Résumé
AIMS: Small group teaching in Pharmacology offers an effective platform to encourage interaction amongst peers and self-directed learning. The present study is an attempt to assess and compare the effectiveness and perception of students on two different pedagogical methods: Crossword puzzles and Student Led Objective Tutorials (SLOT). METHODS: Second year undergraduate students who gave their informed consent were divided randomly into two groups: one which received crossword puzzle as a teaching learning method and the other had SLOT during which the students conducted an interactive quiz with multiple choice questions prepared by themselves. The students' perceptions were recorded using a self-administered questionnaire. One week later, a unit test was conducted for both the groups and the performance of the students was compared. Statistical analysis was done using independent Student's T test with SPSS version 15.0. RESULTS: Analyses revealed a statistical significant difference (P<0.001) between the mean marks obtained in the SLOT group (n= 74; 6.5±3.8) and the marks obtained in the crossword group (n= 87; 4.2±2.9), with the students in the tutorial group performing better. The students opined that SLOT sessions helped them to understand Pharmacology better whereas crossword sessions enabled them to memorize the names of the drugs. CONCLUSION: The present study revealed that SLOT sessions fared better compared to the crossword puzzles in terms of improving the students' test scores. It fostered teamwork, self-directed learning skills and critical thinking. Crossword puzzles make the session more student friendly as it is fun and engaging but a careful design is inevitable as it may fail to test in-depth learning in students.
OBJETIVOS: O ensino de farmacologia em pequenos grupos oferece uma plataforma eficaz para estimular a interação entre pares e a aprendizagem autodirigida. O presente estudo procurou avaliar e comparar a eficácia e percepção dos alunos em dois métodos pedagógicos diferentes: palavras cruzadas e tutoriais objetivos conduzido pelo aluno (SLOT). MÉTODOS: Alunos do segundo ano de graduação, que deram seu consentimento informado, foram divididos aleatoriamente em dois grupos: um que recebeu palavras cruzadas como método de ensino-aprendizagem e o outro teve SLOT onde os alunos realizaram um questionário interativo com questões de múltipla escolha elaborado por si mesmos. As percepções dos alunos foram registradas por meio de um questionário autoaplicável. Uma semana depois, um teste foi realizado para ambos os grupos e o desempenho dos alunos foi comparado. A análise estatística foi feita usando o teste T de student de amostras independentes. RESULTADOS: As análises revelaram uma diferença estatisticamente significativa (P <0,001) entre as notas médias obtidas no grupo SLOT (n = 74; 6,5±3,8) e as notas obtidas no grupo de palavras cruzadas (n = 87; 4,2±2,9), com os alunos do grupo tutorial tendo melhor desempenho. Os alunos opinaram que as sessões de tutoria objetiva conduzida pelos alunos os ajudaram a entender melhor a Farmacologia, ao passo que as sessões de palavras cruzadas lhes permitiram memorizar os nomes dos medicamentos. CONCLUSÃO: O presente estudo revelou que as sessões do SLOT se saíram melhor comparativamente àquelas com as palavras cruzadas em termos de melhorar as pontuações dos alunos nos testes, assim como promoveu o trabalho em equipe, habilidades de aprendizagem autodirigida e pensamento crítico. As palavras cruzadas tornam a sessão mais amigável ao aluno, pois é divertida e envolvente, mas um design cuidadoso é inevitável, pois pode falhar em testar o aprendizado em profundidade nos alunos.
Sujets)
Enseignement médical premier cycle , EnseignementRésumé
@#Didactic lecture promotes passive learning and fails to motivate students. Small group learning has been widely recommended as it helps to refine understanding of complex issues, to solve the problems, develop critical thinking and apply knowledge to new situations. PALS – a “peer assisted learning” mode where in students discuss in groups and learn from each other. They get motivated and set a platform, which encourages them to communicate and do problem solving. The present study was aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of small group teaching (SGT) and peer assisted learning (PAL) approach among pre clinical medical students. Small groups of students were selected for this study out of the big batch of students pursuing 2nd year MBBS program at AIMST University who were undergoing “respiratory system” block. At the end of lecture-based sessions, a few topics were selected for SGT- PAL session. Students were asked to complete the pretest questions on the selected topics and they were then explained the topics selected for this session. Students had SGT PAL on those selected topics. Then they completed the post test questions on the same topic. Responses obtained for the pre- test and post-test questions were analyzed using SPSS using paired t test and the perceptions on their own understanding using marginal homogeneity test, both showed a significant improvement. SGT and PAL approach helped students to improve understanding of important concepts and can be adopted more widely as an alternative to lectures.
