Team-based learning in Physical therapy undergraduate course: experiment report

Abstract

Introduction: Active learning methods have shown positive results, mainly in terms of content learning and the development of communication skills, critical thinking, and collaborative practice. However, they are still unknown by most professors teaching in Physical therapy courses. Objective: To present the report of an experiment based on the application of the Team-Based Learning (TBL) method, in the Physical therapy undergraduate course. Method: This is a report of an experiment comparing traditional teaching and TBL with 61 students in the Physical therapy course. A comparison was performed between means, medians, approval ratio and satisfaction of the students who experienced the active methodology. Results: The results showed that the final average of the summative evaluations of the TBL group (71.9 ± 10.5 points) was statistically different (p = 0.003) from that of the traditional teaching group (63.7 ± 9.92 points). The proportion of approved students was not statistically different between the groups, 92.0% and 88.6%, respectively (p = 0.478). Conclusion: The overall satisfaction was that the method, although tiresome, according to the students, favored a greater understanding of the content and motivation to study. The study presents innovative results regarding the application of the team-based teaching method to the Physical therapy course.