adapt from a student to an independent pro- fessional with minimal disruption. • I think the confidence is better because if I do community service next year and I go into the community, I can implement what I learned this year and in previous years. It won’t be a surprise. I won’t be caught o guard. I would be able to do it. (P1) CBL is an eective mechanism for environ- mental health education, as it allows students to combine the knowledge and skills gained across all environmental modules. Students can understand how the culmination of the content informs the practice of environmen- tal health, and it helps them to develop a sense of professional identity. • You go to the community, you communi- cate with the community and the commu- nity members, you identify their problems and everything you’ve learned from all the other modules. It starts coming into place like, okay this is the problem, this is the scope of practice, this is the challenge, this is the health eect. You start making this puzzle and making all these connections and for me, that’s what I enjoyed about the assignment. (P1) • I’ve learned to be patient and to explain to them why I see a need to solve the problem that they have. (P10) • Before you even communicate with them, you can already identify certain issues and when you start talking to them, then you start making a connection like, okay this is really what is happening, it’s really an issue to the community members. (P1) • I feel like it gave me the skill to prioritize problems. I need to deal with this problem first because if I deal with this problem first, I’ll be able to mitigate other problems. (P9) Students enjoyed the CBL approach; how- ever, as with the PBL approach, group work
posed a challenge. One student (P5) men- tioned that CBL was a better approach than others; however, it was unanimous that stu- dents preferred working on their own rather than working in a group. •If you’re with group members who are slacking, then it’s not nice. Then I feel like I’d rather have a written assignment that I have to do by myself. (P1) • I feel like individual assignments are better than group work. (P10) Students might not understand the value of group work or working in a team yet, but it is crucial to develop certain skills that are needed for the working world. Learning to work with dierent personalities, tackling challenges with group members, and learn- ing to contribute as a leader or member of a team are all critical elements needed in envi- ronmental health, especially given the multi- disciplinary nature of the profession. Discussion and Conclusion The students valued both the PBL and CBL pedagogies, mentioning the valuable learn- ing experiences gained from each. Using the approach with third- and fourth-year stu- dents was advantageous, as the students were adequately prepared to engage and appreciate the method. They recognized the benefits of the approach for the development of skills required by EHPs. Loureiro et al. (2009) advocated for a shift from traditional peda- gogy to a PBL approach for the acquisition of “basic public health competencies.” The pedagogies provided students with real-world experiences, which required them to apply their knowledge along with the rele- vant skills needed to execute the task. Anazifa and Djukri (2017) evaluated the eect of project-based learning and PBL and found that these approaches positively affected
student creativity and critical thinking. The development of such skills is nonnegotiable for the present workforce, especially EHPs. This study provides insights into the experiences of two cohorts of students who were presented with a PBL or CBL approach. Student education level at which the approaches were introduced was demon- strated to be appropriate, ecient, and eec- tive. Students were adequately prepared with background and contextual knowledge and skills to engage with each approach and thus were able to receive the associated benefits. The approach was successful only when stu- dents were provided with enough guidance and instruction, which is important to note for the development of these approaches. It is also encouraging that students could identify the skills they developed from each approach and apply the knowledge and skills gained to generate a better under- standing of environmental health and their role as EHPs. Challenges and areas for improvement were identified. Students mentioned time as a challenge. These learning approaches were part of many other assignments and tests that the students had to navigate as a part of their semester. The approaches also required a level of consultation with individuals outside of the university (e.g., EHPs in the field), which added to the required time. One student sug- gested scheduling the due dates of smaller assignments to happen before the final proj- ect, which would facilitate time management and enhance participation. Corresponding Author: Melishnee Rutha- nam, MHSc, Durban University of Technol- ogy, Gate 8 Ritson Campus, Steve Biko Road, Berea, Durban, 0766169810, South Africa. Email: melishneer@dut.ac.za
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Akinmoladun, T.M. (2008). The relevance of problem-based instruc- tion to learning about environmental health. Journal of Environ- mental Health , 71 (1), 12–14. Amin, S., Utaya, S., Bachri, S., Sumarmi, S., & Susilo, S. (2020). Eect of problem based learning on critical thinking skill and environ- mental attitude. Journal for the Education of Gifted Young Scientists , 8 (2), 743–755. https://doi.org/10.17478/jegys.650344
Anazifa, R.D., & Djukri, D. (2017). Project-based learning and prob- lem-based learning: Are they eective to improve student’s think- ing skills? Jurnal Pendidikan IPA Indonesia , 6 (2), 346–355. Chu, S.K.W., Reynolds, R.B., Tavares, N.J., Notari, M., & Lee, C.W.Y. (2017). 21st century skills development through inquiry- based learning: From theory to practice . Springer. https://doi. org/10.1007/978-981-10-2481-8
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May 2025 • Journal of Environmental Health
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