A comparison of problem-based learning and traditional curricula in baccalaureate respiratory therapy education

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a constructivist model of education that uses ill-structured, authentic problems to stimulate and organize all learning. The major goal of PBL is to help learners construct knowledge in contexts similar to the real-world environments in which the knowledge will be used. Although PBL is a widely accepted educational method, controversy persists about its effectiveness, how appropriately to measure its outcomes, and, more generally, whether grand education experiments can explain a curriculum intervention's effects. The present study was undertaken to compare PBL and traditional curricula in baccalaureate-level respiratory-therapy education, in terms of (1) graduate and employer ratings of cognitive, psychomotor, and affective competencies on standardized follow-up surveys mandated by the Committee on Accreditation for Respiratory Care, and (2) scores on the National Board for Respiratory Care (NBRC) examinations.

The survey and examination data were collected for the 1999-2002 graduates of 4 baccalaureate degree respiratory-therapy programs in the southeastern and south-central United States: two that used PBL and two that used conventional curricula. Multivariate analyses of variance and 2-tailed t tests for independent samples were used to analyze the data.

Although some significant differences were present between the groups in the graduates' program-entry characteristics, when considered as covariates, none of the differences were significant with regard to the survey ratings. Sex did not affect the results of statistical analyses, nor did the school that the graduates attended. The 2 most important findings were that (1) PBL graduates rated their programs' overall quality in preparing them as respiratory therapists significantly higher than did the traditional program graduates (p = 0.012), and (2) there were no significant differences in mean scores overall between PBL graduates and traditional graduates on either the NBRC entry-level examination (p = 0.866) or the NBRC written Registered Respiratory Therapist examination (p = 0.971).

Respiratory-therapy graduates from the 2 PBL programs were more satisfied with their program's overall quality than were the graduates of the 2 traditional-curricula programs. Moreover, the PBL teaching and learning method did not place graduates at a disadvantage on standardized, objective tests of knowledge (the licensing and credentialing examinations). These findings are consistent with similar published studies on PBL approaches in medical and health care professional education.