Cognitive and Social Factors Influencing Students׳ Response and Utilization of Facilitator Feedback in a Problem Based Learning Context

Purpose: Feedback within a problem-based learning tutorial can only influence learning if it is efficiently utilized. The purpose of this study was to explore perceived factors that influence student utilization of facilitator feedback within a problem-based learning tutorial. Methods: It was an exploratory qualitative study that was conducted at an African Health Sciences University that has been using problem based learning for over a decade. The study involved third year students from across five health sciences disciplines that included: medicine, radiography, dentistry, nursing and pharmacy. Purposive sampling was the technique used to select the participants. These students had been previously exposed to problem based learning tutorials since their first year. Data was collected using both individual interviews and focus-group discussions. In total, twenty-five individual interviews and five focus group discussions were conducted. Results: Both cognitive and social factors were discovered to influence students׳ use of feedback in a tutorial, and these have a reciprocal relationship, reinforcing each other to influence student learning. Key cognitive influencing factors included: overloaded feedback, unspecific and unfocused feedback, perceived limited knowledge of the tutor, differing feedback across tutorial groups and de-linking feedback from learning outcomes. The major social influencing factors included: language of feedback and communication, facilitator interpersonal skills, degree of participation of the facilitator, gender stereotyping and individualization of feedback. Conclusion: Both cognitive and socio-contextual factors have the potential in influencing ways in which students receive and utilize facilitator feedback in PBL tutorials. Therefore, tutorial facilitators need to be cognizant of these factors when framing their feedback messages