Effectiveness of case-based lectures in enhancing critical thinking and improving performance in nursing students’ physiology education

BACKGROUND:
Case-based lectures (CBLs) have emerged as a dynamic strategy in nursing education, marrying theoretical physiology concepts with real-world clinical scenarios to foster a deeper understanding. This study aimed to design, implement, and assess the effectiveness of CBLs in promoting both deep understanding and long-term memorization of concepts in comparison with the traditional didactic lectures (TDLs).


MATERIALS AND METHODS:
This quantitative study, through retrospective analysis of the data, evaluated the academic project “CBL method for teaching respiratory physiology course to female nursing students” at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (IAU), Dammam, Saudi Arabia. The project was launched during the second semester of the academic year (February– March 2024) among 100 nursing students divided into two groups: G1 and G2. G1 underwent TDLs, and the same learning topics were delivered to G2 as CBLs. The specific respiratory physiology course details for nurses, including learning objectives, case scenarios, CBLs, and assessment tools were designed and reviewed by four expert respiratory team members. Two different written exams for the two groups (CBLs and TDLs) were conducted; one “immediately after the completion of the course” and other “4 weeks later.” Student feedback questionnaire was also introduced at the end of the respiratory module.


RESULTS:

The average exam scores of CBLs group were significantly higher than the TDLs group in both the exams (22.48 vs. 20.23,
P
< 0.05), (8.32 vs. 6.85,
P
< 0.05). In addition, 97% of the students preferred CBLs over TDLs and 86% of the students favored the continuation of this teaching methodology.



CONCLUSION:
The study concludes that CBLs help to link theory to practice, promote logical thinking, and enhance “short-term” as well as “long-term” memorization, thereby improving the students’ performance in exams to eventually produce competent graduate nurses.