Drugs, Devices, and Desires: A Problem-based Learning Course in the History of Medicine

Comparing the Views on Problem-Based Learning from Medical Education Students in Zhengzhou University in China and the University of Bristol in the UK

“…This research, however, considering different learning contexts, explores the views of students from China and the UK on PBL, which to some extent fills the void of geographical concern in PBL research. According to Levitt, McKeage, and Rangachari (2013) and Savin-Baden and Major (2004), it is important to evaluate students' voices in the process of learning and courses. However, in general, it is common to assess the results of PBL based on teachers' experience and students' academic performance rather than on students' views in the learning process which is missed a significant element on the courses evaluation.…”

“…White (2001) notes that problems as a crucial element need to be not only open-end, which means having multiple solutions, but also linked with the real scenario. Open-end questions in real-life not only stimulate creativity and flexible thinking (Savery, 2006;Levitt, McKeage, & Rangachari, 2013;De Boer & Otting, 2011), but also facilitate future knowledge retrieval as the knowledge can recall when the situation resembles the context in the class (De Boer & Otting, 2011;Bestetti et al, 2014). Although Bate et al (2014) find that students feel their time is 'wasted' on unnecessary debates or on guessing answers with members who have similar level of prior knowledge, majority literature supports and encourages the collaboration on a team because it provides opportunities on students' in-deep understanding (Savin-Baden & Major, 2004;Tang et al, 2008).…”