Web Based Problem Based Learning
A study conducted by Upacaar at St John’s Medical College
Kishan Kumar & Vivek K.R,
Co Founders, Upacaar
Bangalore, India
Abstract:
This article reports the study of Web based – Problem based learning that was conducted for the medical students. In this study we observed the involvement & interaction of student-tutor & student-student. The PBL principles & process were followed during the web based PBL classes.
In this report Web based PBL advantages & disadvantages are identified & data analysed. The analysis has shown great positive results with Web based PBL yielding more output & value than the regular PBL. All the benefits of Electronic format was enjoyed by both the students & tutors such as Easy to store, access & share data, organised data etc and they experienced - reduced complexity, exciting, motivational and innovative. Students assign tasks, watch videos, images & spend time on only discussion and avoid taking notes, enhanced tasks performances by exploring different resources such as online contents, journal and books.
100% students & tutors liked the Web based-PBL and their recommendations extend to support that Web based PBL perfectly fits into the PBL process & 88% recommended conducting Problem solving online. The students enjoyed, satisfied & agreed to do it again.
Introduction:
Problem-based learning (PBL) is a student-centered pedagogy in which students learn about a subject in the context of complex, multifaceted, and realistic problems. Working in groups, students identify what they already know, what they need to know, and how and where to access new information that may lead to resolution of the problem. The role of the instructor is that of facilitator of learning who provides appropriate scaffolding of that process by (for example), asking probing questions, providing appropriate resources, and leading class discussions, as well as designing student assessments.
In PBL, students are encouraged to take responsibility of their learning and organize and direct the learning process with support from a tutor or instructor. Advocates of PBL claim it can be used to enhance content knowledge while simultaneously fostering the development of communication, problem-solving, and self-directed learning skills.
Purpose of the Study:
The aims of this study are to look at how students use electronic format to enhance their skills, learn more effectively and perceive the effects of the collaboration in the Web based - PBL approach for undergraduates of Medical colleges. This Web-based PBL learning environment was designed to fit into the St.John’s Medical College PBL process. The findings of this study will provide insight into the Web based student-instructor and student-student collaborative processes in terms of learning effectiveness, interaction, satisfaction and enjoyment in the learning process. It would also provide valuable information and guidelines to conduct PBL classes using Upacaar’s Web based solution.
Web based Environment:
A Web based - PBL environment was designed and developed for conducting PBL classes effectively, interactively and enjoyable. The web link “www.pbl.upacaar.com” is generated exclusively for St John’s medical college where students & tutors can access the application using web browser with authenticated Username & Password. A classroom, few laptops/computers and internet connection were provided.
Introductory Information:
The students and tutors were trained only on the web application & not on the PBL process as PBL is known process to all and since our web based application easily integrated into the existing PBL process without any changes, no process training was further given. Each student was sent an E-mail and SMS to give him/her the login credentials along with ‘URL, user guide’ details.
Sample case was added for both students & tutors to access, practice & get used to application. The students were first required to enter link/URL in web browser to access the site, use the credentials to login into the application and then start using the sample case. The actual problems/cases on which the students were about to work on were added in the system, however only tutors were able to view the cases & not the students, students can view the case only when tutor releases the case information.
Problem design & its presentation:
The Problem/Case was ill-structured and related to real world issues. The ill-structured problem calls forth critical & creative thinking, decision making, and problem solving skills. The problem was cut into 2 parts and each part named as Trigger 1 and Trigger 2. Trigger 1 generally consists of chief complaint, history of patient, physical examination, video & images. Trigger 2 consist further investigations, lab results & reports, and more information to narrow down.
The real world issues appeal to the students’ desire for resolution, harmony and must be generated in the context of learning which follows,
- Illustrated that good PBL problems must engage the students’ interest and motivate them to probe for deeper understanding of the concept being introduced
- They should also be complex enough to require the cooperation of all members in order to work toward a solution & learn new topics
- Open-ended and contain the content objectives of the course.
- The problem accessed anytime & anywhere through online sources.
- The Problems contain beautiful fonts, high resolution colourful Images, Videos and test results, and lot more.
Web application in Class1:
A small assigned group of 7-8 students were using 2-3 laptops to view the cases/problems. Only 2-3 laptops used per group including tutors’ in order to make sure all the students focus on the discussion, encourage face to face interaction and not on the computer. The Trigger 1 (first set of information on the problem) was released by the tutor using web application, then students were able to view the problem and started to analyse the problem together. Based on their prior knowledge, they determined the information they already know & the information they don’t know and what information they still required to possess and should learn to solve the problem.
One among the group member was made scribe, who noted down the information discussed in the class and added into the web application. During the discussion the group lists the objectives, prioritise, organise the plan of action and assign it to individuals to do further research. Using web application, the scribe adds the discussion points, learning objectives and assigns the objectives to individuals while allowing the tutor to view the entire operation in his/her laptop or computer and here the tutor role is to facilitate, guide & monitor the entire process.
Research:
Each individual student had his/her own responsibilities to do research on the objectives that were assigned to him/her. In other words he/she had to conduct independent studies after the class and they can utilize all forms of resources such as books, online resources or even interact with physicians etc to find the information on the objectives assigned to him/her. The integration of web application made the students easy to add the online information such as large text, audio & video files, images, picture, lab results/reports and lot more. They can also get information from books, journals & magazines, and can be easily added in the web application. In addition students had to add the references of the resource. Students had to find and evaluate the broad array of resources needed for resolving the learning issues. Such an evaluation provides opportunity for them to develop the critical thinking & decision making in the context of evaluating resources and also students share the entire information they collected and shared to their group members to prompt the ability to view & learn.
