bump!

 

[Grace184]

Not a current student but...

For me, I like the idea because I've been out of the classroom and in practice as a clinical pharmacist for 5 yrs. I am used to learning on rounds, writing things down when I don't understand them, and using my own time to research it. I have never done well with someone talking at me. I have always gone home, taken my own notes, looked up cases, etc. I think for me I am drawn to it bc it emulates the environment I have always wanted to learn in.

I don't think it's for everyone. Some people need to hear and write every word that comes out of a teachers mouth. I don't know about implementation but a lot of my pharmacy curriculum was PBL based in the 5 and 6th yrs and I liked it because it was like puzzle solving but with factual labs and data. It clicked with me. The habitual note takers didn't do well bc they were too busy writing to listen and comprehend the information at hand. It's really learning to balance integration of when to jot notes and when to listen, which has great clinical value, I feel.

 

[LizzyM]

In my experience, PBL works well as a supplement to lectures and labs. It simulates what will happen a year or two later during clerkships in that the PBL case presents a patient with a complaint and a history and starts the students thinking as a group about what could be going on with a patient of a specific age and sex who presents with some specific symptoms. What is the differential diagnosis? What more do we need to know? What are the findings on physical exam? What labs and imaging tests would you order? Okay, here are the results of those tests. Now what? At this point, the students may go off to gather more information and report back in a few days to describe, for example, the possible causes of a specific neurological sign, what it may mean when a white count is described as having a left shift, and more information about a specific drug that was prescribed. At the following class session, the students present their information, tie it into the case, and solidify their understanding of the case as it relates to recently presented lecture material. Then additional information may be presented about the case... the results of a biopsy or culture, new symptoms, even a question raised by the patient's family about their risks for the same condition. Rinse and repeat.

Schools are going to this model because they believe it works in fostering a team based, cooperative approach to problem solving. Don't think about it as a way to learn new material, there are lectures for that, but as a way to use the material you've already been presented to develop and test hypotheses and to defend your position and learn to accept other points of view in a group discussion. (If you don't believe this is a worthwhile activity, you've never seen three cardiologists discuss a video image of the ventricles of the heart in a case conference.) If you don't believe that PBL would be a good fit with your learning style, then you may want to avoid schools that require participation in PBL.

 

[Dormouse]

However I'm already motivated and would dedicate the same effort to a lecture-based curriculum. I am a visual learner who learns by reading and outlining, and by doing things myself (for things like laboratory steps).

With the way PBL is run at my school, you have to do a substantial amount of work on your own before working together with a group. It actually calls for much more independent learning than lectures, because you and the group have to brainstorm together the questions to ask to solve a case study and then research the answers on your own before you discuss your findings again in another PBL session.

 

[caffeinemia]

PBL was a horrible horrible experience for me as a medical student. Now that I'm a surgical resident, I realize it was like the most long and drawn out and boring and worthless medicine/MICU round ever. I'd rather stab my eye-ball with an 11-blade. It's literally like the blind leading the blind anyway.

I guess it really depends on learning style. At the end of the day, I'd rather crack open a book or listen to a lecture.

 

[AAATPase]

I had a choice between a heavy and light PBL curriculum. After talking with a few students, the decision between the programs was very easy.

 

[Lannister]

I'm an undergrad at a university whose med school is very big on PBL, so they've been trying to implement PBL in some of the undergrad classes as well. I think that as you said, when it's done well, it's very effective. My 3rd intro bio class (development and physiology) was 100% PBL, and I learned way more than I ever would have in a lecture-based course. Our professor also told us that average exam grades went up 6% after she implemented PBL. I also had a gen chem class for which the professor tried to implement PBL and failed miserably. I think the issue was that he was trying to make the curriculum a mix of lecture and PBL, and I think for PBL to truly work, the class needs to be 100% PBL. Also, it was a huge class, and PBL should be used for small to mid sized classes only.

Edit: okay, I will explain the way PBL was used in my bio class since I think it was done super well. We had class once a week. Before every class, we had to watch lecture videos that the professor prepared. We could also read the textbook if we wanted. So we were actually being taught the material, and the videos were available throughout the semester for us to go back and use them to study. Then, during class, we were given a packet of case studies that we had to work through in small groups (4-6 people). After going through each case study, we had to call the professor or TA over and discuss the case and our findings with her. Then, at the end of class, we took a group quiz.

 

[Lannister]

Double post, sorry.