Comparing the effects of problem-based learning and the traditional lecture method on critical thinking skills and metacognitive awareness in nursing students in a critical care nursing course

• The PBL approach can help develop metacognitive awareness in nursing students.
• The PBL approach improves the critical thinking skills of undergraduate nursing students for the theoretical course of Critical Care Nursing, thereby preparing them for clinical practice.
• The PBL students had a significantly greater improvement on the overall California Critical Thinking Skills Test, evaluation, and deduction subscale scores compared with the lecture students.

BackgroundProblem-based learning (PBL) is a method used to develop cognitive and metacognitive skills in nursing students.ObjectivesThe present study was conducted to compare the effects of PBL and the traditional lecture method on critical thinking skills and metacognitive awareness in nursing students in a critical care nursing course.DesignThe present study was conducted with a quasi-experimental, single group, pretest-posttest design.MethodsA group of third-year nursing students (n = 40) were recruited from Khorramabad School of Nursing and Midwifery in the west of Iran. The lecture method was used in one group over the first eight weeks of the first semester and PBL was adopted in the second eight weeks. Standardized self-report questionnaires including The California Critical Thinking Skills Test-B (CCTST-B) and the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) were administered before and after the use of each of the instruction methods. Data were analyzed in SPSS using the paired t-test.FindingsNo significant changes were observed in the students' critical thinking skills and metacognitive awareness after performing the lecture method. However, a significant increase was observed in the overall critical thinking score (P < 0.01) and its sub-scales of evaluation and deduction (P < 0.05) and in the overall metacognitive awareness score (P < 0.001) after performing the PBL method.