J Allied Health. 2000 Fall; 29(3): 157-60.

Comparison of two teaching methods in a chiropractic clinical science course.

Bovee ML, Gran DF.

Technique Department, Palmer College of Chiropractic, Davenport, IA 52803, USA. bovee_m@palmer.edu

This study was done to determine whether the test performances of chiropractic students taught by traditional didactic methods (n = 50) and those undergoing problem-based learning (PBL) (n = 54) would differ. A 25-question multiple-choice test of knowledge synthesis was given to both groups of students. Although the novelty of the PBL approach was a cause of concern among the PBL students, who tended to be uncertain about what was expected of them and to lack confidence in the depth of their knowledge, their performance on the test was equivalent to that of the traditional students. The usefulness of PBL for educating allied health professionals adept at problem solving for future practice needs to be examined further.