is PBL deceptive: less class time?

[USeF]

this is something a few of my classmates have been discussing. Though we have 3 lectures + lab MWF (plus Clinical Skils Tu,Th) and there is either a 3 hr break on MWF. The extra time, if used constructively between eating, hanging out and lil' bit of studying makes the day so much more managable.
More importantly, we have all the info presented to us and its a matter of putting in time for reinforcement and review. So the total outside time for us is not all that demanding. My question is posed to the PBL students. We assume that you must spend alot of time putting together the big picture, finding the details of the information to ensure you have all the info you need and are prepared. No doubt these are great investigative skills (i.e. i'm not doggin this)- but it would seem to manifest an environment where TOTAL academic demands for the week would be much greater. Yea, this is hard to gauge unless you take total time for each person in a traditional and PBL school and average them, controlling for academic ability and other environmental factors. But I think SDNers can make it around that

We, and similar schools, get a rap for having a 8:30-5 schedule. This is to try and determine how justified that is- or atleast get people to discuss it. Do NOT throw "my curriculum is better than yours" stones

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[southerndoc]

PBL does require more time in my opinion. Group time is usually MWF for 3 hours. Additional time is allocated for clinical skills, epidemiology, biostatistics, EBM, etc. At my school, we do not have dedicated labs except for cadaver lab. Histo lab is on your own. Micro lab is virtually non-existent.

Most students spend between 4-16 hours per day studying, with the vast majority spending between 8-10 hours of studying per day. In the grand scheme of things, PBL students probably have less time than those that rely on notes and only go to class a few hours a day. Those that are in class from 8-5 (rare, but some are like that) definitely have less time than PBL students.

People always freak out when you tell them that you study 12 hours a day. When you factor in that we don't have lecture, then you realize the importance of why we must do this. We have to learn everything on our own so we can discuss it in group. We might assign topics to present in tutorial, but everyone must prepare for that topic so that he/she may participate in the discussion.

 

[nuclearrabbit77]

an average of 9 hours of studying per day?
wow. thats alot


nuclearrabbit

northwestern - 2006

 

[southerndoc]

Originally posted by nuclearrabbit77
an average of 9 hours of studying per day?
wow. thats alot

A lot of people did more.

Keep in mind that our "class" time was limited to 3 days per week, 3 hours each session, with a few hours here and there throughout the week (plus cadaver lab time - usually 6 hours/week).

 

[ziadp]

PBL is an odd creature. It can be a useful tool to learning if implemented properly. The problem is in its implimintation. Often enough, the course directors dont pick proper cases, the informatoin is counter productive, or you spend too much time researching Learning issues that are not praticle. Also, it depends upon which faculty you get. some require more focused LI pertanent to the course. Others are not nice at all and require students to look up ever detail. When you are studying Cardiovascular disease, studying about psych cases, though important, does not add to ones understanding of ischemic damage to the heart. Though, it does help when creating differential diagnosis, if you remember, later in your career.