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Journal of Medical Education

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to report the student's viewpoints on learning issues on life values and ethical considerations in a problem-based learning (PBL) environment via an elective course of general education (GE) at China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan This ”Life and ethics” course integrated the learning of life and biomedical sciences with the appreciation of humanity and humility towards our living world. To apply ethics through PBL in early stage of university learning is not only to achieve the goals of general education in achieving the balance and multiplicity of professional knowledge, skill and attitude, but also to enable students to develop self-directed and life-long learning skills in bioethical issues which are expected of all health science professionals, not confined to medicine. A test-run of the course was performed before its offìcial offering. Students who took the course in 2009 and 2008 were given questionnaires for evaluation before and after the course. Information covering three domains were gathered. They include satisfaction over the course, learning experience and learning attitude. Majority of students expressed overwhelmingly positive satisfaction over this course. An elevation of satisfaction between two years was also noted Students appreciated the experience of interaction with teachers and being respected in rising and expressing their own ideas. Besides, there were a number of positive changes of attitude toward learning amongst students after they have completed the course. However, both self-evaluation and peer evaluation showed the students were more confident in listening and accepting diverse voices, but still lack the ability to express and communicate their ideas. This may reflect Asian students', traditionally typical learning style. All of the above observations reinforce the suggestion that PBL is more conducive to effective learning and should be applied to the earlier learning stage in medical university.

First Page

84

Last Page

95

DOI

10.6145/jme.201106_15(2).0003

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