The other side of the coin: OT students’ perceptions of problem based learning

INTRODUCTION A problem-based learning programme (PBL) was first introduced to the Occupational Therapy Department of the University of Witwatersrand (Wits) in 1993. It is a hybrid course, as only the occupational therapy (OT) subjects are presented in a PBL format, while the basic and applied science subjects, offered by other departments, are taught using the more traditional method of lectures. The PBL programme has been running for 20 years and the present OT staff members are fully committed to this teaching/ learning method. There is a collective opinion that PBL is the best way of teaching OT if the exit outcome related to students becoming independent, critical practitioners, is to be facilitated. The PBL process comprises seven steps: reading a 'problem' (case scenario); identifying unfamiliar terms; identifying the 'problem' related to the specific case scenario; brainstorming questions and possible solutions; setting learning objectives to address individual gaps in knowledge; attending workshops, skill laboratories, tutorials and lectures as well as reading and studying various resources; and lastly providing feedback to the rest of the group to make sure that all objectives have been addressed 1 . Students are introduced to PBL in their first year of study when they have four 'problems' relating to OT alongside the five traditional subjects of physics, chemistry, biology, human behavioural sciences and psychology. In the second year the students have three OT problems alongside anatomy and physiology. In the third year, the PBL component of the course is substantially larger with 11 problems, in addition to subjects such as psychology, psychiatry, medicine and surgery. There is also a marked increase in the number of hours of fieldwork in the third year of study. The overall impression is that the third year is a very full and stressful year for students. The fourth year students have four mini problems each of which run over one morning and two full problems of one week each, but the main focus of the fourth year is clinical fieldwork which presents its own challenges. Students complete 29 weeks of fieldwork in their 4 th year, including a learning disability block which is spread over a six month period (a total of ±1083 hours). It is therefore, clear that all four years of study have stressors and it is crucial to consider the more traditional part of the course as well as the fieldwork requirements when evaluating students' perceptions of PBL. LITERATURE REVIEW Problem-based learning was first introduced at McMaster University by Barrows and his colleagues in the late 1960s 2 and since then multiple studies have been conducted into its potential benefits as a learning/teaching metho