Students' Learning Approaches at Medical Schools Applying Different Curricula in Turkey

Tetik C., GÜRPINAR E., Bati H.

KUWAIT MEDICAL JOURNAL, vol.41, no.4, pp.311-316, 2009 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 41 Issue: 4
  • Publication Date: 2009
  • Journal Name: KUWAIT MEDICAL JOURNAL
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, EMBASE
  • Page Numbers: pp.311-316
  • Keywords: education, medical students, study characteristics, undergraduate, QUALITATIVE DIFFERENCES, DIMENSIONS
  • Akdeniz University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the opinion of tutors and students 
in charge of problem-based learning (PBL) courses during the 
academic year of 2006-2007 about the extent of contribution 
of PBL to certain skills in comparison with conventional 
education and to clarify whether or not they are content with 
PBL 
Design: Cross sectional research
Setting: Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine, Antalya, 
Turkey 
Subjects and Methods: One hundred and ?fty three tutors
in charge of PBL courses during the academic year of 2006-
2007 and all of the ?rst year medical students (n = 170) were
included. A questionnaire was sent to the study population 
in June 2007.
Intervention: Analysis of completed questionnaire
Main Outcome Measure: Independent sample t-test analysis 
was used to determine whether mean scores were different 
in two groups. 
Results: Majority of the tutors (87.5%) and students (97.1%) 
responded to the questionnaire. The question “Is PBL an 
application that is in general bene?cial to the student?” was
answered as “yes” by 66.9% of the tutors. The question “Are 
you content with PBL?” was answered as “yes” by 54.9% of 
the tutors. On the other hand, 74.5% of the students answered 
“yes” to this second question. 
Conclusion: Our results show that PBL is well received by 
tutors and students and they think that PBL offers signi?cant
contribution to the students in areas that are considered to 
be superior aspects of PBL when compared to conventional 
education.
Objective: To investigate the learning approaches of undergraduate students at different medical schools applying different curricula in Turkey