ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health

Sec. Public Health Education and Promotion

Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1590832

This article is part of the Research TopicInnovative Teaching and Learning in Health Education and PromotionView all 36 articles

Academic Competition-Based Learning Cultivates Scientific Literacy to Promote Professional Competitiveness in Medical Undergraduates

Provisionally accepted
Yan RuanYan Ruan1Zhang JunleiZhang Junlei1Jiali WangJiali Wang1Rui JianRui Jian1Feng MeiFeng Mei1Hongli LiHongli Li2Yun ZhangYun Zhang3Qiwen HuQiwen Hu4Lan XiaoLan Xiao1Yi YangYi Yang2Ming LiMing Li4Jiaxiang XiongJiaxiang Xiong2Yanping TianYanping Tian1*
  • 1Other
  • 2Experimental Center of Basic Medicine, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China
  • 3Department of Foreign Languages, Army Medical University, chongqing, China
  • 4Department of Microbiology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China

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Background: Contemporary healthcare requires medical professionals with advanced scientific literacy. Current undergraduate medical curricula may not consistently develop this critical skillset. This study evaluates the effectiveness and challenges of an academic competition-based learning (ACBL) for enhancing scientific literacy in medical undergraduates.Methods: The International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Competition based program was developed using a two-round modified Delphi study. 30 students participated in an iGEM-based academic competition during 18 months. Scientific literacy domains were assessed through validated questionnaires during a five-year follow-up period.Results: iGEM participants demonstrated significantly greater improvement in literature review, experimental design, technical execution, presentation skills, and research management compared to controls (P<0.01). Significant gains were observed in scientific knowledge acquisition and scientific reasoning (P<0.01). Scores for active learning, critical thinking, and collaborative communication were significantly higher in the iGEM group (P<0.05). Participants identified laboratory resources, space, equipment and funding as primary implementation constraints. Conclusions: ACBL is an innovative and effective strategies to develop students' scientific literacy for professional competitiveness, which highlights the potential of ACBL as a transformative approach in medical education.

Keywords: Academic competition, scient ific literacy, Professional competitiveness, undergraduate education, Active Learning, Critical Thinking

Received: 10 Mar 2025; Accepted: 23 Jun 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Ruan, Junlei, Wang, Jian, Mei, Li, Zhang, Hu, Xiao, Yang, Li, Xiong and Tian. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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