Undergraduate Medical Students’ Collaboration in a Mobile Technology-Enhanced Problem-Based Learning Course: A Case Study
Creators: name: El Shennawy, Nehal
Publisher: name: Werklund School of Education
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Education
subject: Education--Technology

description: Abstract This case study research examined the influence of using mobile devices on undergraduate medical students’ collaborative learning experiences and collaboration in a problem-based learning (PBL) medical course. PBL is a student-centered collaborative pedagogy, originated in the medical field and has long been adopted by many medical schools all over the world. Collaboration is a core skill intended by PBL pedagogy and is highly acclaimed in today’s educational and professional arena as a necessary skill for graduate students in general and it is one of the essential competencies for future physicians in particular. In the medical field, collaboration or teamwork is deemed an essential professional competence for future physicians (Janssen et al., 2020). Mobile technology has advanced in quantity and quality; its rapid progress has changed users’ behaviors and expectations, reshaping industries, businesses, and education. Similarly, educational technology is growing in use, diversity, and prevalence, recognizing potential requirements of 21st century learners. Using a qualitative case study methodology, I addressed the gap that previous studies have overlooked, particularly within my research context—that is, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), a country in the Middle East region—through the perspective of student participants. Based on the limited understanding of the issue, this study explored the following case: in a private medical institution, in KSA, PBL was chosen for first-year medical students so they could develop the skills intended by the pedagogy, such as critical thinking, problem solving and collaboration—as a focus in this study. Shortly after, mobile technology was integrated into PBL sessions as it grew into being a popular tool that most institutions in the region, as well as our affiliated European medical institute, decided to adopt into all medical courses. Since the institution/college has decided to adopt PBL, a collaborative learning pedagogy emphasizing students’ collaboration in class, there is a need to explore the influence of any technology integration on this particular learning outcome. Drawing on the demographic survey and one-on-one interviews of an important group of stakeholders, that is, undergraduate medical students, this qualitative case study was conducted to explore their perspectives on how the integration of mobile devices into the PBL medical course influenced their learning experiences and collaboration within PBL sessions in class. The findings from this research revealed that without proper planning and evaluation, an abrupt introduction of mobile devices into the undergraduate medical students’ PBL environment disrupted both their learning experiences and their development of skills for collaboration—an important foundation and outcome in PBL pedagogy, as well as an essential professional competence for future physicians. Other affordances and challenges of using mobile devices in the mobile technology-enhanced PBL environment were also investigated and reported in the dissertation. Keywords: collaborative learning experiences, collaboration, mobile technology-enhanced problem-based learning, mobile devices, medical course, undergraduate students, Middle East, affordances, challenges