ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Med.
Sec. Healthcare Professions Education
This article is part of the Research TopicInnovative Technologies and Pedagogical Strategies Reshaping Medical Physiology EducationView all articles
Impact of Integrating Paper-Based Pulmonary Function Test Case Group Discussions into Flipped Classroom on Residents' COPD Grading Assessment Competency
Provisionally accepted
Xingren Liu
Hang Long*- Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences and Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Chengdu, China
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Background: The flipped classroom model combined with case-based learning has emerged as a promising educational approach in medical residency training. However, the specific impact of integrating paper-based pulmonary function test case discussions on residents' ability to accurately assess COPD severity remains underexplored. Objective: To investigate the effect of incorporating paper-based pulmonary function test case group discussions within a flipped classroom framework on residents' competency in COPD grading assessment, comprehensive examination performance, 2 and self-efficacy. Methods: This single-center, retrospective cohort study analyzed 100 residents who completed respiratory medicine rotations between 2022 and 2024. Participants were divided into an intervention group (n=50) receiving flipped classroom instruction with paper-based case discussions and a control group (n=50) receiving traditional didactic teaching. Outcomes included COPD grading accuracy rates, comprehensive examination scores, and self-efficacy levels measured by the Self-Efficacy for Professional Tasks (SEPT) scale. Results: The intervention group demonstrated significantly higher COPD grading accuracy rates both immediately post-instruction (86.4% vs. 68.2%, P<0.001) and at one-month follow-up (82.6% vs. 64.8%, P<0.001). Comprehensive examination scores were superior in the intervention group (88.2±6.4 vs. 78.6±8.2, P<0.001), as were self-efficacy scores (4.2±0.5 vs. 3.4±0.6, P<0.001). Teaching satisfaction ratings were also higher in the intervention group (4.6±0.4 vs. 3.8±0.7, P<0.001). Conclusion: Integrating paper-based pulmonary function test case discussions into flipped classroom teaching significantly enhances residents' COPD grading assessment competency, examination performance, and professional self-efficacy. This innovative pedagogical approach merits wider implementation in respiratory medicine residency training programs.
Keywords: flipped classroom, Case-based discussion, pulmonary function test, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Medical Residents
Received: 23 Jul 2025; Accepted: 17 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu and Long. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Hang Long, longhang9525@163.com
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