Comparison of Final Exam Test Scores of Neuroscience Students Who Experienced Traditional Methodologies versus...

Faculty members in the Occupational Therapy Department at Belmont University needed to determine if an alternative teaching method, consisting of lecture and problem-based learning (PBL), was more effective than a traditional lecture method in maximizing student achievement in neuroscience. This study was undertaken to determine if students who participated in an alternative methodology (experimental group) would perform differently on a comprehensive final exam than students who experienced a traditional lecture approach (control group). A second purpose was to determine if the experimental group achieved a greater score on higher-level thinking test questions than the control group. There were two research questions for this study. First, "Will there be a significant difference in the mean final unit test score of the experimental group in comparison with the control group?" Second, "Will there be a significant increase in the mean final unit test score on higher-level thinking items between the experimental and control groups? For research question one, a two-tailed independent samples t-test was used to compare mean test scores of the two groups. Based on a P value of. 846, it was determined that there was not a significant difference in total test scores between the two groups. For research question two, a one-tailed independent samples t-test resulted in a P value of. 491; therefore, it was determined that there was not a significant difference on higher-level thinking test scores between the two groups. However, a bi-modal distribution of the scores for the experimental group suggests that some performed well under PBL conditions while some did not. Potential implications of this bimodal distribution are discussed to assist OT educators in choosing appropriate instructional methodologies. The findings suggest that faculty should continue to explore variables that may affect performance under PBL conditions and achievement in neuroscience.