Author ORCID Identifier

Madeline Garb

Elaine Cruz

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-30-2023

Abstract

Background: Active-learning approaches, such as team-based learning, are infrequently used in internal medicine clerkship didactics even though there is increasing evidence to suggest medical students prefer it over traditional lecture-based learning. In this study, five team-based learning sessions were incorporated into three blocks of a 12-week internal medicine clerkship. Methods: The goal of this quasi-experimental study was to compare learner engagement, satisfaction and preference between team-based learning and lecture-based learning in the internal medicine clerkship didactics. Outcomes were compared using the Classroom Engagement Survey, a satisfaction questionnaire and the Team-Based Learning Student Assessment Instrument (TBL-SAI). Findings: There was a statistically significant difference in the classroom engagement scores between team- and lecture-based learning (P < 0.0001) with a median of 39.0 and 33.0 in the team-based learning and lecture-based learning groups. For learning preference, the median TBL-SAI score was substantially above neutral. Across all team-based learning sessions, 100% of students were satisfied or strongly satisfied with the learning style as a valuable experience and as a way to learn course material, and only one student was not satisfied or strongly satisfied with team-based learning to improve problem solving skills. Discussion: The classroom engagement and learning style preference findings were consistent with previously published data in other clerkship settings. Student satisfaction was more consistent with team-based learning than with the lecture-based learning, which may be because of the consistent format whereas lecture-based learning style was faculty dependent. Conclusion: Students preferred team-based learning and had improved engagement and satisfaction when compared to lecture-based learning. This study provides evidence in favour of team-based learning as a strategy to incorporate active learning in clerkship didactics.

Publication Title

The Clinical Teacher

Rights

© 2023 The Authors. The Clinical Teacher published by Association for the Study of Medical Education and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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