| Objective:
The purpose of this study was to determine if decreased contact hours would affect the ability of students to answer fact-based and problem solving questions. Year 2 of a new integrated case-based curriculum was compared to year 3 of a traditional curriculum.
Methods:
Eighteen fact-based and 30 problem-based questions were embedded in a total of 75 multiple choice questions making up end of term assessments for year 2 students on a new curriculum and year 3 students on the traditional curriculum. The percentage of each cohort correctly answering the embedded questions was determined, and the difference between the cohorts was evaluated. Ability to answer fact-based versus problem-based questions between the cohorts was also determined.
Results:
No significant difference for the 48 embedded questions was found in the means between year 2 and year 3 (3.71, P = 0.3505, 95% CI = −4.142 to 11.563). No significant difference for the subgroup of fact-based questions was found (0.5444, P = 0.9361, 95% CI = −14.237 to 13.148). No difference was found for the subgroup of case-based questions (5.61, P = 0.2541, 95% CI = −4.139 to 15.359).
Conclusion:
An integrated case-based curriculum may allow students to reach the same level of achievement in orthopaedics as a conventional curriculum with fewer contact hours in lectures and practical sessions. This abstract is reproduced with the permission of the publisher; full text by subscription. |
