Long-term follow up of factual knowledge after a single, randomised problem-based learning course
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 26, 2026

Measuring Statistical Learning Across Modalities and Domains in School-Aged Children Via an Online Platform and Neuroimaging Techniques
Published on: June 30, 2020
Stefan Herzig1, Ralph-Mario Linke, Bent Marxen
1Department of Pharmacology, University of Cologne, Germany. stefan.herzig@uni-koeln.de
Background:
The long-term effect of problem-based learning (PBL) on factual knowledge is poorly investigated. We took advantage of a previous randomised comparison between PBL and traditional teaching in a 3rd year course to follow up factual knowledge of the students during their 4th and 5th year of medical school training.
Methods:
3rd year medical students were initially randomized to participate in a problem-based (PBL, n = 55), or a lecture-based (LBL, n = 57) course in basic pharmacology. Summative exam results were monitored 18 months later (after finishing a lecture-based course in clinical pharmacology). Additional results of an unscheduled, formative exam were obtained 27 months after completion of the first course.
Results:
Of the initial sample of 112 students, 90 participated in the second course and exam (n = 45, 45). 32 (n = 17 PBL, n = 15 LBL) could be exposed to the third, formative exam. Mean scores (+/- SD) were 22.4 +/- 6.0, 27.4 +/- 4.9 and 20.1 +/- 5.0 (PBL), or 22.2 +/- 6.0, 28.4 +/- 5.1 and 19.0 +/- 4.7 (LBL) in the first, second and third test, respectively (maximum score: 40). No significant differences were found between the two groups.
Conclusion:
A small-scale exposure to PBL, applied under randomized conditions but in the context of a traditional curriculum, does not sizeably change long-term presence of factual knowledge within the same discipline.
Related Concept Videos
Longitudinal Research
Cognitive Learning
E. C. Tolman's theory of purposive behavior emphasizes that much behavior is goal-directed. He argued that to understand behavior, we must look at the entire sequence of actions leading to a goal. For instance, high school students study hard, not just due to past reinforcement but also to achieve the goal of getting into a good college.
Tolman introduced the idea that behavior is influenced by...
Hindsight Biases
Higher Mental Functions of Brain: Learning and Memory
Long-term Potentiation
Long-term Potentiation
Hebbian LTP
LTP can occur when presynaptic neurons...
