Jul 2026· Teaching and Learning Inquiry· Vol 14, pp. 1-19· 0 citations· 45 references
Abstract
Epidemiology, a core discipline of public health, requires knowledge and skills for explaining different health outcomes across populations. Students of epidemiology must learn how to apply their knowledge and skills to solve complex and emerging public health problems through assimilating content, independent critical thinking skills, and lifelong learning. In Australian universities student populations are becoming increasingly diverse, including in terms of age range, life experience, previous qualifications, and level of English competency. Therefore, to maximise academic success in epidemiology while catering to students with diverse learning needs, epidemiology academics developed the Hybrid Team-Based Learning and Personalised Education (HTBL-PE) teaching strategy. HTBL-PE systematically builds upon students’ capabilities and strengthens self-confidence whilst harnessing team capabilities to strengthen individual capabilities. Student experience of HTBL-PE was formally evaluated at the beginning and end of the epidemiology course. Seventy-three out of 84 enrolled students provided data at both time-points (87%). By the end of the subject, the majority of students indicated their interest in epidemiology had increased (93%), their critical thinking skills had improved (92%), and their confidence as independent learners had increased (86%). Students’ final mark, 87%, was significantly higher than their weighted average mark (WAM) of 70% prior to the semester with no failures. HTBL-PE resulted in positive learning outcomes, more self-confidence in learning, increased interest in epidemiology, and higher overall scores. These results indicate HTBL-PE is a simple and effective teaching strategy which systematically supports students to succeed academically whilst building critical, independent lifelong skills and confidence in order to prepare them for solving future public health problems.
Case-based learning is an engaging teaching method that blends theory with real-world practice in public health education. In our paper, we explored the core educational theories behind this approach. We outlined different types of case studies used in our public health programs, such as epidemiological, organizational, social determinants, preventive, and ethical cases. At the School of Public Health, special attention is paid to how these cases are developed and implemented, as well as ways to assess their impact in the learning process. This approach helps students not only obtain theoretical concepts but also build practical skills needed to tackle complex healthcare challenges.
Using case studies in higher education programs encourages students to sharpen their critical thinking, analytical skills, and ability to work in teams. These skills are vital today, as societies grapple with both every day and unique challenges like pandemics, socioeconomic disparities, and environmental issues that demand well-rounded solutions and collaboration across fields. Moreover, with growing societal freedoms and liberalization, new ethical questions tied to public health keep arising. All stakeholders should not forget that creating and evaluating high-quality cases takes time and relies on adequate data and expert input. As public health issues get more complex, case-based learning remains a powerful way to prepare future leaders to address them effectively.
N. Yerdessov, O. Zhamantayev· Medicine and ecology· 0 citations
To capture the full value of active methods, instructional design must address this imbalance, prioritizing not only cognitive engagement but also efforts to strategically mitigate the perception of excessive workload so that increased rigor fully translates into positive affective and learning outcomes.
Nor Azmaniza Azizam, Dilla Syadia Ab Latiff, Nor Intan Shamimi Abdul Aziz et al.· International journal of res...· 0 citations
Service-learning is a pedagogical approach that bridges classroom learning and hands-on experience, thus enhancing skills development and boosting career preparedness. Student Leaders in Sex Education (SLISE) is a year-long sexual health education service-learning opportunity at California State University, Los Angeles that blends didactic classroom-based training with experiential fieldwork, and is designed to prepare undergraduate students for careers in health education. To understand how SLISE contributes to post-undergraduate health education career preparedness, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 of 16 participants who were primarily female, first-generation college students, and were working in health education, from the 2022–2023 SLISE cohort. Thematic analysis revealed two larger key themes related to SLISE participants’ health education career preparedness: (1) skills acquisition and (2) interpersonal growth. Under skills acquisition, both general and health education-specific skills were identified as subthemes. Participants reported acquiring the general skills of communication, time management, public speaking, teamwork, and software proficiency. The service-learning program also provided participants with the health education-specific skills of content tailoring and community engagement. Under the key theme of interpersonal growth, the following subthemes were identified: exposure leading to career certainty, cohort value, health knowledge improvement, and increased self-efficacy. This study provides evidence that immersive training through programs such as SLISE can better prepare public health students for careers in health education thus helping to further solidify the value of service-learning as an important method for health educator career preparation.
Naeomi Chin, Alexandra Kershner, Kimberly A. Kisler· Pedagogy in health promotion· 0 citations
Introduction: Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is a foundational competency for medical trainees and a core principle of contemporary clinical practice. Medical schools increasingly integrate EBM teaching across pre-clerkship and clerkship training, yet substantial variability remains in curricular structure, pedagogy, assessment approaches, and real-world learning transfer. This scoping review aimed to map the existing literature on EBM education for medical students, with attention to curriculum models, teaching strategies, learner outcomes, and implementation challenges.
Materials and Methods: Following the PRISMA-ScR framework, the authors systematically searched MEDLINE, Embase, ERIC, PsycINFO, and Scopus from inception to July 2025. Eligible studies described EBM-related teaching, curricula, or assessment in undergraduate medical education. Also, data were extracted on study characteristics, pedagogical methods, EBM competencies targeted, outcomes (knowledge, skills, attitudes, behaviours), and reported barriers and facilitators.
