Bushby said traditional teaching systems may transfer information efficiently, but problem-based learning can overcome some existing problems. Problem-based learning gives students a system for confronting the unknown. For each problem that must be solved students use a four-step process that includes considering facts, ideas, plans of investigation and learning issues. When the students are out of school and confronted with a new disease, they will not be locked into a memorized system of education. The goals of problem-based learning are not only to solve the unknown, but to learn in the process.
Students learn information in a realistic context.
Learning should not stop at graduation. Speakers at the workshop included Dr. Howard Barrows and Ann Kelsen, both of Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. Bushby said although problem-based learning at CVM seems successful, the true measure of success is in how well graduates of the program perform. Recommendations on this web site do not endorse any commercial products or trade names.