The study followed students in two intact classes who received the Common Disease Rehabilitation course during the second semester of the 2024–2025 academic year. Sports injury rehabilitation was used as a representative teaching unit. Investigators combined the post-course questionnaire with linked records of routine skill assessment, routine objective examination, midterm examination and final examination.

All 85 students completed the survey and had complete data for those four academic indicators. Because the research was observational and included no comparison curriculum, it could not determine whether the integration caused changes in learning, teaching or professional competencies. Responses were consistently positive across the questionnaire’s content groups.

The mean learning-effectiveness score was 4.69 ± 0.58, while the teaching-process and satisfaction group averaged 4.77 ± 0.54. The complete scale showed high internal consistency in this sample, with Cronbach’s alpha of 0.986. Exploratory principal component analysis found that the first component accounted for 80.4% of the variance.

This indicated that responses were dominated by a single broad dimension of positive perception rather than establishing a set of validated multidimensional subscales. The finding therefore supports the favorable evaluations reported by these students, but it does not demonstrate that the questionnaire measures distinct constructs or that the integrated course produced durable educational benefits. The linked academic records provided complementary information about performance during the course.

Students averaged 76.12 ± 9.01 on routine skill assessment, 78.12 ± 8.31 on routine objective examination, 76.19 ± 5.77 on the midterm examination and 80.21 ± 7.98 on the final examination. Final-exam scores were descriptively higher than midterm scores by a mean of 4.02 points, with a 95% confidence interval of 3.19–4.86 and P < 0.001. The investigators explicitly did not interpret this paired difference as a pre-post intervention effect, leaving the study unable to attribute the difference to the integrated curriculum.

That result means the analysis did not detect an association after correction, not that learning perceptions and academic performance are necessarily unrelated. The study also did not directly demonstrate changes in humanistic or professional competencies. Its scope was limited to one course, two intact classes, 85 students, a single post-course survey and retrospective performance records.

Prospective controlled studies using validated subjective and objective assessments would be needed to establish the educational effects of curriculum integration.

Subject of Research: Student perceptions and academic performance after an integrated rehabilitation course

Article Title: Integrating curriculum-based ideological and political education into a common disease rehabilitation course: a cross-sectional post-course survey with retrospective academic-record analysis

Article References: Wu, Y., & Sheng, Z. (2026). Integrating curriculum-based ideological and political education into a common disease rehabilitation course: a cross-sectional post-course survey with retrospective academic-record analysis. BMC Medical Education. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-026-10389-2

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12909-026-10389-2

Keywords: rehabilitation education, student perceptions, curriculum integration, vocational colleges, medical education, questionnaire reliability, academic performance, sports injury rehabilitation, cross-sectional study, Integrating, curriculum-based, ideological