2020 Volume 4 Article ID: 2018-039
For students to learn the thinking process to apply theoretical perspectives to the understanding of clinical issues, a trial of Jigsaw-type learning was conducted. Twenty-one fourth- or fifth-year undergraduate pharmaceutical students were divided into three groups, and each group was given a lecture on chemistry, pharmacology, or pathophysiology and pharmacotherapeutics. One member from each group was then brought into a group of three, and the students were tasked with answering questions, with each student serving as the authority on the lecture they had heard, resulting in a situation where each student must depend on the others in the group to help them answer the clinical questions. Questions were examined at an individual level and in the small group discussions (SGDs). A questionnaire was given before the SGD and at the end of this trial. The student evaluations of the lectures improved in the post-questionnaire scores for successfully conveying content appropriate to answering the clinical questions. Their evaluations also showed significant evidence that the questions could be solved by SGD, indicating the usefulness of Jigsaw-type learning. They also reported a high level of satisfaction after this trial. Additionally, they exhibited greater motivation to learn from the pharmaceutical perspective, an item that earned the highest score on the questionnaire. Responses in the free comments section showed that “organic chemistry” and “thinking” were related to clinical questions, suggesting that this trial encouraged interdisciplinary thinking in students.
