Problem effectiveness in an occupational therapy problem-based learning course

The purpose of this study was to evaluate students' perceptions of the extent to which faculty-generated learning objectives were addressed in a problem-based learning (PBL) course.

Twenty-seven students enrolled in a 12-week PBL course were randomly divided by age, gender, and grade point average into four tutorial groups. Each group rated on a 10-cm visual analog scale their perceptions of how well they believed the objectives for each of four cases were addressed. Repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to test the average differences among the tutorial groups for each case. Further, post hoc tests were performed to compare the means among groups for each objective.

No significant differences were found in the average perceptions among the tutorial groups for any of the four cases. Student ratings indicated their overall perception that within each problem, preset objectives had been met.

The results support that students' interpretations of learning objectives for PBL cases are consistent with the problem developers' intended learning objectives. In addition, the similarities in the average scores for learning objectives across the four tutorial groups support the notion that PBL outcomes can be consistent among students, even though their study and discussions are in separate groups with different facilitators.