An evaluative study on comparison of problem based learning and lecture based pedagogy on self directed learning in undergraduate medical education

This study was done to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of problem-based learning (PBL) with that of lecture based instructional approaches on various facets of students\' self directed learning, including motivation and learning strategies. Participants included 96 phase 1 MBBS students instructed by the same facilitators, half of whom were control group. The authors randomly assigned 1 class as the experimental group and the other class as the control group. Lecturers instructed the control group with lecturer-centered, textbookoriented traditional instruction; they exposed the experimental group to problem-based learning, in which students worked with ill-structured problems. Results revealed that PBL students had higher levels of intrinsic goal orientation, task value, use of elaboration learning strategies, critical thinking, metacognitive self-regulation, effort regulation, and peer learning compared with control-group students.