Problem based learning in midwifery – The students’ perspective

Summary 

Problem based learning (PBL) has been adopted in many settings for the education of health professionals. It has generally been evaluated well by students although much of the literature comes from medical education. The aim of this study was to ascertain the views of student midwives at the beginning and at the end of their programme and three months after graduation about the use of a PBL based programme in midwifery.

Eight focus groups were conducted with students whilst undertaking a PBL programme from both a shortened and three year programme across two sites. A questionnaire was sent 3 months after graduation to midwives who had completed the programme.

Key themes which emerged from this study were that although students gained skills in information retrieval and critique some did not always feel well prepared for practice. The focus on individual presentations in the tutorial tended to be interpreted as performance rather than discussion in a spirit of enquiry. Students reported being particularly anxious at the beginning of their programme about their learning. They felt that their experience was dependent upon the participation and motivation of the group members.

Keywords: Problem based learning, Enquiry based learning, Midwifery education, Student midwives