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SAMPLEABSTRACT1:EDUCATIONALRESEARCH
AbstractNo.
ACasecontrolStudyEvaluatingtheEffectivenessofanExtendedInductionProgrammeina
FullyintegratedPBLCurriculum
BRIDGES,S.M.*,McGRATHC.,DYSON,J.E.,LEUNG,W.K.,WEBSTER,B.(TheUniversityofHong
Kong)
OBJECTIVE: Programmelevel evaluations of student perceptions of the learning experiences in PBL curricula
have found that theearly yearsof the curriculum experience lower levels of satisfactionthan the final years.
This could be seen as a natural process of adjustment to university life in general and the demands
of PBL
curricula in particular. Additionally, generic student evaluations of university learning experiences can be
problematicforafullyintegratedPBLcurriculum.How,forexample,canstudentscommenton‘courses’when
learningis fully integrated? Clear goals and standards scalesmay also provide problematic data for beginning
students when problem scenarios
are deliberately ‘illdefined’. METHODS: Universitywide data on firstyear
studentevaluationsoflearningwasusedtoinformcurriculumdesignforone fullyintegratedPBLprogramme.
In particular, firstyear student evaluation data from the 200607 academic year was used to review how the
transitionintouniversity life
andaPBL programme could be enhanced for firstyearstudents. As a result, the
established1weekinductionwasfurtherdevelopedandextendedacrossthefirstyear.Thesystemgenerated
student evaluation was repeated at the end of the 200708 academic year and results on items related to
attainment
ofuniversitygoalsitemswerecompared.RESULTS:Comparisonofthetwogroupsfoundsignificant
improvementsinfirstyearstudents’perceptionsthatthePBLprogrammewashelpingthemachieveuniversity
level educational outcomes. The greatest improvements, measured using Cohen’s d, were seen for items
relatedto‘interculturalunderstanding’ (d=.77);‘critical
selfreflection’(d=.60);‘globalcitizenship’(d=.52);and
‘criticalintellectualinquiry’(d=.51).Additionally,itemsrelatedto‘greaterunderstandingofothers(d=.36),and
‘collaboration’ (d=.33) also showed improvements. CONCLUSION: An extended induction in a fullyintegrated
problembased learning curriculum can assist firstyear students’ transition into
a PBL curriculum thereby
improvingprogrammelevelevaluationsofthefirstyearexperience.
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