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\"Problem-based learning (PBL) has excited interest among educators around the world for several decades. Among the most notable applications of PBL is the approach taken at the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences (FHML) at Maastricht University, the Netherlands. Starting in 1974 as a medical school, the faculty embarked on the innovative pathway of problem-based learning, trying to establish a medical training program which applied recent insights of education which would be better adapted to the needs of the modem physician. The medical school, currently part of the FHML, can be considered as an 'established' school, where original innovations and educational changes have become part of a routine. The first book to bring this wealth of information together, \"Lessons from Problem-based Learning\" documents those findings and shares the experiences of those involved, to encourage further debate and refinement of problem-based learning in specific applications elsewhere and in general educational discussion and thought. Each chapter provides a description of why and what has been done in the Maastricht program, followed by reflection on the benefits and issues that have arisen for these developments. The final section of the book examines the application of PBL in the future, and how it is likely to develop further\"--Provided by publisher.

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has created a need for educational materials and methods that can replace clinical clerkships (CCs) for online simulated clinical practice (online-sCP). This study evaluates the impact of using simulated electronic health records (sEHR) for inpatients, and electronic problem-based learning (e-PBL) and online virtual medical interviews (online-VMI) for outpatients, for an online-sCP using a learning management system (LMS) and online meeting system facilitated by a supervising physician. Methods The sEHR was reviewed by medical students and subsequently discussed with a supervising physician using an online meeting system. In the e-PBL, medical students reviewed the simulated patients and discussed on the LMS. For the online-VMI, a faculty member acted as an outpatient and a student acted as the doctor. Small groups of students discussed the clinical reasoning process using the online meeting system. A mixed-method design was implemented. Medical students self-assessed their clinical competence before and after the online-sCP. They answered questionnaires and participated in semi-structured focus group interviews (FGIs) regarding the advantages and disadvantages of the practice. Results Forty-three students completed the online-sCP during May and June 2020. All students indicated significant improvement in all aspects of self-evaluation of clinical performance after the online-sCP. Students using sEHR reported significant improvement in writing daily medical records and medical summaries. Students using e-PBL and online-VMI reported significant improvement in medical interviews and counseling. Students also indicated CCs as more useful for learning associated with medical interviews, physical examinations, and humanistic qualities like professionalism than the online-sCP. Eight FGIs were conducted ( n  = 42). The advantages of online-sCP were segregated into five categories (learning environment, efficiency, accessibility, self-paced learning, and interactivity); meanwhile, the disadvantages of online-sCP were classified into seven categories (clinical practice experience, learning environment, interactivity, motivation, memory retention, accessibility, and extraneous cognitive load). Conclusions Online-sCP with sEHR, e-PBL, and online-VMI could be useful in learning some of the clinical skills acquired through CC. These methods can be implemented with limited preparation and resources.

Background Social network analysis (SNA) might have an unexplored value in the study of interactions in technology-enhanced learning at large and in online (Problem Based Learning) PBL in particular. Using SNA to study students’ positions in information exchange networks, communicational activities, and interactions, we can broaden our understanding of the process of PBL, evaluate the significance of each participant role and learn how interactions can affect academic performance. The aim of this study was to study how SNA visual and mathematical analysis can be sued to investigate online PBL, furthermore, to see if students’ position and interaction parameters are associated with better performance. Methods This study involved 135 students and 15 teachers in 15 PBL groups in the course of “growth and development” at Qassim University. The course uses blended PBL as the teaching method. All interaction data were extracted from the learning management system, analyzed with SNA visual and mathematical techniques on the individual student and group level, centrality measures were calculated, and participants’ roles were mapped. Correlation among variables was performed using the non-parametric Spearman rank correlation test. Results The course had 2620 online interactions, mostly from students to students (89%), students to teacher interactions were 4.9%, and teacher to student interactions were 6.15%. Results have shown that SNA visual analysis can precisely map each PBL group and the level of activity within the group as well as outline the interactions among group participants, identify the isolated and the active students (leaders and facilitators) and evaluate the role of the tutor. Statistical analysis has shown that students’ level of activity (outdegree r s (133) = 0.27, p  = 0.01), interaction with tutors (r s (133) = 0.22, p  = 0.02) are positively correlated with academic performance. Conclusions Social network analysis is a practical method that can reliably monitor the interactions in an online PBL environment. Using SNA could reveal important information about the course, the group, and individual students. The insights generated by SNA may be useful in the context of learning analytics to help monitor students’ activity.

