PBL - should assesment be involved?

There are a lot schools using the Problem Based Learning (PBL) approach to educating health professions - including OT which now has a number of courses that are highly PBL focussed.

The theory behind PBL is that education should allow students to "learn how to learn". i.e. rather than teaching reams of facts parrot like fashion, students are given problems - or in Occupational Therapy - cases (e.g. referral information). These are then discussed in groups in a free-form fashion. Sessions are then broken down how the group decides to investigate and problem solve.

In short this method of teaching suits some students and not others. Some, often who traditionally "enjoy" tests and exams or are just used to the assessment approach can find this method of learning painful - "I can't see what we are learning?!" often being the response. Others it works well for. Some would argue that it suits a profession such as OT where questions are rarely known by any one person - a good clinician will be able to find the answers and best approach - that's what matters.

Evidence is for PBL is mixed with a large amount of research investigating as to how competent students feel they are in a given subject post-PBL teaching(see refs below and this page for a list of abstracts). Some new research (6th March 2006) from Washington University suggests that testing students is not only useful to assess a level of skill but also to improve learning and memory:

"Students who self-test frequently while studying on their own may be able to learn more, in much less time, than they might by simply studying the material over and over again," says Henry L. Roediger III, Ph.D. "Incorporating more frequent classroom testing into a course may improve students' learning and promote retention of material long after a course has ended."

( see here for the full press release via bb)

So perhaps a new middle line should be taken? Perhaps PBL teaching needs to highlight that students should self-assess themselves regularly with clear goals to attain. Note that Im stating "self-assess" - not self-evaluate which is commonly used in PBL teaching already. Evaluation of student involvement from a educator is also done. My argument is that you cannot evaluate until you have assessed your own skills - and not just "fact finding skills". This piece of evidence seems to suggest that not only is the assessment worthy but also may improve learning. Surely that's a good thing all round?

Refs:
"Repeated test-taking better for retention than repeated studying, research shows" at : http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-03/wuis-rtb030606.php

de Witt P, Franzsen D (1999) Evaluation of the Students' Experience and Their Learning Approaches in the Problem Based Learning (PBL) Component of the Occupational Therapy Course at the University of the Witwatersrand, South African Journal of OT 29(1):7-9

McCannon R, Robertson D, Caldwell J, Juwah C, Elfessi A (2004)Students' Perceptions of Their Acquired Knowledge During a Problem Based Learning Case Study, Occupational Therapy in Health Care 18(4):13-27

See also: "The PBL Handbook" http://meds.queensu.ca/medicine/pbl/pblhome.htm