Singaram V S, Dolmans D H J M, Lachman N, van der Vleuten C P M
Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, School of Undergraduate Medical Education, University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban, South Africa.
Educ Health (Abingdon). 2008 Jul;21(2):116. Epub 2008 Aug 26.
A key aspect of the success of a PBL curriculum is the effective implementation of its small group tutorials. Diversity among students participating in tutorials may affect the effectiveness of the tutorials and may require different implementation strategies.
To determine how students from diverse backgrounds perceive the effectiveness of the processes and content of the PBL tutorials. This study also aims to explore the relationship between students' perceptions of their PBL tutorials and their gender, age, language, prior educational training, and secondary schooling.
MATERIALS/METHODS: Data were survey results from 244 first-year student-respondents at the Nelson Mandela School of Medicine at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted to verify scale constructs in the questionnaire. Relationships between independent and dependent variables were investigated in an analysis of variance.
The average scores for the items measured varied between 3.3 and 3.8 (scale value 1 indicated negative regard and 5 indicated positive regard). Among process measures, approximately two-thirds of students felt that learning in a group was neither frustrating nor stressful and that they enjoyed learning how to work with students from different social and cultural backgrounds. Among content measures, 80% of the students felt that they learned to work successfully with students from different social and cultural groups and 77% felt that they benefited from the input of other group members. Mean ratings on these measures did not vary with students' gender, age, first language, prior educational training, and the types of schools they had previously attended.
Medical students of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, regardless of their backgrounds, generally have positive perceptions of small group learning. These findings support previous studies in highlighting the role that small group tutorials can play in overcoming cultural barriers and promoting unity and collaborative learning within diverse student groups.
基于问题的学习（PBL）课程成功的一个关键方面是其小组辅导的有效实施。参与辅导的学生之间的多样性可能会影响辅导的效果，可能需要不同的实施策略。
确定来自不同背景的学生如何看待PBL辅导过程和内容的有效性。本研究还旨在探讨学生对PBL辅导的看法与其性别、年龄、语言、先前的教育培训以及中学教育之间的关系。
材料/方法：数据来自南非夸祖鲁-纳塔尔大学纳尔逊·曼德拉医学院244名一年级学生受访者的调查结果。进行探索性因素分析以验证问卷中的量表结构。在方差分析中研究自变量和因变量之间的关系。
所测量项目的平均得分在3.3至3.8之间（量表值1表示负面评价，5表示正面评价）。在过程指标方面，约三分之二的学生认为小组学习既不令人沮丧也不紧张，并且他们喜欢学习如何与来自不同社会和文化背景的学生合作。在内容指标方面，80%的学生认为他们学会了与来自不同社会和文化群体的学生成功合作，77%的学生认为他们从其他小组成员的投入中受益。这些指标的平均评分不会因学生的性别、年龄、母语、先前的教育培训以及他们以前就读的学校类型而有所不同。
夸祖鲁-纳塔尔大学的医学生，无论其背景如何，通常对小组学习有积极的看法。这些发现支持了先前的研究，突出了小组辅导在克服文化障碍以及促进不同学生群体内部的团结和协作学习方面可以发挥的作用。