To test the hypothesis that lecturing maximizes learning and course performance, we metaanalyzed 225 studies that reported data on examination scores or failure rates when comparing student performance in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses under traditional lecturing versus active learning. The effect sizes indicate that on average, student performance on examinations and concept inventories increased by 0.47 SDs under active learning (n = 158 studies), and that the odds ratio for failing was 1.95 under traditional lecturing (n = 67 studies). These results indicate that average examination scores improved by about 6% in active learning sections, and that students in classes with traditional lecturing were 1.5 times more likely to fail than were students in classes with active learning. Heterogeneity analyses indicated that both results hold across the STEM disciplines, that active learning increases scores on concept inventories more than on course examinations, and that active learning appears effective across all class sizes—although the greatest effects are in small (n ≤ 50) classes. Trim and fill analyses and fail-safe n calculations suggest that the results are not due to publication bias. The results also appear robust to variation in the methodological rigor of the included studies, based on the quality of controls over student quality and instructor identity. This is the largest and most comprehensive metaanalysis of undergraduate STEM education published to date. The results raise questions about the continued use of traditional lecturing as a control in research studies, and support active learning as the preferred, empirically validated teaching practice in regular classrooms.

Background The use of flipped classroom approach has become increasingly popular in health professions education. However, no meta-analysis has been published that specifically examines the effect of flipped classroom versus traditional classroom on student learning. This study examined the findings of comparative articles through a meta-analysis in order to summarize the overall effects of teaching with the flipped classroom approach. We focused specifically on a set of flipped classroom studies in which pre-recorded videos were provided before face-to-face class meetings. These comparative articles focused on health care professionals including medical students, residents, doctors, nurses, or learners in other health care professions and disciplines (e.g., dental, pharmacy, environmental or occupational health). Method Using predefined study eligibility criteria, seven electronic databases were searched in mid-April 2017 for relevant articles. Methodological quality was graded using the Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument (MERSQI). Effect sizes, heterogeneity estimates, analysis of possible moderators, and publication bias were computed using the C omprehensive M eta -A nalysis software. Results A meta-analysis of 28 eligible comparative studies (between-subject design) showed an overall significant effect in favor of flipped classrooms over traditional classrooms for health professions education (standardized mean difference, SMD = 0.33, 95% confidence interval, CI = 0.21–0.46, p  < 0.001), with no evidence of publication bias. In addition, the flipped classroom approach was more effective when instructors used quizzes at the start of each in-class session. More respondents reported they preferred flipped to traditional classrooms. Conclusions Current evidence suggests that the flipped classroom approach in health professions education yields a significant improvement in student learning compared with traditional teaching methods.

The adaptation process for first-year medical students is an important problem because it significantly affects educational activities. The previous study showed that 63% of students had difficulties adapting to the learning process in their first year at medical school. Therefore, students need the most suitable learning style to support the educational process, such as Problem-based learning (PBL). This method can improve critical thinking skills, problem-solving and self-directed learning. Although PBL has been adopted in medical education, the effectiveness of PBL in first-year medical students is still not yet clear. The purpose of this meta-analysis is to verify whether the PBL approach has a positive effect in improving knowledge, problem-solving and self-directed learning in first-year medical students compared with the conventional method. We searched PubMed, ScienceDirect, Cochrane, and Google Scholar databases until June 5, 2021. Search terms included problem-based learning, effectiveness, effectivity, and medical student. We excluded studies with the final-year medical student populations. All analyses in our study were carried out using Review Manager version 5.3 (RevMan Cochrane, London, UK). Seven eligible studies (622 patients) were included. The pooled analysis demonstrated no significant difference between PBL with conventional learning method in critical thinking/knowledge assessment (p = 0.29), problem-solving aspect (p = 0.47), and self-directed learning aspect (p = 0.34). The present study concluded that the PBL approach in first-year medical students appeared to be ineffective in improving critical thinking/knowledge, problem-solving, and self-directed compared with the conventional teaching method.

Directed evolution (DE) is a powerful tool to optimize protein fitness for a specific application. However, DE can be inefficient when mutations exhibit non-additive, or epistatic, behavior. Here, we present Active Learning-assisted Directed Evolution (ALDE), an iterative machine learning-assisted DE workflow that leverages uncertainty quantification to explore the search space of proteins more efficiently than current DE methods. We apply ALDE to an engineering landscape that is challenging for DE: optimization of five epistatic residues in the active site of an enzyme. In three rounds of wet-lab experimentation, we improve the yield of a desired product of a non-native cyclopropanation reaction from 12% to 93%. We also perform computational simulations on existing protein sequence-fitness datasets to support our argument that ALDE can be more effective than DE. Overall, ALDE is a practical and broadly applicable strategy to unlock improved protein engineering outcomes. Directed evolution is a powerful method to optimize protein fitness. Here, authors develop an active learning workflow using machine learning to more efficiently explore the design space of proteins.

