Implementation of team-based learning in a new postgraduate medical curriculum

Team-based learning (TBL) is a structured, small group evidence-based learning activity that focuses on student-centered learning and broadly encompasses methods of teaching that shift the focus of instruction from the teacher to the student, an application of learning grounded in the constructivist view. In an Australian postgraduate medical curriculum, which traditionally taught pre-clinical foundational knowledge through problem-based learning (PBL), a pilot study was conducted to implement TBL during a curriculum transition to assess perceptions of learning. TBL was piloted to improve the time and resource demands compared to PBL, and the reported strengthened student benefits in learning and teaching literature. First year pre-clinical medical students ( N = 48) and instructors ( N = 2) participated in the mixed methods study. Students from the reference group, who only completed PBL (PBL only, N = 25), for the purpose of collecting a comparative quantitative measure, were compared to students who completed PBL and TBL (PBL + TBL, N = 23) in the renal system block of the program. Students were evaluated on learning perspectives in small groups and on their knowledge performance. General feedback from the instructor’s experience of small group learning and implementation of TBL was also collected. Knowledge performance between the groups was comparable, with a mixed opinion of positive and negative perceptions of TBL in comparison to PBL. Feedback on small group learning pertained to time for learning tasks, class dynamics, feedback on learning and learning design. This pilot study describes the implementation of TBL in a postgraduate program and the observed perceptions by students and instructors. Results suggest that small group learning affords comparable grade outcomes, and students perceived that TBL provided opportunities for team skills such as communication, reasoning, and building rapport in a small group learning format for a common goal. This study provided confidence to change teaching frameworks from PBL to TBL for a pre-clinical curriculum in an Australian medical program.