16 Project-based learning in Biomedical Science
Professor Zahid Pranjol
Zahid groups students from diverse backgrounds together to research an aspect of biomedical research and produce a creative, innovative and inclusive output. Giving students autonomy, the project is an example of co-creation and inclusive assessment, while the group work fosters a sense of belonging.
Teaching area
Team-based learning
Course
Biomedical Science core Level 4 module: Introduction to Human Disease. About 100 students, diverse in terms of gender; many students of colour; a few international students. I’ve used the same teaching method with other year groups.
Description
When I started at Sussex in 2019, I noticed that students tended to sit in groups with others like them, for example, white, black or Asian students. I decided to start bringing students together in groups to undertake project-based learning (PBL). I knew the students, and I mixed them up so they weren’t with their friendship group or others from a similar background or ethnic group. I gave the students a topic and they worked in groups of a group of three to five to answer a question for a formative assessment.
Creative output
The questions weren’t straightforward and required the students to do some research. For example, we know that bacteria can cause disease. They had to describe how bacteria cause disease and how you can treat it, for instance, which drug would you use? I asked them to create slides, a mindmap or a YouTube video. The output had to be creative, innovative and inclusive. For instance, if you’re using a diagram, make sure you describe what it shows in the text. If you’re speaking, include subtitles. Answering the question might be relatively easy. You could just open a couple of books and create an answer. What was important for me was the teamwork, the collaboration, the communication. I did say that those who couldn’t work in a group could work alone. Despite offering this option, all the students chose to work with someone else.
Group work
The lectures focused on the topic, so the students could apply the knowledge to their group work. The groups had to meet outside of the lectures three times over two to three weeks to complete the project. Group leaders organised WhatsApp groups for communication. The group members discussed the ideas, agreed on what to cover and drafted what they wanted to create. They could hold an optional fourth meeting if they needed it. No major problems arose with the groups, although there were some typical minor issues, such as one person not doing much work compared to the others.
In the first year I introduced this form of teaching, three or four groups from the module became best friends and decided to live together afterwards. In the same year, a first-year student told me, ‘You know, if you hadn’t done this, I would never have even spoken to anyone because I’m too shy. But that pushed me to show my creativity’. He was good at filmmaking, and he brought his talents into the group and showed what he could do.
Race equity work
As well as introducing project-based learning, I have led on race equity work in Life Sciences. Back in 2019, I noticed that black students weren’t speaking out. I set up a Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Science Society, giving leadership to students of colour in this space to boost their confidence. The group invited speakers to give talks on LinkedIn, CVs and getting jobs. Then I organised Black History Month and I told them, ‘Guys, you take a lead on this event.’ They brought food and they were the ones who were serving the food, making sure that everything was in place, and that all the speakers were there. A hundred people attended the event.
In 2021, I produced a Race Equity Action Plan for teaching and professional services staff in Life Sciences to address ethnicity awarding gaps. It was then adopted by other faculties.
This is the mission statement from the plan:
The School of Life Sciences commits itself to working towards racial equity, and to create a culture of anti-racism that attracts and supports a diverse student body. We will embed anti-racism in all aspects of our workplace and learning environment, addressing inequality and discrimination, to allow all our staff and students to achieve their full potential.
Outcomes
I received three awards from the University of Sussex in three years (2020 to 2022) for my teaching practice.
Co-creation of the curriculum
Biomedical Science students have used project-based learning to create a revision guide for a disease system, which was then shared with the cohort. A study on the effectiveness of this project was carried out from 2019/20 to 2021/22. When surveyed afterwards, ‘74% indicated the activity helped them integrate knowledge from previous modules, with the majority of the students scoring the activity 4 out of 5 for consolidation of knowledge’ (Pranjol, Oprandi and Watson 2024: 1048). Qualitative data on the development of transferrable skills, such as teamwork, effective communication and time management suggested that the students were able to gain these skills. Of the participants, ‘Sixty-six per cent… felt that the PBL tasks enabled them to build a cohort identity… 23% and 11% answered ‘unsure’ and ‘no’, respectively’ (ibid.: 1056).
Inclusive assessment
Discipline-specific and authentic real-world tasks help to narrow awarding gaps.
Since 2022, several modules in the Life Sciences curriculum have used project-based learning for the summative assessment.
Fostering sense of belonging
Group work reduces social isolation and builds a sense of belonging.
Comments
Student feedback on project-based learning (Pranjol, Oprandi and Watson 2024: 1056–7):
We all applied our knowledge, taught each other in areas we felt confident in and shared ideas and understanding of the module.
Explaining concepts is a really good way to ensure that you understand them properly, which helped to consolidate our knowledge.
We were able to discuss concepts raised in lectures that we did not fully understand and learn from each other, further reinforcing our knowledge on the topics.
It was nice working with peers that I haven’t talked to before and getting to know them and knowing we could help each other out.
Links
Student YouTube video created in this module
References
Pranjol, M.Z.I., Oprandi, P. and Watson, S. (2024) ‘Project-Based Learning in Biomedical Sciences: Using the Collaborative Creation of Revision Resources to Consolidate Knowledge, Promote Cohort Identity and Develop Transferable Skills’, Journal of Biological Education 58.5: 1048–64, https://doi.org/10.1080/00219266.2022.2147576 (accessed 27 May 2026)
