Problem-Based Learning
for Healthy Hearts
Action Research Project
Nan Ketpura-Ching
University of Hawai‘i, Manoa
Introduction
Questions
What is PBL?
Methodology
Results
Discussion
Introduction
Questions
Methodology
Results
Discussion
Questions for you:
 Are you familiar with problem-based learning?
Introduction
Questions
Methodology
Results
Discussion
Questions for you:
 Are you familiar with problem-based learning?
 Have you used PBL in your own locus of control?
Introduction
Questions
Methodology
Results
Discussion
Why PBL?
 Currently, new information is introduced to
students via PowerPoint lectures.
 Boring, teacher-centered, inactive learning
Introduction
Questions
Methodology
Results
Discussion
Why PBL?
Currently, new information is introduced to
students via lecture using PowerPoint.
Hands-on activities such as dissection,
labs, and/or games reinforce topics
discussed in lectures.
 Students find these activities to be engaging
and helpful.
Introduction
Questions
Methodology
Results
Discussion
Why PBL?
 Currently, new information is introduced to
students via lecture using PowerPoint.
 Hands-on activities such as dissection,
labs, and/or games reinforce topics
discussed in lectures.
 Would students retain more information
when role playing as medical assistants in
a problem-based learning module?




Authentic
Task-centered
Goal-oriented
Active thinking
Introduction
Questions
Methodology
Results
Discussion
Literature Review
 PBL did not impede students learning in undergraduate
Biology students in Spain (Carrio et al. 2011).
Introduction
Questions
Methodology
Results
Discussion
Literature Review
 PBL did not impede students learning in undergraduate
Biology students in Spain (Carrio et al. 2011).
 PBL had a positive effect on undergraduate Physics
students' understanding first law of thermodynamics in
Turkey (Tatar and Oktay, 2011)
Introduction
Questions
Methodology
Results
Discussion
Literature Review
 PBL did not impede students learning in undergraduate
Biology students in Spain (Carrio et al. 2011).
 PBL had a positive effect on undergraduate Physics
students' understanding first law of thermodynamics in
Turkey (Tatar and Oktay, 2011)
 PBL used as tool to change misconceptions in first year
medical students regarding the cardiovascular system
(Mikkila-Erdman et al., 2012)
Introduction
Questions
Methodology
Results
Discussion
Problem Statement
 The purpose of this action research project is to
evaluate the effectiveness of problem-based
learning in a blended learning environment to
increase concept attainment of the
cardiovascular system for high school students in
an Anatomy and Physiology course at a private
school in Honolulu.
Introduction
Questions
Methodology
Results
Discussion
Research Questions
 What are students’ perceived attitudes towards PBL in
general?
 What are students’ perceived attitudes towards long-term
group work as part of the PBL module?
 What are students’ perceived attitudes about concept
attainment using PBL?
 How effective was PBL in concept attainment?
Introduction
Questions
Methodology
Results
Discussion
High School Anatomy and Physiology
 Grades 10 - 12 students at
large independent school in
Honolulu.
 Total of 34 students
 26 girls and 8 boys
 Students are digital natives with
experience with accessing
information on Moodle - the
school’s course management
system.
Introduction
Questions
Methodology
Results
Discussion
Participants & Demographics
 Pre-requisite for
course is Biology
 Many have taken
other science
courses
 15 students stated
that they have
been taught about
the Cardiovascular
System before
Introduction
Questions
Methodology
Methodology
Results
Discussion
Introduction
Questions
Methodology
Results
Discussion
Methodology
http://tinyurl.com/cardiac-care-clinic
Introduction
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Methodology
Methodology
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Discussion
Introduction
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Discussion
Methodology
 Scenario-based PBL
 Students as newly hired Medical Assistants
 Instructor/researcher as Training Supervisor
Introduction
Questions
Methodology
Results
Discussion
Methodology
 Scenario-based PBL
 Students as newly hired Medical Assistants
 Instructor/researcher as Training Supervisor
 Teams of 3 - 4 to complete 4 tasks
 Draw and label heart anatomy and describe blood
flow through the body
 Create a report on cardiovascular system vital
signs (BP, HR, and EKG)
 Report on common heart maladies
 Apply their knowledge of cardiovascular system to
solve a medical mystery case
Introduction
Questions
Methodology
Results
Discussion
Methodology
 Scenario-based PBL
 Students as newly hired Medical Assistants
 Instructor/researcher as Training Supervisor
 Teams of 3 - 4 to complete 3 tasks
 Draw and label heart anatomy and describe blood
flow through the body
 Create a report on cardiovascular system vital
signs (BP, HR, and EKG)
 Solve a medical mystery case and apply their
knowledge of cardiovascular system
 Use of Vernier Probeware and Web 2.0 tools
to collaborate and create content.
