Team-based learning in intensive course format for first-year medical students

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• Traditional medical curricula often rely on didactic teaching methods.
• There is a growing interest in innovative pedagogical approaches to enhance student engagement and learning outcomes.
• Team-based learning (TBL) offers a collaborative framework for knowledge acquisition and skill development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of team-based learning (TBL) in the first-year medical curriculum at the Medical University of Vienna.
• To assess the impact of TBL on students' academic performance and their attitudes towards collaborative learning.

Main Methods:

• TBL was introduced as an elective intensive course, comprising six 2-hour sessions over 3 days.
• Student participation, responses to the TBL program, and final examination scores were analyzed.
• A comparative analysis was conducted between students who participated in TBL and those who did not.

Main Results:

• Out of 1417 eligible students, 386 participated in the TBL elective.
• Student feedback on the TBL experience was overwhelmingly positive.
• TBL participants achieved significantly higher scores on the final exam, both in the TBL block (+25.3%) and in other curriculum blocks (+16.5%) compared to non-TBL students.

Conclusions:

• Intensive TBL format is particularly beneficial for high-achieving students, further enhancing their academic success.
• TBL fosters a positive learning environment, encouraging even traditionally independent learners to appreciate and develop skills for collaborative work.
• The study highlights TBL as an effective strategy for improving educational outcomes in medical education.