Sri Krishna Prakash Sistu1, Anullekha Naidu2
INTRODUCTION
The aim of this study is to know about perceptions and preferences of teaching and learning methods in a modern private medical college. A total of 244 students, 126 belonging to 2nd year and 118 belonging to 3rd year were given a pre-informed, semi-structured questionnaire including 20 questions on:
1. Various learning methods, teacher centred vs student centred, problem based learning, seminars, symposiums and group discussions.
2. Various aids including blackboard teaching, oral lectures, power point presentations, video presentations, tutorials, practical sessions.
3. Introduction of MCQs, to paper writing and critical reading, research methods through journal clubs.
4. What to achieve at the end of training?
The collected data was entered in Microsoft Excel and was analysed using SPSS version 19. The data is expressed as proportions and percentages represented in the form of charts and tables.
RESULTS
There is clear shift in preference towards student centred learning from teacher centred learning with an overall 92.7% responded with student centred approach as beneficial for their learning and also an overall 92.6% favoured problem based learning. An overall 51.6% of students favoured inclusion of seminars, symposiums and 64.4% favoured small group discussions to be included into their curriculum and learning. 73.4% preferred integration of all three teaching methods including oral lectures, blackboard teaching and PowerPoint presentations. Almost all the students liked short video demonstrations and animations during the teaching sessions and 98.4% have felt that practical sessions are interesting and preferred them to be part of their curriculum. 93.9% have shown interest regarding introduction of paper writing, critical reading, and introduction to research methods through participation in journal clubs and 89.3% are in favour of e-learning as a method of learning. Finally, 86.1% have agreed that a career based holistic approach towards learning is what the students prefer.
Certainly, the medical education, learning and training seems to be at crossroads with a preference towards a blend of old and new methods catering the needs of students. Further studies should help evaluate and figure out nuances in this area of medical teaching, learning and training.
