Use of Student-Generated Learning Issues to Evaluate Problems in a Problem-Based Curriculum

Student learning in a problem-based curriculum depends on the quality of the problems presented to students. Based on the discussion of these problems, students generate learning issues, defining the subject matter to be studied during a course. Despite the important effect of problems on student learning, these learning issues are rarely used as a tool for problem review and evaluation. Our article describes a process at the medical school of the University of Limburg, The Netherlands, to review and improve problems by comparing the learning issues generated in the tutorial group with the objectives that teachers intended while developing the problem. To validate the usefulness of this technique as a tool for practicing quality control on problems, a questionnaire was administered to faculty to assess their perceptions. The results confirm that indeed student-generated learning issues are useful as a review tool in program evaluation.