Dear Sir
At our Medical School, PBL traditionally runs 3 days per week. Students frequently describe getting “stuck” on small details for which they have no prior knowledge or that do not understand. There can be variability in level of accuracy of information shared by peers. The first and second year students regularly observe more senior students, residents, preceptors and faculty utilizing mobile devices for checking quick facts. As a result, students and tutors have suggested that a quick reference check could be useful to authenticate a proffered peer explanation or get past a sticking point. This has lead to the current investigation: Does allowing the use of electronic devices enhance or detract from the learning in PBL tutorials?
We solicited 10 volunteer tutors (out of 36) within a 4-week GI system block in the second year of our medical school program, who would allow their students (8 per tutor) to bring an electronic device of their choice into their tutorial sessions. Up to this point, devices were disallowed and only a medical dictionary was used in the tutorial sessions. At the completion of the block, the participating students and tutors were invited to complete an electronic online survey including a Likert questionnaire as well as open-ended questions reflecting their experience during the interventions.
Of the respondents, fifty-four different types of devices were reported being used in the tutorial sessions. Tablets (35%) and smart phones (46%) were the most popular type of device used by students and tutors with laptops making up a small percentage of use (16%). Five percent of them felt that the devices did not improve PBL, 39% were neutral, and 55% either agreed or strongly agreed that the devices improved PBL. Ten percent of the students and tutors felt that the devices did adversely affect group dynamics, 17% were neutral, and 74% felt that the devices did not interfere with group dynamics. Five percent of those responding felt it did not improve accuracy. Sixteen percent were neutral, and 80% felt that it did improve accuracy. Overall, 89% were in favor of recommending while 11% were not.
In this pilot study, we found that PBL tutors and students overwhelmingly supported allowing the use of electronic devices into the PBL tutorials. This has led to a policy change, and devices are encouraged, but individual usage determined by group agreement only.
Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest.