Peter L. Schwartz

Active, Small Group Learning with a Large Group in a Lecture Theatre: A practical example

Using a specific example within clinical biochemistry, I describe the structure and operation of a type of session which allows a large number of students in a lecture theatre to obtain some of the benefits of learning in small groups and from peers. After preparatory reading before the class, the students work in small self-selected groups on a number of problems or cases for 30-35 minutes of a 50-minute session. Each group must record on the blackboard its answers to key questions before the problems are discussed. The method is designed to highlight a small number of important concepts, to let students see the relevance of what they have learned, and to give the students practice at applying biochemistry to the solution of problems. The students have received the sessions well and I have been impressed with how well the students have functioned during their discussions.

Curriculum reform at the University of Otago Medical School.

The University of Otago Medical School, the older of the two medical schools in New Zealand, identified during the 1980s many of the same problems with its undergraduate curriculum as were reported in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. An early, overly ambitious attempt to introduce a full problem-based learning curriculum at Otago failed; however, many piecemeal changes that embodied some of the principles of problem-based learning were successfully implemented. Subsequently, as desire for more coordinated and substantive change grew, Otagos faculty used what they had learned from their first effort to successfully introduce a modular systems-based preclinical curriculum in 1997. The authors describe the features of the new curriculum and discuss two components (a systems-integration course and a large-scale program of computerized in-course testing) that are particularly innovative. The new curriculum is already achieving one of its main goals (increasing the perceived relevance of preclinical teaching) and other outcomes are being evaluated.

Students' perceptions of course outcomes and learning styles in case-based courses in a traditional medical school.

No abstract available.

Brief problem-solving questions in medical school examinations: is it necessary for students to explain their answers?

To compare outcomes when answers to objective type problem‐solving questions are marked with and without consideration of students’ explanations of their answers.

Exercise-induced changes in serum enzyme activities and their relationship to max\(\dot V_{O_2 }\)

SummaryThe relationship between exercise-induced changes in serum enzyme activities and general cardiovascular condition has been studied. Untrained males exercised on a bicycle ergometer at 600 kpm/min (20 min) and at 720 kpm/min (30 min). Activities of creatine phosphokinase, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), malate dehydrogenase, and glutamate-pyruvate transaminase were measured before and immediately after exercise, and correlation coefficients relating these changes with maximal oxygen uptake (max

Moving a formative test from a paper-based to a computer-based format. A student viewpoint

\dot V_{O_2 }

Test-retest reliability of multiple true-false questions in preclinical medical subjects

) were calculated. Significant increases in the activity of each enzyme were observed at each work level. Increases were similar for all enzymes at a given load. Only LDH increased more at the higher load than at the lower. At 720 kpm/min (30 min), the activity of each isoenzyme of LDH increased significantly, but only fractions 4 and 5 increased in percentage, while 2 decreased and 1 and 3 remained unchanged. None of the enzyme changes at either work level correlated significantly with max