Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society

Problem-based learning (PBL) reflects new conceptions of learning that have grown out of theory and research in cognitive science. PBL has been used in medical schools to enhance the development of clinical reasoning skills and to promote the integration of basic biomedical sciences with clinical applications. In this study, the effect of PBL on the development of clinical reasoning strategies, use of scientific knowledge, and accuracy are examined on a causal explanation task. Students in problem-based curricula were compared with students in traditional medical curricula. The results indicate that PBL plays a role in facilitating the development of expertise. In PBL, students learn through the transfer of hypothesis-driven reasoning skills that result in more coherent explanations. The PBL students are better able to apply their science knowledge than nonPBL students, leading to greater accuracy of hypotheses.