Exploring the Factors Affecting Group Effectiveness in Problem-Based Learning Tutorials: A Qualitative Study
Main Article Content
Abstract
In problem-based learning (PBL) tutorials, group effectiveness is crucial to achieving the learning objectives. Previous studies indicate that students’ motivation and cognitive factors affect group effectiveness. However, other factors, such as tutors and issues related to the tutorial process, may also influence on group effectiveness. This study aimed to explore the factors affecting group effectiveness in PBL tutorials from student’s perspective. A qualitative phenomenological approach was employed, with data collected through in-depth interviews with 26 undergraduate students from the Faculty of Medicine of Universitas Islam Indonesia (FM UII). The data were analysed thematically, resulting in three categories of factors affecting group effectiveness in PBL tutorials: (a) student self-regulation; (b) the quality of social interaction; and (c) contextual support for cognitive elaboration. All these factors were found to influence the achievement of the group’s learning objectives, which is indicator of group effectiveness.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
Trullàs JC, Blay C, Sarri E, Pujol R. Effectiveness of problem-based learning methodology in undergraduate medical education: a scoping review. BMC Med Educ. 2022;22(1):1–12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03154-8
Kaufman DM, Mann KV. Achievement of students in a conventional and problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum. Adv Health Sci Educ Theory Pract. 1999;4:245–60. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009829831978
Palincsar AS. Social constructivist perspectives on teaching and learning. Annu Rev Psychol. 1998;49:345–75. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.49.1.345
Saleem A, Kausar H, Deeba F. Social constructivism: a new paradigm in teaching and learning environment. Perenn J Hist. 2021;2(2):403–21. https://doi.org/10.52700/pjh.v2i2.86
Dolmans D, Schmidt H. The problem-based learning process. In: van Berkel H, Scherpbier A, Hillen H, van der Vleuten C, editors. Lessons from problem-based learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2010. p. 13–20. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199583447.003.0003
Kassab SE, Hamdy H, Mamede S, Schmidt H. Influence of tutor interventions and group process on medical students’ engagement in problem-based learning. Med Educ. 2024;58(11):1315–23. https://doi.org/10.1111/medu.15387
Iqbal M, Velan GM, O’Sullivan AJ, Balasooriya C. Differential impact of student behaviours on group interaction and collaborative learning: medical students’ and tutors’ perspectives. BMC Med Educ. 2016;16:1–11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-016-0730-1
Kozlowski SWJ, Ilgen DR. Enhancing the effectiveness of work groups and teams. Psychol Sci Public Interes. 2006;7(3):77–124. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1529-1006.2006.00030.x
Li A, Bilgic E, Keuhl A, Sibbald M. Does your group matter? How group function impacts educational outcomes in problem-based learning: a scoping review. BMC Med Educ. 2022;22:1–34. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03966-8
Dolmans DHJM, Wolfhagen IHAP. Complex interactions between tutor performance, tutorial group productivity and the effectiveness of PBL units as perceived by students. Adv Health Sci Educ Theory Pract. 2005;10:253–61. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-005-0665-5
Singaram VS, van der Vleuten CPM, van Berkel H, Dolmans DHJM. Reliability and validity of a tutorial group effectiveness instrument. Med Teach. 2010;32(3)133–7. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-010-9262-3
Shankar PR, Nandy A, Balasubramanium R, Chakravarty S. Small group effectiveness in a Caribbean medical school’s problem-based learning sessions. J Educ Eval Health Prof. 2014;11:1–6. https://doi.org/10.3352/jeehp.2014.11.5
Nayak B S, Sridevi V, Sahu P, Subbaramaiah N, Telang L, Goudappala P, et al. Students’ engagement and perceptions of small group tutorial classes among undergraduate medical students. J Adv Med Educ Prof. 2021;9(1):18–25. https://doi.org/10.30476/jamp.2020.86 925.1280
