Changes in medical students’ teamwork skills and approaches to learning in team-based learning

Team-Based Learning (TBL) is one of popular active learning strategies widely used in medical education. The purpose of this study was to examine whether medical students’ teamwork skills and approaches to learning change over time during TBL, and to provide insights for a successful implementation of TBL. The study participants were 48 2nd-year medical students at D university. A questionnaire was designed and conducted online to assess respondents’ teamwork skills and approaches to learning. The questionnaire comprised 64 items; the items on teamwork skills included four sub-scales, which were team cohesiveness, team efficacy, interpersonal understanding, and communication skills. The items on approaches to learning consisted of two sub-scales; deep learning approach and surface learning approach. They questionnaires were implemented in a pre- and post-test format over the six-week period. 42 questionnaires were returned (an 87.5% response rate). At the end of the TBL course, students’ team efficacy and communication skills decreased statistically (p < .05), and there were no changes in their team cohesiveness and interpersonal understanding. Both deep and surface learning approaches decreased significantly (p <.05). This study showed that TBL did not have a significant impact on improving students’ teamwork skills and approaches to learning. Our findings indicate such learning outcomes as teamwork skills and approaches to learning in TBL need to be made explicit and educational interventions need to be offered accordingly to help students achieve these outcomes through TBL.