Relationship of Prior Knowledge and Scenario Quality With the Effectiveness of Problem-based Learning Discussion among Medical Students of Universitas Malikussaleh, Aceh, Indonesia

Abstract

Introduction: Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is a student-centred learning approach that employs clinical case scenarios to trigger learning and is conducted in small group discussions. The familiarity and prior knowledge of the students with the problem affect and stimulate student discussion in the tutorial group. Effective discussion ensures successful PBL learning. This study aimed to determine the relationship between prior knowledge and the scenario quality with the effectiveness of the PBL discussions. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2021 and involved 89 undergraduate medical students in the learning of the Immunology and Neoplasm module at the Faculty of Medicine of Universitas Malikussaleh. The Quality of PBL Problem Questionnaire and the Tutorial Group Effectiveness Instrument (TGEI) Questionnaire were used for data collection. The GPAs of the students were obtained as prior knowledge data. The data were analysed using the Chi-square test with a significant level of 0.05. Results: Most of the students had good prior knowledge (51.2% vs 47.8%). The results did not show a significant correlation between prior knowledge and the scenarios with the discussion effectiveness in the PBL group (p = 0.154 and 0.871, respectively). Conclusion: This study suggests that prior knowledge did not affect the effectiveness of discussions within the tutorial groups. Our study discovered a non-significant relationship between the scenario quality and the effectiveness of PBL discussions; however, our data revealed that good scenarios mostly led to effective tutorial group discussions.

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