Learning across boundaries

This study aims to compare the learning process and achievement of the third year students who have undergone the old style curriculum and the fourth year students had undergone the Student Centered Learning approach for the past year. These two different groups were mixed for tutorial discussions. The tutorial sessions were provided with one scenario - the subject of Oral Medicine III: the compromisedpatient. We focused on comparing the results of both groups on the process of learning and the block test.

 

The eight mixed tutorial groups comprised of 16-20 students (half from the old style curriculum and half from the student-centered approach group) each. They were assessed by two tutors on the learning process: the time schedule, activity during discussion and relevance of questions asked. Furthermore, the study compared the results of the block test on 5 multiple choice questions (MCQs) on the compromisedpatient among 100 MCQs at the final examination. There was no significant difference between the two groups for the process of learning and the result of the block test. This study challenges the belief that new concepts or knowledge require prior knowledge; is known as learning across boundaries.