 Google Docs, VoiceThread, Haiku LMS
Introduction
Questions
Methodology
Results
Discussion
Medical Mystery – Sample Patient
 A 72-year-old man
 Admitted to hospital due to acute onset of a right facial droop, right arm weakness,
and some difficulty speaking.
 Occurred while he was sitting at the breakfast table
 No headache, no diminishment of consciousness, and no abnormal involuntary
movements.
Introduction
Questions
Methodology
Results
Discussion
Medical Mystery – Sample Patient
 A 72-year-old man
 Admitted to hospital due to acute onset of a right facial droop, right arm weakness,
and some difficulty speaking.
 Occurred while he was sitting at the breakfast table
 No headache, no diminishment of consciousness, and no abnormal involuntary
movements.
 Two weeks ago, he had a transient painless loss of vision in his left eye,
which resolved spontaneously within a few hours.
Introduction
Questions
Methodology
Results
Discussion
Medical Mystery – Sample Patient
 A 72-year-old man
 Admitted to hospital due to acute onset of a right facial droop, right arm weakness,
and some difficulty speaking.
 Occurred while he was sitting at the breakfast table
 No headache, no diminishment of consciousness, and no abnormal involuntary
movements.
 Two weeks ago, he had a transient painless loss of vision in his left eye,
which resolved spontaneously within a few hours.
 Has had long-standing hypertension and myocardial infarction 4 years
previously, which was treated with percutaneous angioplasty.
Introduction
Questions
Methodology
Results
Discussion
Medical Mystery – Sample Patient
 A 72-year-old man
 Admitted to hospital due to acute onset of a right facial droop, right arm weakness,
and some difficulty speaking.
 Occurred while he was sitting at the breakfast table
 No headache, no diminishment of consciousness, and no abnormal involuntary
movements.
 Two weeks ago, he had a transient painless loss of vision in his left eye,
which resolved spontaneously within a few hours.
 Has had long-standing hypertension and myocardial infarction 4 years
previously, which was treated with percutaneous angioplasty.
 He is afebrile, heart rate 62 bpm, and blood pressure 135/87 mmHg. The
corner of his mouth droops, with slight flattening of the right nasolabial fold,
but his is able to fully elevate his eyebrows.
 His strength is 4/5 in his right arm and hand, and the rest of his neurologic
examination is normal.
Adapted from Toy et al. (2007) Case Files: Internal Medicine.
Introduction
Questions
Methodology
Results
Materials – Data collected
 Pre-Module Survey
 Google Form
Discussion
Introduction
Questions
Methodology
Results
Materials – Data collected
 Pre-Module Survey
 Google Form
 Classroom observations
 Students' work
 Google Docs
 VoiceThread
Discussion
Introduction
Questions
Methodology
Results
Materials – Data collected
 Pre-Module Survey
 Google Form
 Classroom observations
 Students' work
 Google Docs
 VoiceThread
 Cardiovascular System Unit Test
 online assessment on Haiku LMS
Discussion
Introduction
Questions
Methodology
Results
Materials – Data collected
 Pre-Module Survey
 Google Form
 Classroom observations
 Students' work
 Google Docs
 VoiceThread
 Cardiovascular System Unit Test
 online assessment on Haiku LMS
 Post-Module Survey
 Google Form
Discussion
Introduction
Results
Questions
Methodology
Results
Discussion
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Discussion
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Methodology
Results
Discussion
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Methodology
Results
Discussion
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Methodology
Results
Discussion
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Methodology
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Discussion
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Methodology
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Discussion
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Results
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Methodology
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Discussion
Introduction
Questions
Methodology
Results
Discussion
Results
 What are students’ perceived attitudes towards PBL in
general?
Questions
% agreed or
strongly agreed
I think problem-based learning is a good way of
learning new material.
75%
PBL should be used in other courses too.
69%
Introduction
Questions
Methodology
Results
Discussion
Results
 What are students’ perceived attitudes towards long-term
group work as part of the PBL module?
Questions
% agreed or
strongly agreed
Did you enjoy working with a team in this unit?
91%
Did you feel that your team worked productively
during class time?
