Dental students in a revised low-stress TBL format reported lower stress and frustration than medical students in the original format, in a non-randomised comparison of two cohorts¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r1 · q2
Currency · newest study 2015 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Dental students perceived the revised TBL method to be less stressful and less frustrating than medical students perceived the original format. → Cynthia J. Miller 2015

Evidence¶

Cynthia J. Miller 2015¶

Cynthia J. Miller, Jeff C. Falcone & Michael J. Metz. (2015). A Comparison of Team-Based Learning Formats: Can We Minimize Stress While Maximizing Results? World Journal of Education, 5(4). http://dx.doi.org/10.5430/wje.v5n4p1

q2 · i? · causal · r1

Likert-scale survey data on stress levels (Figure 6), n=106-154, analyzed with Mann-Whitney U test for non-parametric ordinal data, significant at *p<.00001 per figure legend.

"Dental students perceived the revised TBL method to be less stressful and less frustrating than their medical school counterparts."

Discussion¶

The comparison is between two non-randomised cohorts, medical students in the original format and dental students in the revised one, so format is confounded with programme, cohort, the number of TBL sessions (six against two pilot sessions) and team size; the difference cannot be attributed to the format alone.

Learner Variables¶

• Affect Regulation — outcome: instruction changes it
• Academic Anxiety — outcome: instruction changes it
• Achievement Emotions — outcome: instruction changes it

Related Claims¶

• Students taking online and proctored online exams report higher test anxiety than students taking on-campus exams and non-proctored online exams — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it

• Test anxiety is negatively associated with exam performance, and no moderation by proctoring was detected — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it

• Medical students in the high-stakes TBL format perceive questions as more difficult and less fair than dental students in the revised format — related
• Dental students in a revised low-stress TBL format scored higher on the individual summative assessment (iSAT) than medical students in the original high-stakes format, in a non-randomised comparison of two cohorts — related
• Dental students in a revised low-stress TBL format rated its effectiveness for learning more positively than medical students rated the original format, in a non-randomised comparison of two cohorts — related
• The two TBL formats show no significant differences in perceived team communication, contribution, or peer assistance — related
• In both TBL formats, tRAT and iSAT scores significantly improve over preceding iRAT scores — related
• Merely modifying teaching methods in medical and dental schools has limited merit for steering students' learning approaches; no one-size-fits-all teaching method exists — related
• In a Spring 2026 pilot (N=98), 52% of students reported lower stress during the AI-mediated Socratic Test than in traditional exams — related