Effectiveness and Key Success Factors for Implementation of Problem-Based Learning in Debre Tabor University: A Mixed Methods Study

BACKGROUND: Problem-based learning has been adopted as a core educational strategy for education of health professionals in more than a dozen of higher education institutions in Ethiopia. Debre Tabor University College of Health Sciences (DTUCHS) is one of the adopters. However, its effectiveness has not been researched yet. Thus, the objective of this study is to assess the quality of PBL implementation, its effectiveness in developing desired student learning outcomes and factors that facilitate or impede PBL implementation. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in DTUCHS from May to June 2018. We collected quantitative data from students and tutors using self-administered questionnaire. We complemented this with key informant interviews with academic leaders. We computed descriptive statistics from quantitative data while qualitative data were subjected to thematic analysis. RESULTS: A total of 308 students, 42 tutors and 8 academic leaders were included in the study. Students, tutors and academic leaders perceived that PBL was effective in developing knowledge, problem-solving skills, self-directed learning skills and collaboration competencies. The implementation process showed the existence of clear objectives, appropriate cases, and reasonable workload. Students rated tutors' performance positively, and tutors also rated student learning affirmatively. However, unlike tutors, students thought that the assessment of student performance in PBL was not appropriate. The factors that facilitated PBL implementation were students' and tutors' buy-in, clear curriculum design, adequate infrastructure, commitment to hire more faculty and develop their teaching skills continuously and strong coordination and monitoring. CONCLUSION: The findings of our study support the introduction of PBL in a resource-constrained setting. Students, tutors and academic leaders perceived PBL to be effective in achieving desired student learning outcomes. Its implementation was considered consistent with the principles of PBL. Respondents identified the presence of enabling factors to implement PBL in Debre Tabor University (DTU).