Carlo MD, Swadi H, Mpofu D. Medical student perceptions of factors affecting productivity of problem-based learning tutorial groups: does culture influence the outcome? Teach Learn Med. 2003;15(1):59–64. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15328015TLM1501_11
Li A, Mellon M, Keuhl A, Sibbald M. Measuring group function in problem-based learning: development of a reflection too. BMC Med Educ. 2023;23(1):1–745. https://doi.org/10.1186 /s12909-023-04726-y
Azer SA, Azer D. Group interaction in problem-based learning tutorials: a systematic review. Eur J Dent Educ. 2014;19(4):194–208. https://doi.org/10.1111/eje.12121
Jang HW, Park SW. Effects of personality traits on collaborative performance in problem-based learning tutorials. Saudi Med J. 2016;37(12):1365–71. https://doi.org/10.15537/smj.2016.12. 15708
Barrett T. Learning about the problem in problem-based learning (PBL) by listening to students’ talk in tutorials: a critical discourse analysis study. J Furth High Educ. 2013;37(4):519–35. https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877X.2011.645464
Schmidt HG, Rotgans JI, Yew EHJ. The process of problem-based learning: what works and why. Med Educ. 2011;45(8):792–806. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2923.2011.04035.x
Alhazmi AA, Kaufmann A. Phenomenological qualitative methods applied to the analysis of cross-cultural experience in novel educational social contexts. Front Psychol. 2022;13:1–12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.785134
Braun V, Clarke V. Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qual Res Psychol. 2006;3(2):77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Lincoln YS, Guba EG. Naturalistic inquiry . Beverly Hills(CA): SAGE Publications; 1985.
Lin-Aung H, Masumoto D, Linn Z, Kobayakawa Y, Okamura S, Kurihara K, et al. Students’ perception of problem-based learning at a Japanese medical school: an exploratory sequential mixed method. Int J Med Educ. 2022;13:322–34 https://doi.org/10.5116/ijme.6399.dee1
Hendry G, Wiggins S, Anderson T. The discursive construction of group cohesion in problem-based learning tutorials. Psychol Learn Teach. 2016;15(2):180–94. https://doi.org/10.1177/1475725716643267
Atwa HS, Nasr El-Din WA, Kumar AP, Potu BK, Tayem YI, Al-Ansari AM, et al. Online or face-to-face problem-based learning tutorials? Comparing perceptions and preferences of students and tutors. Front Educ. 2024;9:1–13. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2024.1354494
Foo CC, Cheung B, Chu KM. A comparative study regarding distance learning and the conventional face-to-face approach conducted problem-based learning tutorial during the COVID-19 pandemic. BMC Med Educ. 2021;21:1–6. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-021-02575-1
Rotgans JI, Schmidt HG. The role of teachers in facilitating situational interest in an active-learning classroom. Teach Teach Educ. 2011;27(1):37–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate. 2010.06.025
Nuraisah I, Sulistiyana CS, Primanagara R. The association between the selection of learning resources and the role of tutors on the effectiveness of problem-based learning at the Faculty of Medicine Swadaya Gunung Jati University. Int J Soc Heal. 2024;3(11):256–72. https://doi.org/10.58860/ijsh.v3i11.253
Razzak RA, Hasan Z, Stephen A. Medical student perceptions of integration of a customized cloud based learning operating system into problem based learning tutorials. Electron J E-Learn. 2020;18(1):25–36. https://doi.org/10.34190/EJEL.20.18.1.003
Wijnen M, Loyens SMM, Smeets G, Kroeze M, van der Molen H. Comparing problem-based learning students to students in a lecture-based curriculum: learning strategies and the relation with self-study time. Eur J Psychol Educ. 2017;32(3):431–47. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-016-0296-7
Dolmans DHJM, Schmidt HG. What do we know about cognitive and motivational effects of small group tutorials in problem-based learning? Adv Health Sci Educ Theory Pract. 2006;11(4):321–36. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-006-9012-8
Singaram VS, van der Vleuten CPM, Stevens F, Dolmans DHJM. “For most of us Africans, we don’t just speak”: a qualitative investigation into collaborative heterogeneous PBL group learning. Adv Health Sci Educ Theory Pract. 2011;16(3):297–310. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-010-9262-3