TEACHING STRATEGIES

PERCEPTION OF MEDICAL STUDENTS, USED IN BASIC SCIENCES YEARS

Abstract

Objectives: To determine preferences and perceptions of medical students
about teaching strategies in basic sciences years. Study design: Mixed method study. Place
and Duration: Khawaja Muhammad Safdar Medical College, Sialkot, from March 2014 to
July, 2014. Methodology: A total of 77 medical students of 3rd year MBBS were selected
through non-probability convenient sampling for this study. A questionnaire to know about
their preferences and comments about teaching strategies was distributed to the students.
A focus group discussion was also carried out to know in depth opinion of students about
different teaching strategies. Results: Mean age of the medical students was 22.75 ± 1.05
years. Twenty one (27.3%) participants were males and 56 (72.7%) females. Out of 77 students,
22 preferred interactive lectures; 16, small group discussion; 20 problem based learning, 10
preferred demonstration on models. Only 01 students preferred one-way lecture as the best
teaching methodology.More female students (30.3% vs 23.8%) preferred interactive lectures
and more male (28.6% vs 17.8%) students preferred small group discussion as their teaching
strategies. Conclusion: Majority preferred interactive lectures (28.57%) and problem based
learning (25.98%) as teaching strategies. Aligning our teaching strategies with preferences of
the medical students will improve learning and academics.