Strategies to Improve Active Learning in Medical Education at Institutional and Individual Levels

Active learning is an approach to educational instructions that actively engages involved students with the learning process. In medical education, this approach places a greater degree of responsibility on the learner than passive approaches such as didactic lectures. However, the guidance of the professional medical educator remains crucial to all active learning activities. In the medical curriculum active learning has been defined more broadly to include all activities that are involved in information gathering and problem solving whether individually or in a group. It provides opportunities for the learner to acquire knowledge and skills in meaningful, often natural contexts, and students should be encouraged to actively participate in class. The biggest advantage for active learning is that students develop the power to think for themselves, which leads to better teaching and learning achievements.
In order to effectively prepare medical students to meet the demands of future practice, medical schools must find creative ways to qualify students with the necessary knowledge and skills that enable them to perform effectively after graduation, in an authentic learning context. Multiple strategies at institutional or individual levels aim at developing skills that include collaborative learning, critical thinking, clinical reasoning and problem-solving. In this article, different strategies that are used to enhance active and self-directed learning at both the institutional and individual instructor level will be discussed. Strategies discussed will include problem-based learning, community-based education, team-based learning, case-based learning, interactive lecturing and flipped classroom.