Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Modern Research in Education, Teaching and Learning, 2024
Year: 2024
DOI:
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A Case Study: Examining The Effectiveness of Project-Based-Learning Approach in An Ultrasound Course at An Undergraduate Level
Arbin Thapaliya, Jessica Mahoney, Gaston Dana
ABSTRACT:
What differentiates a project-based learning from a standard project is that the focus is shifted primarily from traditional teaching to self-learning, necessitating students to work independently and creatively, to plan, execute, and make necessary adjustments in order to produce a high-quality work while developing competent twenty-first century skills. These skills include critical thinking, collaboration, creativity/innovation, and communication. In this presentation, we will talk about a unique collaboration between a physics faculty, a librarian, and a physician in preparing students for an ultrasound course at a primarily undergraduate institution. The course followed the project-based-learning approach in which students, by way of argumentation and research, actively and collaboratively engaged in solving real-world and personally meaningful problems. As such, information literacy skills, such as the evaluation and synthesis of information, were also naturally incorporated throughout all of the projects that students completed in this course. Students were asked to complete general surveys, self-evaluations, peer-evaluations, metacognitive surveys, reflections, and attitude tests in order to help the instructors improve, calibrate, and assess the teaching method. We will argue, supported by data, the effectiveness of a project-based-learning approach over the traditional approach of teaching the same course. We will also discuss the opportunities, challenges, and success of the course.
keywords: collaboration; literacy; self-learning; skills; surveys