The impact of a newly implemented PBL curriculum on the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners Part I Examinations at the National University of Health Sciences.
BACKGROUND
Performance differences between students of traditional lecture-based curricula and students of problem-based learning (PBL) curricula on standardized National Board Examinations have been studied.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the impact and effectiveness of a change from a traditional lecture-based curriculum to a PBL curriculum.


METHODS
Student performance in a traditional lecture-based curriculum (entering class of 1997) was compared to student performance in a PBL curriculum (entering class of 1998) on the standardized National Board of Chiropractic Examiners Part I Examination.


RESULTS
There was a difference between the two curricula, with the PBL curriculum students outperforming the traditional lecture-based curriculum students on each individual part (d =.36-.95) of the National Board Examination and overall (d =.96).


CONCLUSIONS
A comparison of student performance on a standardized National Board Examination has proved a useful tool at quantifying the impact of a newly implemented PBL curriculum.
Shenouda
Nagwa S
NS
Department of Physiology and Biochemistry, National University of Health Sciences, 200 East Roosevelt Road, Lombard, IL 60148, USA.
Swenson
Randy L
RL
Fournier
Jaeson T
JT
D000328:Adult; D002684:Chiropractic / Q000193:education*; D003479:Curriculum; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018794:Problem-Based Learning; D014481:United States