Promoting, applying, and evaluating problem-based learning in the undergraduate nursing curriculum.

Since its development in the 1960s, problem-based learning (PBL) has become increasingly prominent in nursing education. In 1998, Samford University received a grant from the PEW Charitable Trusts to promote, apply, and evaluate PBL in its undergraduate curriculum over three years. Nursing faculty approached this project with tenacity and enthusiasm. PBL has become integrated into the nursing curriculum in clinical and nonclinical courses. Descriptions of its implementation in specific courses are provided, and its usefulness in nursing education is discussed. Evaluations and test scores indicate that PBL has had a positive effect on the students and exceeded the educational outcomes anticipated by the faculty.