Case Study: Using H5P to design and deliver interactive laboratory practicals

The Benefits of Using Case Study Focussed, Problem Based Learning Approaches to Unit Design for Biomedical Science Students

As part of the Biomedical Sciences undergraduate degree course students are required to apply biological principles to the interpretation of clinical case studies and the diagnosis of patients. Case study-based learning, i.e., application of knowledge to patient diagnosis, is new to most students as case studies do not form part of non-applied A level courses in biological sciences. This approach is an example of Problem Based Learning (PBL) which has been shown to support higher levels of student learning, encouraging critical thinking and analysis. PBL approaches have also been shown to increase academic satisfaction and student engagement. In recent years we have observed a downwards trend in student engagement and historically student performance in applied case study-based assessments to be lower than that observed for assessments based on detailing fundamental biological principles. We hypothesised that PBL teaching delivery would support students in preparing for case study-based assessments, helping them to demonstrate their critical evaluation and problem-solving skills, and hence, improve student performance. We also hypothesised that the student learning experience would be enhanced by a PBL teaching delivery approach which would improve overall engagement. We therefore redesigned a second year Biomedical Sciences degree haematology and clinical biochemistry unit: "Blood Science," with a stronger focus on PBL, including case study focussed activities throughout the unit. We subsequently analysed whether this PBL-focussed unit design improved student experience and feedback, student engagement and student confidence for biomedical science undergraduate students. We present here, our teaching strategy and the impact our changes had on student feedback for the 21/22 and 22/23 academic years. Our findings demonstrate that case study-based activities and tutorial PBL exercises, when incorporated into the curriculum design, can improve student experience in the Biomedical Sciences and other biological science undergraduate degree courses.

A special issue of Essays in Biochemistry on current educational developments in molecular bioscience

The 4th joint UK Biochemical Society and Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS) education event, 'Evolving Molecular Bioscience Education' took place online on May 27 and 28, 2021. The event, continuing the biennial series, comprised the invited speakers' talks, group discussions and other participants' pre-recorded flash presentations. Although the UK dominated, there were also speakers and participants from other European countries and other continents. This special issue includes a varied collection of articles written by the speakers and other participants.