Perceptions of faculty and students regarding problem based learning: A mixed methods study

Objectives: to determine perception of faculty and students regarding problem-based learning. methods: the study was conducted at northern border university,arar,kingdom of saudi arabia,from may 21to november 21,2014. data was collected on a structured close-ended questionnaire from faculty members. application of problem-based learning by the faculty was assessed through observations of first such session of medical students. observations were recorded on a structured checklist. perceptions of students about learning methodology were determined through focused group discussion which was audio-taped and transcribed. qualitative data was analysed through content analysis and quantitative data through spss 16. results: of the 60 faculty members,44(73%) took part in the study. of them,35(79.5%) were males and 9(20.5) were females. there were 23(52%) assistant professors and 31(70.45%) were trained in problem-based learning. overall,22(50%) faculty members thought that it was better than lecture-based learning; and 32(72.7%) stated that they conducted problem-based learning in classic seven jumps. in focus group discussions,students appreciated learning subject content but could not identify other benefits of problem-based learning. conclusions: faculty still had to come to terms with application of problem-based learning methodology. © 2015 pakistan medical association. all rights reserved.