Barts students: How much PBL?

[malevolent_elephant]

it's still really easy to zone out in lectures. pbl is quite good because you research all the basic physiology behind the scenario, and then the pathologies (which are the only things that keep you going a lot of the time). it does help you remember a lot. lecture based learning has a very definite curriculum but with pbl, whilst you still have to adhere to your "learning objectives", it's nice to learn in your own space. a lot of people get kicks out of showing up to the follow-up pbl session being able to say "actually i came across something kind of interesting..."

I'd definitely say i get more out of pbl than lbl. For our first exam I was freaking out about all the lbl stuff, but I hardly felt the need to look over the pbl material at all.

[BartsyLady]

Man i LOVED PBL! Its a great way of learning. I agree tho, totally depends if u get a good group, good tutor etc. Theyre important in ICA's and end of years, and i miss them so much now (3rd year) because i felt it stuck more actually doing the work, rather than sitting absent minded in a lecture.

[malevolent_elephant]

Yeah I think a lot of it has to do with who you're working with. I was lucky, I got a really competitive group for the first term. Everyone wanted to chip in with interesting facts and be the one who knew most...generally we all usually did a really thorough job and got always got some heated debates/arguments going...loads of fun.
If you're in a group where everyone's just printing off wikipedia pages the night before, I can see how you wouldn't take much from PBL!
So far (I'm a 1st year), I think PBL has been by far both the most demanding and most engaging part of the course. <3

[kizdxb]

allow lectures

[kizdxb]

i see my little ticker thing at the bottom, and wonder what ive learnt in these last 3 months 2 weeks and 5 days

[minnako]

I think PBLs are particularly useful if you need a bit of help to get motivated to do extra reading. All of us learn differently, so experienced independent learners might not feel they're gaining much ('it's just stopping me from revising what I feel I need to do in more detail!'), whilst others find it really useful, even if some resent it sometimes, for getting them to do regular work that backs up their lectures and teaches them how to study.

I second everyone on groups and tutors mattering. A clued-up group and an enthusiastic tutor can make PBLs something to actually look forward to!

@kizdxb: I think we'll all find out what we've learned when the next ICA comes around (never mind finals!)

[$ingh]

PBHell is what you make it.

In 1st & 2nd year its random tutors who don't have the foggiest about the the topic as they are there only to "facilitate" the session and "encourage discussions".

It does however make you read the topics and guides you in the curriculum as you know you will be examined on it.

[snugalicious]

PBL stuff sticks better probably because you're paying more attention when the info goes into your brain because you're actively researching it trying to answer the questions/learning objectives your group has set, and also because you go over it again in the feedback session. With lectures, you tend to turn up, have it go in one ear/out the other and then you don't come back to it again until you're cramming for revision.
However, as mentioned, PBL's are generally based on what you're covering in lectures at that time so they're interlinked - it's not like you would *only* remember stuff if it came up in PBL because of that overlap. And it also depends on how much you personally take in during lectures. I find lectures just about as helpful as PBLs because when I pay attention, I tend to remember. The biggest problem is staying attentive for the entire hour, especially if the topic or lecturer are less than inspirational. I think repetition is the key really - with PBL you go over information once when working through the problem, once when researching and then again when doing the feedback (and again with the formative SAQ's, on top of covering it in a lecture to begin with).

[Star_struck]

I think PBL is amazing....if you have the right group... otherwise it really does suck!

It really reinforces what you have learnt in the lectures, and if you get a really good tutor (i got Dr Millar who is incredible at explaining things!!) then you are set for exams!

[hXc Medic]

so just to get it straight...PBL is only used to reinforce things taught in lectures? Right? I mean we wont be teaching each other fresh topics etc?