The PBL teaching method in neurology education in the traditional Chinese medicine undergraduate students: An observational study

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of the problem-based learning (PBL) method on Neurology education for Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) undergraduate students. This observational study was conducted during the 2020/02 and 2020/04 intakes of the third year TCM undergraduate students at School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Xiamen University Malaysia. A total of 86 students were enrolled in the study and randomly assigned to either conventional learning groups or PBL groups. Students who missed more than 1 session of the course or did not complete the questionnaires during the evaluation periods were excluded from the study (n = 0). An independent sample t test was used to compare the results between the 2 groups, with a significance level set as P < .05. The PBL group demonstrated significantly higher scores in theoretical and clinical practical examinations, satisfaction with the teaching level, students perspectives, and self-learning skills. Additionally, the PBL group had significantly higher scores on the dundee ready educational environment measure compared to students in the conventional group (P < .05). The implementation of the PBL teaching method in Neurology education for TCM undergraduate students proved to be an engaging and effective learning approach. It significantly improved students learning performance and their ability to analyze and solve problems related to neurology diseases and their management knowledge.