Comparison of case-based learning and traditional method in teaching postgraduate students of medical oncology

Figures & data

Table

Practice points

This study enrolled 80 first-year oncology postgraduates, randomized for case-based learning or traditional lecture-based method to learn the lung cancer curriculum. The teaching method approach was evaluated through questionnaire and examination. The results showed that the CBL group performed significantly better in questionnaire and examination compared to traditional teaching groups (p < 0.05).

Table 1. Comparison of general data between two groups of students.

Group	Sex		Age/year ($\overline{x}$ ± s)	Entrance achievement/score (x ± s)
	Male	Female
Control group (n = 40)	16	24	26.15 ± 3.92	79.23 ± 6.74
Experimental group (n = 40)	12	28	25.91 ± 4.17	78.86 ± 6.69
T (χ^2)value	0.8791		0.2652	0.2464
p value	0.3484		0.7916	0.8060

Table 2. Comparison of self-evaluation between two groups of students.

Self-evaluation	control group (n = 40)		Experimental group (n = 40)		χ^2	p
	Yes	No	Yes	No
Clinical thinking ability	27	13	36	4	6.0504	0.0139
Learning initiative	25	15	37	3	10.3226	0.0013
Self-study ability	28	12	38	2	8.6580	0.0033
Basic knowledge mastery	26	14	36	4	7.1685	0.0074
Ability to analyze and solve problems	27	13	35	5	4.5878	0.0322

Table 3. Comparison of the two groups’ satisfaction with the course.

Group	Satisfaction	General	Unsatisfactory	Degree of satisfaction	χ^2	p value
control group (n = 40)	20 (50)	8 (20)	12 (30)	28 (70)	6.6462	0.0099
Experimental group (n = 40)	27 (67.5)	10 (25)	3 (7.5)	37 (92.5)

Table 4. Comparison of examination results between the two groups (score, x ± s).

Group	Control group(n = 40)	Experimental group (n = 40)	T value	p value
Elementary knowledge	37.39 ± 4.54	40.12 ± 4.39	2.7340	0.0077
Case analysis	37.28 ± 4.15	43.87 ± 4.37	6.9159	<0.001
Total score	74.58 ± 6.87	86.39 ± 7.15	7.5329	<0.001