Perception of medical students on usefulness of interactive lectures: Can it be a welcome change?

Abstract

Background: Interactive lecture is a student centred teaching technique incorporating, multimodal strategies to create more engaging classroom settings. In our medical college, traditional lecture approach has been the core teaching method. So, we intended bringing in a change to passive way of learning by introducing first interactive lecture in Microbiology. The objective of our study was to evaluate perception of students on the usefulness of interactive lecture over traditional lecture. Methods: A session on Laboratory Diagnosis of Hepatitis B virus was selected. Anonymity of the responses was ensured to the students. Students were given overview about the study design and purpose of the study. Those who are willing to participate were enrolled for the study. A total of 112 students given consent were included. It was planned to provide traditional lecture on the selected topic followed by interactive lecture on the same topic for all 112 students. At the end of both the session, cross sectional survey was conducted using a pre validated questionnaire to assess the usefulness of interactive lecture given. Responses were to be provided on five point Likert scale with a score of 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree and 5= strongly agree. Frequencies of responses were analyzed by merging SDA & DA (Strongly disagree and Disagree) and SA & A (Strongly agree and Agree) as two groups. Percentage of responses was compared. Results: In general, 96% of them perceived interactive lecture was useful and reported that they strongly recommend it to their friends who weren"t there. Out of 112 students, 94(84%) reported interactive lecture was interesting when compared to traditional format. Conclusion: When planned meticulously interactive teaching can definitely can save time and energy. Our study emphasizes the need of interactive lecture in core curriculum for better understanding of the subject.

Comparison of didactic lecture with interactive lecture for learning enhancement in third year BDS students at Nishtar Medical University, Multan.

“…We have observed that our 83.3% participants also voted that interactive learning promoted self-learning. In 2016, study conducted by Jayakumare et al 18 found that majority of students (92%) supported that the interactive lectures promoted self-learning. Our observations suggested majority of participant i.e 96.3% believe that classroom collaboration was enhanced.…”

Student’s perception about Modular teaching and various instructional strategies in the subject of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

“…17 In a published research, 94% students reported that interactive sessions facilitate interest in subject and motivate for more study. 18 According to 95% participants of a study, interactive lecture modules were associated with significant improvement in understanding of subject and better practical skills. 19 Many researchers emphasize that interactive environment increases the critical thinking ability and attention span of learner with improved learning outcomes.…”

Perception of medical undergraduate students about interactive lectures in an outcome-based integrated curriculum: A cross-sectional study

“…In another study conducted by Jayakumar et al . [ 23 ] (2016) 92% of students agreed that the interactive sessions motivated them to study more and 94% reported that interactive sessions builds their confidence. Our observations are in accordance to the published studies.…”