91%
Working in groups was a waste of time
15%
Introduction
Questions
Methodology
Results
Discussion
Results
 What are students’ perceived attitudes about concept
attainment using PBL?
Questions
% agreed or
strongly agreed
I found it helpful for this Cardiovascular PBL Unit to
be based on a real-life company. It made learning
the cardiovascular system more real to me.
78%
I feel very confident about the knowledge I gained
from this cardiovascular unit.
63%
Did you learn new concepts about the cardiovascular
system from this unit?
97%
Did you find the tasks to be interesting?
94%
Introduction
Questions
Methodology
Results
Discussion
Results
 How effective was PBL in concept attainment?
Cardiovascular Vital Signs Report
mean = 87.5%
4
Frequency
3
2
1
0
80.0%
82.5%
85.0%
87.5%
90.0%
Scores
92.5%
95.0%
97.5%
100.0%
Introduction
Questions
Methodology
Results
Discussion
Results
 How effective was PBL in concept attainment?
Cardiovascular Unit Test
mean = 87%
20
18
16
Frequency
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
A
B
C
Grade
D
Introduction
Questions
Methodology
Results
Discussion
Results
 How effective was PBL in concept attainment?
Mystery Case Presentation on VoiceThread
mean = 96%
5
Frequency
4
3
2
1
0
80.0%
82.5%
85.0%
87.5%
90.0%
Scores
92.5%
95.0%
97.5%
100.0%
Introduction
Questions
Methodology
Results
Discussion - Successes
Discussion
Introduction
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Methodology
Results
Discussion - Successes
Discussion
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Results
Discussion - Successes
Discussion
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Results
Discussion - Challenges
Discussion
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Results
Discussion - Challenges
Discussion
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Discussion - Challenges
Discussion
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Discussion
Students’ thoughts
 “I really enjoyed being able to stretch my
learning and being able to solve something with
what I learned [in] this unit. My experience with
problem based learning this year has fostered a
basic want for education and excitement to
learn that I haven't had in a school environment
in a long time…
Introduction
Questions
Methodology
Results
Discussion
Students’ thoughts
 “I really enjoyed being able to stretch my learning
and being able to solve something with what I
learned [in] this unit. My experience with problem
based learning this year has fostered a basic want
for education and excitement to learn that I
haven't had in a school environment in a long
time…
 Even though I struggled, I appreciated the
learning that I did in this class and the
progression of my thinking that it fostered and I
feel so inspired by what I learned in this
problem based learning this year.”
Introduction
Questions
Methodology
Results
Discussion
Conclusion
PBL does not offer a universal panacea
for teaching and learning in medicine.
Wood, 2003
Introduction
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Conclusion
Methodology
Results
Discussion
Introduction
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Methodology
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Discussion
Picture Credits
 http://www.trade-schools.net/program-directory/images/medical-assistant-schools.jpg
 http://0.media.collegehumor.cvcdn.com/92/46/collegehumor1b3f179c5ea22aad7b75ea8323fad20a.jpg
 http://www.examiner.com/article/finding-your-research-question-a-helpful-exercise
 http://www.projectappleseed.org/question-mark.jpg
 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Linia_izoelektryczna_EKG.svg/435pxLinia_izoelektryczna_EKG.svg.png
 http://preparednessadvice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/BloodPressureCuff1.jpg
 http://paulrheller.com/2010/08/the-unfortunate-motivation-behind-assigning-group-work
 http://sclworkshop.wordpress.com/scl-vs-traditional/
 http://www.personal.psu.edu/glh10/ist110/topic/topic67/topic67_05.html
 https://changeforkids.org/blog/tag/new-york-city-public-schools/
 OTEC Professors:
 Dr. Peter Leong
 Dr. Mike Menchaca
 Dr. Ari Eichelberger
 Critical friends group:
 Kasey Fernandez
 Marie Sack
 OTEC Cohort
 OTEC Professors:
 Dr. Peter Leong
 Dr. Mike Menchaca
 Dr. Ari Eichelberger
 Critical friends group:
 Kasey Fernandez
 Marie Sack
 OTEC Cohort
 PRLS Workshop Leaders:
 Leanne Chun Riseley
 Lani Ho
 Colleagues:
 Darcy Iams
 Terry Yamamoto-Edwards
 Anna Liem
 My family
Questions?
Nan Ketpura-Ching
nankc@hawaii.edu
https://sites.google.com/a/hawaii.edu/cardiac-care-clinic/home