The law of development and important nodes of problem-based learning analyzed by knowledge maps / 中华医学教育探索杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To apply knowledge maps to systematically evaluate problem-based learning (PBL) literatures from the past 50 years, so as to explore the law of development and related important documents.Methods:All peer-reviewed studies were retrieved from Web of Science (WOS) Citation Database on PBL of the year from 1970 to 2019. Bibliometrix package of R was used to analyze following items annual growth law of PBL literature, literature cumulative growth law, literature citation status and top 30 important documents. Based on the results, the law of development of PBL research, important literatures and time nodes was analyzed.Results:After literature cleaning, 2 401 documents were finally included into the analysis. The analysis revealed that in accordance with the law of development disciplines, PBL study experienced three periods, early birth (Period Ⅰ), PBL study early development (Period Ⅱ) and PBL large-scale development (Period Ⅲ). Now PBL is currently in a period of large-scale development. In the development process, 1983, 1986, 1993, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2012 and 2014 has become important research time nodes, and there have been five important documents promoting PBL development (ALBANESE MA, 1993, ACAD MED; VERNON DTA, 1993, ACAD MED; NORMAN GR, 1992, ACAD MED; BARROWS HS, 1986, MED EDUC; HMELO-SILVER CE, 2004, EDUC PSYCHOL REV).Conclusion:Nowadays, PBL theory and method has been perfected, which has been developed significantly, and it's an important period of application and promotion. The PBL has become an important method to cultivate clinical skills or other disciplines with strong practicality.