Results: Twenty-seven studies were included, representing diverse geographic contexts and spanning pre-clinical and clinical training. Curricula commonly target question formulation, literature searching, critical appraisal, and application of evidence to patient care. Four themes emerged: 1) heterogeneity in curriculum design and competency frameworks, 2) active learning and clinically integrated teaching as key drivers of engagement, 3) assessment challenges and inconsistent outcome measurement, and 4) implementation barriers including faculty expertise, time constraints, and hidden curriculum influences. Most studies reported improved EBM knowledge and self-efficacy, while fewer demonstrated sustained skill retention or changes in clinical behavior. Programs that embedded EBM longitudinally within clinical contexts and used structured appraisal tools appeared more likely to report meaningful learner engagement.
Conclusion: EBM education for medical students is widely implemented but variably delivered and assessed. Evidence supports active, clinically contextualized approaches, yet robust evaluation of long-term outcomes and standardized assessment tools remains limited. For educational planners and instructors, findings suggest that integrating EBM longitudinally across training, embedding teaching within authentic clinical scenarios, investing in faculty development, and aligning assessments with competency-based frameworks may strengthen skill retention and practice transfer. Future work should prioritize longitudinal curricula, faculty development, and harmonized competency-based evaluation.
S. Quon, Isabel Truong, Leah Moroz et al.· Evidence Based Health Policy...· 0 citations
Immunology is perceived as a challenging subject in medical education due to its abstract concepts, cross-disciplinary integration, and evolving clinical relevance. Traditional lectures may not effectively support the development of higher-order thinking or clinical reasoning. Team-Based Learning (TBL) offers a structured, active learning strategy designed to foster critical thinking, collaboration, and applied understanding. This study evaluated the impact of TBL on student performance in immunology across the preclinical years of a six-year undergraduate medical program.
Data were collected from four student cohorts (2019—2023). Weekly TBL sessions were integrated into years 2—4, covering foundational topics (innate/adaptive immunity) and system-based modules (e.g., respiratory, renal, gastrointestinal, hematologic, and body defense). All sessions and assessments were administered via ExamSoft. Students were grouped as Regular Attendees (≥80% TBL attendance) or Non-Regular Attendees (< 60%). Performance was assessed using internal end-of-semester immunology assessments and the IFOM exam at year 4.5, focusing on immunology-specific items. Statistical analyses included t-tests and multivariate regression.
Among 362 students (132 Regulars, 230 Non-Regulars), Regular Attendees scored significantly higher across internal assessments and showed >30% higher immunology scores on IFOM (p < 0.001). Their IFOM performance also exceeded the global average for international medical graduates. TBL participation was an independent predictor of improved performance, even after adjusting for GPA and prior academic achievement.
Structured TBL significantly improves immunology understanding, as evidenced by higher internal assessment scores and superior outcomes on the standardized IFOM examination. These findings support the use of TBL as a pedagogical approach to improve comprehension in complex and concept-heavy disciplines like immunology in medical education.
n/a
Immunology Education and Communication (EDU)
F. Cyprian, H. Farooqui, Mohammed Hamza et al.· Journal of Immunology· 0 citations
One Health education increasingly requires competencies that conventional veterinary doctoral training does not systematically cultivate, including science communication with non-scientific audiences, transdisciplinary collaboration, and the ability to translate specialized research into societal and educational contexts. This community case study examines how five veterinary PhD students at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna experienced the One Health Teaching Clinic (OHTC), a 13-week interprofessional interprofessional teacher education course in which they collaborated with pre-service science teachers to develop classroom materials based on their respective One Health doctoral projects. The OHTC is structured through the Synoptic Transfer Framework, a Two-Eyed Seeing-informed pedagogical framework that organizes changing perspectives between scientific knowledge and lifeworld understanding. Qualitative content analysis of 114 segments from learning journals, a focus group, and videographic recordings used the NEOH One Health competency framework deductively, while segments beyond the framework were coded inductively. Three patterns were central. First, the OHTC surfaced an unexpected language adaptation challenge: veterinary doctoral students whose research communication was strongly shaped by English-language scientific discourse struggled to translate specialized knowledge into accessible German explanations for non-specialist educational audiences. Second, seven situated communication practices emerged across all five cases, including content adaptation for specific audiences, the use of analogies and visuals, adjustment of language register between scientific and everyday discourse, balancing precision and accessibility, concrete exemplification, content prioritization, and risk communication that conveyed zoonotic risk without inducing unnecessary alarm. Third, participants began to recognize educational research as a legitimate knowledge system, describing an epistemological shift from a worldview confined to “
p
-values and graphs.” Notably, 32.5% of coded material fell outside the NEOH framework. Within this beyond-NEOH material, 20 unprompted implementation proposals indicated that the co-design format activated strategic action competence not fully captured by current One Health competency models. Although the findings are exploratory and limited to a single cohort at two Austrian institutions, the study suggests that structured interprofessional co-design between veterinary researchers and education professionals can create meaningful opportunities for developing the societal engagement capacities that One Health demands.
Ulrich Hobusch, Sascha Krebser, Franziska Messenböck et al.· Frontiers in Veterinary Scie...· 0 citations