Year: 2025 | Month: December | Volume: 15 | Issue: 12 | Pages: 116-121
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/ijhsr.20251215
Effectiveness of Didactic Lecture Versus Small Group Teaching Methods Among Second Year Medical Undergraduates in Pharmacology: A Comparative Study
Deepak P1, Sahana GN2, Jayashree V Nagaral3
1Professor and Head, Department of Pharmacology, Hassan Institute of Medical Sciences, Hassan, Karnataka, India
2Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology, Hassan Institute of Medical Sciences, Hassan, Karnataka, India
3Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology, Hassan Institute of Medical Sciences, Hassan, Karnataka, India
Corresponding Author: Deepak P
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Since the introduction of the CBME curriculum, the total number of didactic lectures has decreased, and small-group teaching methods have been introduced, unlike the previous curriculum which relied mainly on didactic lectures. It is important to know the effectiveness of small group teaching among the second-year medical undergraduates compared to didactic lectures in learning Pharmacology. Hence, this study has been taken up to know the effectiveness of small group teaching method compared to lecture class and also to test the long-term retention of knowledge.
Aim of the study: To compare the effectiveness of small group teaching and didactic lectures in teaching Pharmacology
Materials and methods: A total of 150 students were randomly divided into two groups of 75 each. A pre test in the form of MCQ was done in both the groups. For group 1, lecture class was done. Group 2 was further divided into small groups of 15 students each and the same topic was taught by problem-based learning. A Post test in the form of MCQ was done in both the groups. Test scores were compared in both the groups by using Students âtâ test. After 2 weeks, one more MCQ test was done to test the long-term retention of the knowledge
Results: Study results shows that there is an improvement in Post test scores compared to pre test scores in both the groups. There is no statistically significant difference between the Post test scores and long-term retention scores between the groups.
Conclusion: Study results showed no significant difference between lecture class and small group teaching methods for the particular topic. However, there is a need to conduct more studies with large sample size.
Key words: Didactic lectures, small group teaching, long term retention