Résumé
Background: Medical schools in India are changing their educational programs and teaching strategies to ensure that students have active responsibility for their learning process and are prepared for lifelong, self-directed learning. Small group teaching (SGT) is one such tool which helps to make learning process student-centered. In this study, we have assessed the effectiveness of SGTs as a supplement to didactic lecture (DL). Objective: The objective of the study was to compare the effectiveness of tutorials versus seminar as a supplement to lecture class. Materials and Methods: In Department of Physiology, SVIMS, Sri Padmavathi Medical College for Women, a DL class on a topic was taken for 150 1st year MBBS students which were followed by tutorials for one half of students and seminar for other half of students on the same topic. It was done for two topics. An assessment was done each at the end of DL, tutorials, and seminar. Students were also asked to fill a feedback questionnaire about the SGTs on a Likert scale. Results: Tutorials showed statistically significant increase in scores in both the topics (6.955 ± 1.83, P = –0.012 and 6.65 ± 1.78, P = 0.006) whereas seminar showed statistically significant increase in only the first topic as compared to DL (6.84 ± 1.77, P = 0.013 and 6.27 ± 2.09, P = 0.25). There was no significant difference in scores between tutorials and seminar. Likert scale showed positive feedback about SGTs and students wanted more such sessions. Conclusions: Since there was a positive response from students regarding SGTs as a supplement to DL, we would like to adopt a mixed approach with SGT as a component of the overall course to ensure knowledge acquisition and retention by the students.
Résumé
Background: Teaching in India is still controlled by teacher-centered class room which would make them bored and exhausted. Educators now strive to provide the most productive class room experience for their students by facilitating small group discussions within the larger class such as seminar presentation by the students etc. Hence the present study was done to assess the perception of medical students regarding seminars in the curriculum towards a small group teaching activity. Objective is to assess the perception of medical students regarding seminars as a teaching learning activity.Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted among 4th semester undergraduate medical students of Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh in the month of June 2016 to assess their perception regarding seminars in the curriculum. A pre-designed, pre-tested self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data.Results: Total number of study participants were 136. Majority 110 (80.9%) of them agreed that seminar is a good academic activity and is helpful in learning. Around 96 (70%) of the students opined that seminars help students engage in higher order thinking tasks. Majority 93.4% agreed that seminars help students to overcome nervousness. About 91.9% felt seminars improve self-confidence and personality development.Conclusions: Students view that, seminars are more effective in deep understanding of the subject and critical thinking than didactic lectures and helps the students to improve self confidence and communication skills.
Résumé
Background: Pharmacology has always been one subject ultimatum and a cornerstone in building up competency, based on applied therapeutics among medical graduates in prescribing and practicing skills. A focus on an integrated strategical approach towards teaching pharmacology for better proficiency in achieving clinical skills is mandatory. Thus, this study has been done to assess the impact and retainment of overall knowledge gained on various domains, based on a revised method of teaching in pharmacology.Methods: An observational, questionnaire based comparative study was done in a medical college, in Chennai. The study included two group of students, one who have completed their pharmacology course based on the revised pattern of teaching with a comparative group of students who have not been exposed to the revised pattern of teaching. A feedback survey was also done.Results: The study results indicated that the average scoring based on the questionnaire was 84% with the students who have been exposed to revised pattern of teaching in comparison to the average scoring of 70% with the students who have not been exposed to the new pattern of teaching. The average scoring of the students who were found to agree to several questions on the new method of teaching was 74% and 22% of the students were found to disagree. 4% of students were non responders.Conclusions: The ultimate improvement in the outcome of health care education can be achieved through appropriate skill building through a simple strategical modification of the regular teaching pattern with an integrated approach involving pharmacologists and clinicians. A refresher course in pharmacology in the final year curriculum and CRRI involving pharmacologists is mandatory.
Résumé
PURPOSE: We tested the effect of team-based learning (TBL) on medical education through the second-year premedical students’ TBL scores in biochemistry classes over 5 years. METHODS: We analyzed the results based on test scores before and after the students’ debate. The groups of students for statistical analysis were divided as follows: group 1 comprised the top-ranked students, group 3 comprised the low-ranked students, and group 2 comprised the medium-ranked students. Therefore, group T comprised 382 students (the total number of students in group 1, 2, and 3). To calibrate the difficulty of the test, original scores were converted into standardized scores. We determined the differences of the tests using Student t-test, and the relationship between scores before, and after the TBL using linear regression tests. RESULTS: Although there was a decrease in the lowest score, group T and 3 showed a significant increase in both original and standardized scores; there was also an increase in the standardized score of group 3. There was a positive correlation between the pre- and the post-debate scores in group T, and 2. And the beta values of the pre-debate scores and “the changes between the pre- and post-debate scores” were statistically significant in both original and standardized scores. CONCLUSION: TBL is one of the educational methods for helping students improve their grades, particularly those of low-ranked students.