1. Utilizing New Technologies for the Improvement of
Problem Based Learning in Medical Education
Georg Kitz, g.kitz@student.tugraz.at

2. Outline
• Problem Definition / Motivation
• Learning Methods
• Technology Stack
• Prototype
• Usability Testing
• Improvements
• Follow Up Strategies
• Results
• Questions

3. Problem Definition / Motivation
• Practical Year at Medical University of Graz
• Students work on real cases in hospitals
• Students are assigned to 3 supervisors
• Supervisors are guides for questions
• Communication and feedback works with paper reports
• Grading based on the reports

4. Problem Definition / Motivation
• Student issues
• Organised note taking and reporting
• Organising multiple case files
• Continuous feedback and guidance
• Supervisor issues
• Handling high student numbers, beside their everyday job
• Delivering fast feedback and guidance
• Multiple supervisor communication

5. Is it possible to improve Problem Based Learning
by using modern technologies?

6. Problem Definition / Motivation
• From paper and pen to a modern online reporting and
feedback tool
• Introducing new technologies to the field of Medical
Education
• Integrated flexibility for student users (mobile devices)

7. Learning Methods
• Active Learning vs. Passive Learning
• Problem Based Learning
• Teacher selects topics to work on
• Student gathers as much information as possible on
his own about the topic
• Teacher is a guide who helps students if needed

8. Prototype / Technologie Stack
Web portal for Supervisors
Web portal for Students
iPad App for Students

9. Technologie Stack
Webportal
Django / Python Postgres
iOS App
Objective C / Cocoa
REST API

10. Prototype / Webportal for supervisors

11. Prototype / Webportal for supervisors
• Shows every change a student made at one glance
• Browse through all versions of a student’s report
• See comments of all other supervisors
• Enable comment-function based on hierarchical level

12. Prototype / iPad App for students

13. Prototype / iPad App for students
• Allows instant reporting in front of the patient
• Allows asking questions as and when they occur
• Allows easy multiple case file handling
• Instant access to supervisors’ feedback
• Improved student + supervisor interaction

14. Usability Testing
• Thinking Aloud as testing method
• 3 medical students each performing 5 tasks

15. Usability Testing / Positive Feedback
✓ Overall feedback was positive and indicated that the use
of the novel system is beneficial for all parties involved
“it is a tremendous timesaver in comparison to the
paper and pen approach and makes the duty of filling
in case files quite enjoyable”

16. Usability Testing / Minor Flaws + Suggestions
- Differences between iPad and Web Portal
➡ Missing Traffic Light System
➡ History Button Inconsistency
- Mark unprocessed entries
- Mark last commented entry
- Improved image handling

17. Follow Up Strategies
• Test the supervisor part
• Deploy the system in “production”
• Better authentication strategy
• Add unit testing to build a less error prone system
• Add cucumber/selenium for automatic UI testing
• Add Jenkins for integration tests in order to have fail safe
releases

18. Results
• Successfully built a web portal
• Successfully built an iPad app
• Successfully tested the student part with usability tests
• Students approved that the system would be a significant
improvement

19. Is it possible to improve Problem Based Learning
by using modern technologies?

20. It’s principally possible, but the system needs to be
tested in a real environment over a longer
timespan!

21. Questions?