Perception of Social Networking Benefits in the Support of a PBL Module According to Students’ Performance Levels
Sophapun Ekarattanawong PhD*, Amornnat Thuppia MSc*, Pholasit Chamod MSc*, Pattharawin Pattharanitima MD**, Nuchanart Suealek PhD*, Panadda Rojpibulstit MSc*
Affiliation : * Department of Preclinical Science, Faculty of Medicine, Thammasat University, Rangsit Campus, Pathumthani, Thailand ** Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Thammasat University, Rangsit Campus, Pathumthani, Thailand
Background : The use of social networking to all levels of medical teaching as a communication tool between instructors and
students has drawn much interest and increased usage. As Facebook is one of the most popular social networking sites
among students, a Facebook page has been used in the Genitourinary System problem-based learning (PBL) course at the
Faculty of Medicine, Thammasat University in the year 2014.
Objective : The objective of this work is to study the perception of using a Facebook page to support PBL in an integrated pre-
clinical year course.
Material and Method: The Genitourinary System course committee introduced Facebook page to the 2nd year medical
students who enrolled and instructors involved in the course. At the beginning of the course, the objectives of Facebook page
setting were informed as follows: 1) public relations, 2) channel for questions and responses to address curiosities between
students and instructors, 3) learning stimulation and 4) supporting good relationship between course coordinators and
students. The participants consisted of 177 students who voluntarily allowed their opinion to be used in analysis and
dissemination after completing a questionnaire about using the Facebook page in PBL at the end. A Likert scale was used to
determine satisfaction scores for nine questions. Finally, the mean satisfaction was compared for each question and for
students with different academic performances (great, good, fine, weak).
Results : The students liked the page (averaged satisfaction score 4.64) and wanted it to continue to be used in coursework
(4.63), especially for students at mid-level when compared to students with great performances (p<0.05). It was beneficial in
allowing questions to be directed to instructors, both in lecture learning (4.54) and SDL (4.35), and lessened the time it took
to understand content in SDL (4.03). However, although it did not create stress (2.10), students had not made full use of it, as
much as they could (3.25), as they were not able study all posts in detail (3.68). Therefore, if the Facebook pages were
developed for students to study in more detail, it would enhance its benefits as SDL stimulus (4.09).
Conclusion : Using social networking, particularly Facebook pages, achieved all the four the stated objectives. Since this was
the first time social networking was applied, some of faculty members had concern that their personal information would be
disseminated to the public. Moreover, there was still minimal knowledge of sharing among students. The Facebook “closed
group” with a good protective system may be an interesting option to enhance effectiveness in integrated PBL-styled courses.
Keywords : PBL, Medical education, Social media, Social networking, Facebook page
