New and Better Ways to Teach Public Health

Leaders in government, the private sector, the public health sector and education agree that we need to train our public health force differently then in the past. A driving force behind this reform is the realization that successful employment and citizenship require different knowledge and skills than in the past (Wingspread Conscience. 1994, National Research Council, 1996, Institute of Medicine, 2003). Thus in addition to the traditional role as purveyors of discipline-specific knowledge, public health teachers are being urged to adopt classroom methods that help students to develop the competencies identified as necessary for success in today's world including the following abilities: to think critically and analyze and solve complex, real world health problems, to find, evaluate, and use appropriate learning resources; to work cooperatively in teams and small groups; and to use content knowledge and intellectual skills to become continual learners. Problem-Based Learning (PBL) provides an environment for promoting these skills.

Most college educators, whether they believe in the above statement or not, are not trained in a problem-based approach to teaching. They are taught to teach in the traditional role as purveyors of discipline-specific knowledge. Even if they wanted to move to problem-based teaching, they do not know any systematic method to do this. The presenter has framed his problem-based approach teaching with the learning theories of Malcolm Knowles and David Kolb. He will demonstrate how using these theories he has successfully taught problem-based learning to current and future public health professionals.