An Exercise to Transfer Learning to Novel Situations: The Student Perspective

Abstract

The Tri‐Partite Problem‐Solving Exercise (TRIPSE) is an evaluation method that simulates the scientific process. Students presented with limited data are required to state hypotheses, propose experimental tests to explore them and assess their answers after given additional information. The exercise has been used in class sizes ranging from 15 to 200 (FASEB Journal. 2008; 22:767.1). A variation, the Legacy TRIPSE (FASEB Journal. 2010; 24: 633.1) was later developed to engage students, encourage them to transfer learning to novel situations and create a bank of problems as a ‘legacy’ for future classes. Students designed problems based on published data, and provided suitable answers (hypotheses and experimental tests). We report the experience of the Legacy TRIPSE from the students’ perspectives. On a score of ten, students rated the project highly (median, mode, range, n). It provided a valuable learning experience (8, 10, 10, 100) and one that was significantly superior to conventional exams (8, 10, 10, 100). It allowed students to transfer concepts from lectures to novel situations, and helped them read scientific papers more critically and understand the operations of modern scientific practice.