Development and application of a learning enjoyment scale for pedagogical activities.

The impact of learning enjoyment on motivation, enthusiasm, and overall learning experiences is significant. Previous studies, lacking an unbiased tool for measuring enjoyment and confronting various influencing factors, produced conflicting results regarding enjoyment levels in different instructional methods. Hence, we developed a learning enjoyment scale for evaluating both active and passive educational activities. We applied the developed scale to 112 first-year medical and dental students to assess their enjoyment during didactic physiology lectures and explored possible associated factors. Within this data note, we present students' responses to the developed LES. The LES encompasses six dimensions: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, concentration, and enjoyment. Students provided ratings for each dimension on a five-point Likert scale, spanning from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The cumulative scores across the six dimensions range from a minimum of 6 to a maximum of 30. These total scores can be categorized as excellent (> 24), acceptable (18-24), or low (< 18). The second section of the dataset examines specific factors influencing overall enjoyment, such as teacher proficiency, topic difficulty, active student participation, objectives fulfillment, low stress levels, and self-perceived acquisition of skills. In addition to objective measurement of students' enjoyment level, the LES can be utilized for quantitative cross-comparisons between different teaching activities. By employing this dataset, we will undertake an analysis to determine the internal consistency of the Learning Enjoyment Scale (LES), with the anticipation that the outcomes will be published in another venue.

Comparison of Didactic Lectures and Activity-Based Learning for Teaching First-Professional MBBS Students in the Subject of Anatomy.

Background In the field of medical education, traditional methods of teaching and learning have been used for a long time. Various new methods of learning, like activity-based learning (ABL), case-based discussion (CBD), and problem-based learning (PBL), are laying the foundation for this modern era of teaching. This study was a comparative study conducted to determine the effectiveness of activity-based learning and traditional lectures by teaching two topics to MBBS first-year professional students. Aims The study compares the effectiveness of didactic lectures and activity-based learning for MBBS first-year professional students in the subject of anatomy.  Methodology The study was conducted in the Department of Anatomy Hind Institute of Medical Sciences, Barabanki, and included 100 MBBS (2022-2023) first-year students randomly assigned to Group A (n=50, 16 females and 34 males) and Group B (n=50, 23 females and 27 males) through chit methods. The participants were exposed to two different topics of anatomy in the form of activity-based learning as well as didactic lectures. Assessments were done immediately after the exposure in the form of a post-test, and results were analyzed for both groups. Result The results of the study showed that both activity-based learning and didactic lectures were effective in teaching the two topics, but the didactic lecture group had higher retention rates than the activity-based learning group. The mean score of post-tests of students who attended a didactic lecture on the brachial plexus (6.166± 2.11) was slightly higher than that obtained by students who attended activity-based learning (5.625 ± 2.12), but the p-value obtained was not significant (0.249). Whereas the mean of the scores of the post-test obtained by students who attended a didactic lecture on mammary gland was (8.45± 1.20), slightly lower than the mean of the scores of the post-test of students who attended activity-based learning on mammary gland (8.60± 1.16), but the p-value obtained was not significant (0.520). Conclusion This study provides evidence that didactic lectures play an important role in teaching anatomy to MBBS first-year students and cannot be replaced by activity-based learning alone. Lectures followed by activity-based learning can prove to be a newer and more effective teaching-learning method with better outcomes in the form of retention and conceptual understanding of the topics in anatomy.

Modified Conventional Teaching: An Assessment of Clinical Biochemistry Learning Process Among Medical Undergraduate Students Using the Traditional Teaching in Combination with Group Discussion.

BACKGROUND: Clinical biochemistry is a branch of organic chemistry which involves a detailed study on the normal functioning of living cells in relation to the disease. The subject is not only volatile but also complicated. Also, teaching biochemistry to medical undergraduates is really a challenging job. Routine didactic lectures alone may not be enough for students while learning clinical biochemistry. METHODS: This study included 90 first-year medical undergraduate students. They were grouped as three groups of 30 students each. The routine conventional classroom teaching method was followed by a group discussion session. The topics were informed in advance so that they were provided with adequate time to prepare and be mentally ready for the session. The group discussion was preceded by a set of 10 multiple-choice questions (MCQs), and a final assessment of five MCQs following the discussion. RESULTS: There was only minor difference in the marks obtained by various student groups after the group discussion with Group B students (5.5 ± 1.54; p < 0.001) performing better than the other two groups. Students also scored evenly in the final assessment using MCQs with Group A (2.7 ± 1.36; p < 0.001) performing better than the other two groups. Prior to the group discussion session, 33% of the students in all the groups scored more than 75% of marks. The overall performance of all the students after the final assessment using MCQs revealed that 60% of the students scored more than 75% marks. CONCLUSION: The study results confirm the fact that the modified conventional teaching method appears to be better than traditional teaching. The student performances had significantly improved with such kind of education process. The results also highlight the importance of increased student efforts, probably including group discussions and revisions to improve understanding and subject retention.

