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Can I still eat it? Using problem-based learning to test the 5-second rule and promote scientific literacy.

ABSTRACT: Defining appropriate student learning outcomes for general education science courses is a daunting task. We must ask ourselves how to best prepare our students to understand the role of science in their lives and in society at large. In the era of social media and armchair experts, life-changing scientific advancements such as vaccination are being dismissed or actively resisted, emphasizing the critical need to teach science literacy skills. One active classroom method known as problem-based learning promotes self-motivated learning and synthesis skills that, when applied in a science-literacy context, can provide students with the ability to generate informed opinions on new scientific advances throughout their lifetime. This piece describes one such problem-based course, designed to tackle the scientific basis (or lack thereof) of the 5-second rule for eating food dropped on the floor. In this course, first year students experimentally engage this issue, while also applying their developing skill set to sort out scientific controversies such as vaccine safety and genetically modified foods.

SUBMITTER: Hussa EA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6203156 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Can I still eat it? Using problem-based learning to test the 5-second rule and promote scientific literacy.

Hussa Elizabeth A EA

FEMS microbiology letters 20181101 21

Defining appropriate student learning outcomes for general education science courses is a daunting task. We must ask ourselves how to best prepare our students to understand the role of science in their lives and in society at large. In the era of social media and armchair experts, life-changing scientific advancements such as vaccination are being dismissed or actively resisted, emphasizing the critical need to teach science literacy skills. One active classroom method known as problem-based le ...[more]

PMID: 30289457

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Project description:BackgroundProblem-based learning (PBL) is classified as a collaborative learning approach, wherein students learn while contributing meaning to experiences and interactions with others. An important theoretical fundament of PBL is social interdependence theory (SIT) because positive social interdependence within a group has been found to be key to better learning performance and future attitudes towards team practice. However, most previous studies in health professions education focused on cognitive outcomes, and few studies have focused on collaborative behaviors in PBL groups. The lack of this empirical insight makes implementation of PBL difficult, especially in contexts where there is limited experience with collaborative learning. Therefore, the aim of this study was to elucidate what promotes or hinders positive social interdependence and how the attributes work during PBL.MethodsWe conducted four focus groups among clinical year medical students (n = 26) who participated in PBL tutorials in the formal curriculum. We asked semi-structured questions that corresponded with the overall concept of SIT. We analyzed the transcript using constructivist grounded theory and developed a model to explain contextual attributes that promote or hinder positive social interdependence in PBL.ResultsTwo contextual attributes of "academic inquisition" and "desire for efficiency" affect social interdependence among a student group in PBL. Academic inquisition is students' desire to engage in their academic learning, and desire for efficiency is students' attitude toward learning as an imposed duty and desire to complete it as quickly as possible. These attributes are initially mutually conflicting and constructing social interdependence through multiple steps including inquisition from a case, seeking efficient work, sharing interest in problem solving, expecting mutual contributions, and complementing learning objectives.ConclusionThese findings will contribute to understanding collaborative learning environments in PBL and may help explain contexts where PBL is less successful. The model can also be used as a tool to support innovation of PBL as collaborative learning.

Dataset Information

Can I still eat it? Using problem-based learning to test the 5-second rule and promote scientific literacy.

Publications

Can I still eat it? Using problem-based learning to test the 5-second rule and promote scientific literacy.

Similar Datasets

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