THE MOTIVATION FOR CURRICULAR CHANGE TO PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING (PBL)

Traditional education practices from kindergarten through medical school produce students who are disenchanted and bored with their education. They are faced with a vast amount of information to memorize much of which seems irrelevant to their future as it exists outside of school. They forget much of what they learned and what is remembered cannot be applied to the problems and tasks they later face. You can probably reflect on courses in college in which you studied hard, got an "A", and later remembered almost nothing from it.

Many students are unable to reason effectively. Following graduation many are unable to assume responsibility for their own education. They also seem poorly equipped to work with others in collaborative team situations. In secondary education these bored, undermotivated students demonstrate disruptive behavior in class and truancy. With the more motivated students, conventional educational approaches lead them to view education in school as a right of passage, an imposed set of hurdles with little relevance to the real world.

These problems with conventional education have been revealed by studies in medical education. What students learn, despite intense efforts on the part of both students and teachers, is largely forgotten (Levine and Forman 1973) and natural problem solving skills may actually be impaired (Barrows and Bennett 1972). It also seems apparent that physicians are not capable of continuing their own education after completion of formal training (Sackett and Haynes 1976) Ramsey and Carline 1991). (See Bibliography)