Case-based Learning in Microbiology: Observations from a North West Indian Medical College.

BACKGROUND: Microbiology is usually taught by conventional lectures, and its retention and application is observed to be poor among medical graduates/practitioners. AIM AND OBJECTIVES: Introduction of case-based learning (CBL) in microbiology for second-year professional MBBS students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Students were divided into two groups of fifty each. Four clinical cases were used for CBL. One group had two CBL sessions whereas the other had didactic lectures (DLs) and then the groups were crossed over. Case scenario handouts were given to students a week before the session, and smaller groups were formed for discussions and presentations in CBL sessions. Posttest, in multiple choice questions format, was conducted in two phases: First, immediately after the completion of the four CBL and DL sessions, and second, 6 weeks after the first posttest. Student and faculty feedback was taken about CBL sessions. RESULTS: Hundred MBBS students of the fourth semester voluntarily participated in the CBL study. The CBL scores were significantly higher than DL session scores (P = 0.015). This difference was more marked in scoring done after 6 weeks of session completion (P < 0.001). Student reported satisfaction in being taught by CBL method in 5-point Likert scale feedback form. Faculty feedback was positive for CBL. CONCLUSIONS: CBL helped in retention of knowledge and its application better than DL in our observation. More sessions on commonly encountered case scenarios will be useful for students in recalling basic science knowledge in their later years as practitioners.

Integrating the ACR Appropriateness Criteria Into the Radiology Clerkship: Comparison of Didactic Format and Group-Based Learning.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine whether group-based or didactic teaching is more effective to teach ACR Appropriateness Criteria to medical students. METHODS: An identical pretest, posttest, and delayed multiple-choice test was used to evaluate the efficacy of the two teaching methods. Descriptive statistics comparing test scores were obtained. RESULTS: On the posttest, the didactic group gained 12.5 points (P < .0001), and the group-based learning students gained 16.3 points (P < .0001). On the delayed test, the didactic group gained 14.4 points (P < .0001), and the group-based learning students gained 11.8 points (P < .001). The gains in scores on both tests were statistically significant for both groups. However, the differences in scores were not statistically significant comparing the two educational methods. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with didactic lectures, group-based learning is more enjoyable, time efficient, and equally efficacious. The choice of educational method can be individualized for each institution on the basis of group size, time constraints, and faculty availability.

Flipped classroom model improves graduate student performance in cardiovascular, respiratory, and renal physiology.

The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a traditional lecture-based curriculum versus a modified "flipped classroom" curriculum of cardiovascular, respiratory, and renal physiology delivered to first-year graduate students. Students in both courses were provided the same notes and recorded lectures. Students in the modified flipped classroom were required to watch the prerecorded lectures before class and then attend class, where they received a quiz or homework covering material in each lecture (valued at 25% of the final grade) followed by a question and answer/problem-solving period. In the traditional curriculum, attending lectures was optional and there were no quizzes. Evaluation of effectiveness and student performance was achieved by having students in both courses take the same multiple-choice exams. Within a comparable group of graduate students, participants in the flipped course scored significantly higher (P ≤ 0.05) on the cardiovascular, respiratory, and weighted cumulative sections by an average of >12 percentage points. Exam averages for students in the flipped course also tended to be higher on the renal section by ∼11 percentage points (P = 0.06). Based on our experience and responses obtained in blinded student surveys, we propose that the use of homework and in-class quizzes were critical motivating factors that likely contributed to the increase in student exam performance. Taken together, our findings support that the flipped classroom model is a highly effective means in which to disseminate key physiological concepts to graduate students.

Concept mapping enhances learning of biochemistry.

BACKGROUND: Teaching basic science courses is challenging in undergraduate medical education because of the ubiquitous use of didactic lectures and reward for recall of factual information during examinations. The purpose of this study is to introduce concept maps with clinical cases (the innovative program) to improve learning of biochemistry course content. METHODS: Participants were first year medical students (n=150) from Saveetha Medical College and Hospital (India); they were randomly divided into two groups of 75, one group attending the traditional program, the other the innovative program. Student performance was measured using three written knowledge tests (each with a maximum score of 20). The students also evaluated the relevance of the learning process using a 12-item questionnaire. RESULTS: Students in the innovative program using concept mapping outperformed those in the traditional didactic program (means of 7.13-8.28 vs. 12.33-13.93, p<0.001). The students gave high positive ratings for the innovative course (93-100% agreement). CONCLUSION: The new concept-mapping program resulted in higher academic performance compared to the traditional course and was perceived favorably by the students. They especially valued the use of concept mapping as learning tools to foster the relevance of biochemistry to clinical practice, and to enhance their reasoning and learning skills, as well as their deeper understanding for biochemistry.