Cardiff Teaching Method

I was reading the Cardiff prospectus and it says their structure "combines traditional learning methods with aspects of a problem centred approach"... Does this mean there is a lot of PBL in the course? How exactly do they teach in Cardiff? Because I've decided that I would much prefer not to apply for a PBL course. I dunno, I mean a little might be good, but I really don't like fellow students teaching me, I just don't feel like I've learnt everything I could, if that makes sense XD

Also, unrelated to the teaching methods, and it might be a bit of a silly question.... Do most people in Wales speak English? Lol, I know hte teaching is done in English but I was just wondering if there would be any problems outside.... I really doubt there would be any problems, but i thought I should check anyway.... I'm really sorry for such a stupid question XD [hides]

Thanks!

Reply 1

Warrior King

From what I know about the palce. Cardiff's course is not PBL but the standard integrated systems-based course. Although nearly every medical course has some sort of a PBL/self-directed learning element to it. IF you're still usnrue then I suggest you contact Cardiff directly.

And yes your second question does seem rather silly. I don't think there would be any language barrier issues when you're on clinical palcements.

Reply 2

Becca-Sarah

Most Welsh people speak English fluently. It's only if you get sent to some rural, mountainous community in the middle of nowhere (for example) that you might find a non-English speaking person.

Reply 3

tiger_vio

Lol in a place like Cardiff, hardly anyone speaks welsh so you'll be fine. The people that can speak welsh at Cardiff will probably make an effort to talk English around non-welsh speakers

Reply 4

Ribbons

Raindroppe

The teaching is mostly lecture-based. I think we had only 3-4 PBL sessions this/last year, and those were part discussion part teaching by the tutor anyway, so you won't exactly be 'taught by fellow students' (although you may find that asking an uber-clever mate is a superb way to learn lots of things :p:

)

Everyone in Cardiff speaks English most of the time, and even in placements in other towns you won't have any difficulty communicating. There are people who speak in Welsh together at times, but are considerate enough to use English when others are around. You may well end up learning a few Welsh phrases if you ask/read signs! :biggrin:

Reply 5

Philosoraptor

Raindroppe

I dunno, I mean a little might be good, but I really don't like fellow students teaching me, I just don't feel like I've learnt everything I could, if that makes sense XD

You do realise this can also happen in traditional courses too?

Reply 6

AEH

I understand exactly what he means, you want to be as responsible for your own work as possible and not have to rely on other people's competence. Nor do you want carrier/carried relationships to define your whole time at medschool, because it is arkward. But at the same time, you will be good at things other people suck at and vis-versa, so working with other people is something you need to do to fill gaps in your knowledge, whether formally in a PBL group or between friends. Plus, it has to be said that teaching something is the best way to make sure you really understand it (See one- Do one- Teach one is a great rule to work by).