Background Educational pedagogies were modified during the COVID-19 pandemic to minimise interruption to teaching. One approach has been the distance learning problem-based learning (PBL) tutorial utilising the online peer-to-peer platform. The aim of this study was to compare the performance of students using distance learning PBL tutorials using with that of students utilising the conventional face-to-face approach. Methods This retrospective study was conducted in a single academic institution. We compared two groups of fourth-year medical students from the same class: one group used distance learning (DL); the other, the face-to-face (FF) method. We used students’ baseline performance at the preceding block for one-to-one propensity score matching. Students utilising the PBL tutorial were given grades by their tutors according to a standardised scoring system encompassing five key areas (score range: 0–10). The main outcome was a student’s total score (i.e., the sum of the scores from the five key areas, ranging from 0 to 50). Result We matched 62 students in each group. With four tutorials, there were 490 observations, with 245 in each group. The mean total score for the DL group was 37.5 ± 4.6, which was significantly lower than that of the FF group (39.0 ± 4.4, p  < 0.001). We noted that students in the DL group had a significantly lower scores for all five areas of proficiency: participation, communication, preparation, critical thinking and group skills. Conclusion Findings of this study revealed that the performance of students utilising the DL PBL tutorials was lower than that of students participating in the conventional FF approach. Further studies are needed to ascertain the underlying cause.

As a modern pedagogical philosophy, problem-based learning (PBL) is increasingly being recognized as a major research area in student learning and pedagogical innovation in health sciences education. A new area of research interest has been the role of emerging educational technologies in PBL. Although this field is growing, no systematic reviews of studies of the usage and effects of educational technologies in PBL in health sciences education have been conducted to date. The aim of this paper is to review new and emerging educational technologies in problem-based curricula, with a specific focus on 3 cognate clinical disciplines: medicine, dentistry, and speech and hearing sciences. Analysis of the studies reviewed focused on the effects of educational technologies in PBL contexts while addressing the particular issue of scaffolding of student learning. A comprehensive computerized database search of full-text articles published in English from 1996 to 2014 was carried out using 3 databases: ProQuest, Scopus, and EBSCOhost. Eligibility criteria for selection of studies for review were also determined in light of the population, intervention, comparison, and outcomes (PICO) guidelines. The population was limited to postsecondary education, specifically in dentistry, medicine, and speech and hearing sciences, in which PBL was the key educational pedagogy and curriculum design. Three types of educational technologies were identified as interventions used to support student inquiry: learning software and digital learning objects; interactive whiteboards (IWBs) and plasma screens; and learning management systems (LMSs). Of 470 studies, 28 were selected for analysis. Most studies examined the effects of learning software and digital learning objects (n=20) with integration of IWB (n=5) and LMS (n=3) for PBL receiving relatively less attention. The educational technologies examined in these studies were seen as potentially fit for problem-based health sciences education. Positive outcomes for student learning included providing rich, authentic problems and/or case contexts for learning; supporting student development of medical expertise through the accessing and structuring of expert knowledge and skills; making disciplinary thinking and strategies explicit; providing a platform to elicit articulation, collaboration, and reflection; and reducing perceived cognitive load. Limitations included cumbersome scenarios, infrastructure requirements, and the need for staff and student support in light of the technological demands of new affordances. This literature review demonstrates the generally positive effect of educational technologies in PBL. Further research into the various applications of educational technology in PBL curricula is needed to fully realize its potential to enhance problem-based approaches in health sciences education.

This study aims to compare the effectiveness of Hybrid and Pure problem-based learning (PBL) in teaching clinical reasoning skills to medical students. The study sample consisted of 99 medical students participating in a clerkship rotation at the Department of General Medicine, Chiba University Hospital. They were randomly assigned to Hybrid PBL (intervention group, n = 52) or Pure PBL group (control group, n = 47). The quantitative outcomes were measured with the students’ perceived competence in PBL, satisfaction with sessions, and self-evaluation of competency in clinical reasoning. The qualitative component consisted of a content analysis on the benefits of learning clinical reasoning using Hybrid PBL. There was no significant difference between intervention and control groups in the five students’ perceived competence and satisfaction with sessions. In two-way repeated measure analysis of variance, self-evaluation of competency in clinical reasoning was significantly improved in the intervention group in \"recalling appropriate differential diagnosis from patient’s chief complaint\" (F(1,97) = 5.295, p = 0.024) and \"practicing the appropriate clinical reasoning process\" (F(1,97) = 4.016, p = 0.038). According to multiple comparisons, the scores of \"recalling appropriate history, physical examination, and tests on clinical hypothesis generation\" (F(1,97) = 6.796, p = 0.011), \"verbalizing and reflecting appropriately on own mistakes,\" (F(1,97) = 4.352, p = 0.040) \"selecting keywords from the whole aspect of the patient,\" (F(1,97) = 5.607, p = 0.020) and \"examining the patient while visualizing his/her daily life\" (F(1,97) = 7.120, p = 0.009) were significantly higher in the control group. In the content analysis, 13 advantage categories of Hybrid PBL were extracted. In the subcategories, \"acquisition of knowledge\" was the most frequent subcategory, followed by \"leading the discussion,\" \"smooth discussion,\" \"getting feedback,\" \"timely feedback,\" and \"supporting the clinical reasoning process.\" Hybrid PBL can help acquire practical knowledge and deepen understanding of clinical reasoning, whereas Pure PBL can improve several important skills such as verbalizing and reflecting on one’s own errors and selecting appropriate keywords from the whole aspect of the patient.