Elements of Constructivist Curriculum in Medical Education: A Review Study

Introduction: Training and information transfer are considered as one of the major functions of medical education. However, traditional lecture-based methods no longer satisfy the needs of medical education and require new approaches. One of these approaches which has presented new methods in medical education is constructivist trainingversus traditional training. The aim of this study was to explain the characteristics of constructivist curriculum in medical education. Methods: In this review study, library materials and documents related to constructivism approach in medical education and various online sources such as articles indexed from 2001 to 2014 in SID, Magiran, and Eric were used. Keywords used were constructivism, medical education, curriculum elements and faculty members, both alone and in combination. The initial search yielded a large number of articles then the researcher who was just eliminated summary available and browse articles that were more associated with the selected material was then extracted. Based on more recent literature, the main elements of the constructivist approach to curriculum in medical education were explained. Results: Finally, Out of 120 investigated articles in total, documents of 37 relevent and credible articles were obtained. Four elements of curriculum namely goal, content, teaching methods, and evaluation were explained in the constructivist framework. In this approach the goal of education was to develop critical thinking, analytical skills, and insight in students. The content of the training program was based on real situations such as hospitals or at least training videos. Teaching methods were based on dynamic methods which engaged students in the learning process. The evaluation was process-based so that it was not a tool for scoring, but for learning. Conclusion: Given the main elements of curriculum in this approach, education in the medical field should be based on actual situations, practical and laboratory tools. Moreover, the active and participatory role of students and the role of teachers as facilitators should be underscored for preparing the learning environment.