School of Dentistry, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK.
Eur J Dent Educ. 2010 Feb;14(1):26-34. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0579.2009.00588.x.
Problem based learning (PBL) has gained wide acceptance in undergraduate education, but less so in postgraduate education. Qualitative research methodologies can help us gain insight and understanding of the students' experience in undertaking such programmes.
To evaluate the experiences of postgraduate students undertaking a PBL based postgraduate programme.
Focus groups and semi-structured interviews were used to investigate students' experiences. The qualitative data were coded, the codes were grouped into categories and a coding framework developed. From this a construct is proposed to give insight into students' experiences. The validity of this construct was examined by reviewing the literature.
Students entered the programme with high expectations, but soon found they had challenges to overcome. They came to realise that they were on a journey, rather than undertaking a sequence of separate individual learning events. PBL led to significant tensions both within the individuals and the group, caused by the conflict between appreciating PBL as a 'good thing' and yet finding that ;it just doesn't seem to work'. The fear of failure in a high stakes setting only exacerbated these tensions. The literature review revealed an inconsistent approach to the use of PBL and its evaluation in a postgraduate/continuing medical education setting. However it did provide evidence of similar findings in qualitative studies, supporting the construct developed.
We have proposed a construct to help in understanding the PBL experience for students undergoing a 'high stakes' orthodontic postgraduate programme with a core of PBL.
基于问题的学习（PBL）在本科教育中得到了广泛的认可，但在研究生教育中则不然。定性研究方法可以帮助我们深入了解学生在参与此类项目时的体验。
评估从事基于 PBL 的研究生项目的研究生的经验。
使用焦点小组和半结构化访谈来调查学生的经验。对定性数据进行编码，将代码分组为类别，并开发编码框架。由此提出一个结构，深入了解学生的经验。通过回顾文献来检查该结构的有效性。
学生带着很高的期望进入该项目，但很快就发现他们面临着挑战。他们开始意识到他们正在经历一段旅程，而不是进行一系列单独的个体学习事件。PBL 在个体内部和小组内部都引起了重大紧张局势，这是由于对 PBL 的赞赏作为“好事”与“它似乎就是不起作用”之间的冲突引起的。在高风险环境中失败的恐惧只会加剧这些紧张局势。文献综述显示，在研究生/继续医学教育环境中，PBL 的使用及其评估方法不一致。然而，它确实提供了定性研究中类似发现的证据，支持了所提出的结构。
我们提出了一个结构来帮助理解经历“高风险”正畸研究生项目的学生的 PBL 体验，该项目以 PBL 为核心。
