Abstract: Objective To compare the learning outcome of PBL and Sandwich and traditional teaching methods applied in experimental acupuncture-moxibustion and tuina science.Methods The questionnaire surveys were used to evaluate these three methods applied in the course of experimental acupuncture science.The evaluation involved three aspects:score of research-based teaching,outcome of learning,and participation of students in course.The survey subjects 44 students who majored in acupuncture-moxibustion and tuina in Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine.This study was exencuted from November 2014 to May 2015.Among the 10 chapters,2 chapters that were featured by strong exploration were selected to implement PBL and Sandwich teaching respectively,and the rest were carried out in traditional teaching.One-way ANOVA was used to test the significant difference among groups.Results In terms of the conformity of research-based course scores,PBL (85.5±9.3) and Sandwich teachings (88.8±11.1) were higher than that of traditional teaching (73.7±13.9) (all P<0.05).Regarding with knowledge expansion,the scores of PBL (84.4±12.0) and Sandwich teaching (85.3±12.7) were higher than traditional teaching (72.7± 18.4) (all P<0.05).About “ability”,PBL (84.2± 12.5) and Sandwich teaching (86.5± 12.4) were also higher than traditional teaching (65.9± 12.2) (all P<0.05).Concerning with student participation,score from PBL group (83.2± 9.7) and Sandwich teaching group (87.0± 11.0) were higher than traditional teaching group (63.4±13.0) (all P<0.05).However,it is interesting that the the score from traditional teaching (83.1±13.5) was higher than that from PBL group (76.9±13.6) (t=-2.15,P=0.03) in terms of the “basic knowledge”.Conclusions In experimental acupuncture-moxibustion and tuina science,PBL and Sandwich teaching gain many advantages over traditional teaching,but the latter still cannot be completely replaced.

Key words: Traditional teaching, Problem-based learning, Sandwich teaching, Teaching method, Comparison