A Comparative Study of Team-Based Learning on the Traditional Method of Conducting Tutorials in Physiology for First Year MBBS Students

Abstract

BACKGROUND In medical education, didactic lectures, tutorials, bedside clinics, etc. are some of the teaching-learning method incorporated in the curriculum. Most of the methods are teacher oriented where students are not involved much. Active participation of the students, i.e. student centered approach increases the understanding of the subject. In physiology, the tutorials are conducted to discuss the individual topics. It was observed that active participation of students in physiology tutorials is less. This study was undertaken to actively involve the students during tutorials and to assess their understanding by Team-Based Learning (TBL). MATERIALS AND METHODS In this study, the performance of the students in team-based learning was compared with the traditional learning. The pretest and post-test was conducted at the beginning and at the end of the tutorial in both the groups. In the study group, the tutorial topics were discussed in teams, whereas in control group, the tutorial was conducted by traditional method. RESULTS There was a significant increase in performance in post-test in study group compared to control group (p <0.001). TBL sessions will be more interesting and interacting compared to traditional method. TBL method improves the student's understanding of the topics in detail and hence enhances the performance. CONCLUSION The different teaching-learning methods, which increase the student's involvement should be implemented in the medical education to facilitate the learning process.

The Perception of Physiologists Toward Implementing Team-based Learning in Sudan: A national-scale Cross-sectional Study

“…After discussion with the participants using the NGT, the most voted answer was TBL is the best option for tutorials because students can learn from the discussion between the members and the final discussion with the teacher. This result is consistent with a study conducted by Amalladinna et al (18) which compared traditional ways of teaching with the TBL technique in tutorial teaching in physiology education. Facilitation in TBL differs from facilitation of other modalities of the small group settings (19).…”