PBL performance correlates with content acquisition assessment: A study in a hybrid PBL program at Alfaisal University

Dear Sir

One of the major challenges in Problem-based Learning (PBL) curriculum is to establish an effective PBL process and its reliable assessment. Von Bergmann showed that students who were recognized as having good process skills in PBL tutorials also performed significantly better on content acquisition tests (von Bergmann et al. 2007). However, Whitefield and Xie (2002) demonstrated that facilitators’ evaluation of PBL process was not correlated with students’ performance in the written examinations. This observation was attributed to the potential lack of objectivity in grading, e.g. subtle tendency for facilitators to over-rate the students. College of Medicine, Alfaisal University adopted a unique Problem-based hybrid curriculum which was designed to meet the special requirements related to maturity level of entering high school medical students. In this context, more experienced PBL facilitators were used in the early phase of the medical curriculum. We predicted that this approach would lead to a strong correlation between PBL process assessment and content acquisition tests.

We analysed the results of 54, 2nd year MBBS students of Alfaisal University who appeared in the semester-3 written examinations of 2010–2011 and ran a correlation between their scores in PBL process and their overall score in the written examinations. Our results showed that there was a strong correlation between scores of written examination of semester-3 and PBL process scores with r = 0.72 (p < 0.0001). Further, there was also a statistically significant correlation between PBL scores and Multiple Choice Questions, Short Answer Questions and Objective Structured Practical Examination components of the Semester-3 written exam with r values equal to 0.59, 0.49 and 0.53, respectively.

We attribute this strong correlation to the following. First, we minimized the effect of factors which could make PBL facilitators grading unreliable by discussing the PBL process grading criterion at length with our faculty so that there was clarity and uniformity on grading system. Second, the new faculties were trained in PBL process by conduction of several workshops by Partners Harvard Medical International (Alfaisal's collaborator) during this period. Finally, PBL facilitators managed group activity for a shorter period of time usually not more than 4 weeks; this allows them to assess the students objectively rather than on familiarity.

In conclusion, PBL process evaluation can be a useful method to assess overall performance of students provided there is proper training of facilitators and a clear comprehension of grading criterion.

Ahmed Yaqinuddin, Peter Kvietys, Paul Ganguly, Faisal Ikram, Sheikh Yaeesh & Wael Kattan, College of Medicine, Alfaisal University, Off Takhassusi Road, AlMaather, Riyadh, KSA. E-mail: [email protected]