Teaching problem-based materials

Marshall Anderson, IU Northwest

Anderson

Making connections with real-life scenarios heightens student engagement in learning science and medicine. Marshall Anderson, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at IU Northwest, teaches at the Northwest Center for Medical Education, which offers Indiana's only Problem Based Learning medical curriculum. The technology tools enhance student access to resources and promote communication between formal learning sessions. Consensus finds this "an effective way of delivering problem-based material," reports Anderson.

More challenging is the issue of currency. The enriched on-line information environment means students have access to the latest information in the field. "This has forced me to be as current as possible. Students will come to me with what they've found very recently on the Web," he said. Instructional technology has also changed notions of "currency" itself. Some on-line journals now cut the time between an article's submission and its publication to a matter of weeks. "The ability to use a computer for communication and information gathering has become an essential function," he added. "Without it, you're left in the dust."

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