Class 2:
After the individual students had researched on the assigned objectives, the groups then met to continue the discussion. This time each student discussed on the research that he/she had done, as they identifying the overlapping issues, reviewing information, reviewing the differential diagnosis & treatment plan in accordance to the new information gathered by the each group member. Since all the information collected, including videos, images, reports and lot of other documents are shared to everyone, they were able to view & watch aids along with participating in the discussion.
Once the discussion was over the tutor was informed and based on the information & discussions tutor verify to ensure all the objective of the trigger 1 is covered then the Trigger 2 is released to the students and they started discussions just like they did in the Trigger 1 and objectives are assigned to individuals by the scribe.
Research:
The research is carried out by the students similarly as they did for Trigger 1.
Class 3:
The discussion is carried out again and this whole process can be repeated in a cycle until the group members are satisfied that they have addressed the learning issues
Solution to the problem:
As the group members are satisfied with learning issues that they have addressed & provided answers to the problem that was initially posed to them. The group collectively plans for the conclusion and scribe updates the information in web application.
Note: The tutor can view the entire information posted by the students in web application at anytime and anywhere.
Logistics of Web based PBL:
There are 4 real-time medical problems that were incorporated in the web application; the objectives & topics covered in those respective problems partly covered the curriculum of the 1st, 2nd & 3rd year subjects of undergraduate medical course.
In 3rd Year UGC there are total 60 students and all the 60 students participated in the Web based PBL class. These students had already done regular PBL classes (not web based PBL) in the previous year, hence the process flow was not a concern. The classes were conducted in the controlled environment where the seating facility, laptop/computer and internet connection were available.
The research was done for 2 batches each batch consisting of 4 groups and each group consisting 7-8 students. The first session was attended by batch 1 and the second session was attended by batch 2 students. Each session had 3 classes conducted once in a week for 2 hrs, each group had dealt with 1 problem using web application where PBL process was followed as described above.
After each session feedback was collected from the students & tutors. The feedback form had 10 questions for students and 11 questions for tutors were asked to express about the web applications, advantages, disadvantages and lot more. The results were amazing and interesting.
Results & suggestions:
The questions asked were both objective and descriptive; Most of the questions were similar to students and tutors.
Questions | Students | Tutor |
Do you like our product? | 100% Yes | 100% Yes |
Do you like the look and feel of product? | 98% Yes, 2% No | 87.5% Yes, 12.5 No |
Please rate your experience using Upacaar product | 9 %– Excellent, 9% – Bad 82%– Good | 100% – Good |
Does Upacaar fits into your Present PBL process successfully | 93% - Yes 7% - No( internet connection) | 95% - Yes |
Are you aware about Problem Solving? | 88% - Yes 12% - No | 100% - Yes |
Do you feel an Online Problem solving tool would be of help to you? | 88% - Yes 12% - No | 100% - Yes |
In the descriptive questions students expressed all the benefits, draw backs and uses of doing web based PBL. Students & tutors clearly stated there were many advantages including but not limited to all the benefits of Electronic format of doing PBL was enjoyed; Easy to add & store information online, They access information from anywhere, anytime & share information to their group members. The data is organised & available at one place, reduced complexity, sorting options to view the interested information; it is exciting, motivational and innovative.
Students can assign tasks to fellow group member or add a reminder for themselves, watch videos, images & spend time on only discuss and avoid taking notes, enhanced tasks performances by exploring different resources such as online contents, journal and books.
Some of the drawbacks were also expressed, Few students don’t have laptop/computer to do the research and internet access was not available everywhere to do the research & the internet cafe was over crowded some times, However in the web based PBL class there was no issues.
The collaboration of Web based & PBL positively contributed to the enhancement of the communication skills of the students; these students valued the opinion of other students and at the same time debated over complex topics, became confident enough to raise their own ideas. They also realised the importance of collaborating with others in the construction of new knowledge.
Even though the results had been analysed through the students’ & tutors’ perceived responses and suggestions; neither an actual task performance analysis nor a relative comparison with other established learning approaches had been carried out, the results provided great degree of indication of the inherent capability of the Web based-PBL in terms of yielding the many positive aspects of the educational outcomes. The results of research can wary in other colleges based on some degree of uncertainty, for instance the social interaction may have already existed or perhaps been engaged in some kind of group discussions for other courses they had enrolled within the programme and was a part of daily life, however the resulting positive learning outcome was evident as the students participated were both from the medical & nursing back ground.
Summary:
The study revealed that Web Based-PBL resulted in many positive aspects of education outcomes. The study also revealed that Web based solution fits appropriately into the PBL process and makes the learning more effective, interactive and importantly enjoyable by the students & tutors. It also gives opportunity to explore problem solving online.
Enabled students to link up different ideas, to share knowledge and induced motivation that contributed to positive learning outcomes.
Acknowledgement:
The author acknowledges the contribution and support of the faculty members of St John’s Medical College who facilitated during the PBL assignment. He also extends his thanks to all the students who participated in this study. This research has been conducted with the support from both Upacaar & St John’s Medical college 2011.
References:
Web based PBL
http://cte.umdnj.edu/active_learning/active_case.cfm Centre for teaching excellence, Problem based learning at UMDNJ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNhismExIwU – Upacaar PBL video
