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P R Pinto

Publications and source records attributed to P R Pinto.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

A computer simulation designed for problem-based learning.

OBJECTIVES: As problem-based learning is increasingly used in medical education, there is a growing need to capture the diversity of the events occurring during problem-based learning sessions in order to understand the way in which students learn. The computer simulation described attempts to analyse a posteriori how students reason and learn during such sessions. DESIGN: A computer simulation was designed to perform a detailed analysis of the following features: pattern of information searched, formulation of working hypothesis and identification of learning issues. The program, which has been running successfully for 2 years, was developed using local resources and accepts any clinical problem, provided it is written in a suitable text file format. The program has been applied in the discipline of pathophysiology. SETTING: Faculty of Medical Sciences of Lisbon, Portugal. SUBJECTS: Medical students. RESULTS: An example is presented of how prints were analysed in order to evaluate the 'progression profile' of the students, and a comparison is made with other similar instruments. CONCLUSIONS: The program improved understanding of the relationships between the inquiry strategy and hypothesis formulation and also of how self-learning (triggered by learning issues) influenced further analysis of the cases.

Computer Simulation↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Applications of problem-based learning in the basic medical curriculum].

This article describes a project, which took place between 1992 and 1994, on the application of problem-based learning to three disciplines of the basic medical curriculum: Biochemistry (1st year) Physiology (2nd year) and physiopathology (3rd year). The main objectives of the project were to bring teaching closer to the future professional reality, to stimulate critical thinking and to facilitate independent learning. Despite differences in content and in teaching materials, the trigger event for learning was information given within a clinical context which was further analyzed in small-group tutorial sessions. The project also included the training of the tutors and the development of audiovisual materials. Although no statistically significant differences were found in the final scores between students taught during this period and before, the first group reported a considerable increase in the motivation to learn which, in the case of Biochemistry, was important to change the passive attitude of most students on entering university. The project also helped to create the appropriate atmosphere for the establishment of an office for medical education in the medical school to support other innovations in the field. With this project we wished to contribute, with a concrete experience, to the reform of medical education in Portugal, by demonstrating that problem-based learning can be used in single disciplines without major changes in the basic curriculum.

Curriculum↗