Education Commons^™

Revisiting The Merits Of A Mandatory Large Group Classroom Learning Format: An Md-Mba Perspective, Shawn X. Li, Roshini Pinto-Powell

Dartmouth Scholarship

The role of classroom learning in medical education is rapidly changing. To promote active learning and reduce student stress, medical schools have adopted policies such as pass/fail curriculums and recorded lectures. These policies along with the rising importance of the USMLE (United States Medical Licensing Examination) exams have made asynchronous learning popular to the detriment of classroom learning. In contrast to this model, modern day business schools employ mandatory large group classes with assigned seating and cold-calling. Despite similar student demographics, medical and business schools have adopted vastly different approaches to the classroom.

When examining the classroom dynamic at business …