Assessment of Conventional Teaching Technique in the Era of Medical Education Technology: A Study of Biochemistry Learning Process among First Year Medical Students Using Traditional Chalk and Board Teaching

Sabitha Vadakedath¹, T Sudhakar¹ and Venkataramana Kandi^2,

¹Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Chalmeda Anandrao Institute of Medical Sciences, Karimnagar, Telangana, India

²Department of Clinical Microbiology, Prathima Institute of Medical Sciences, Karimnagar, Telangana, India

Cite this paper:
Sabitha Vadakedath, T Sudhakar and Venkataramana Kandi. Assessment of Conventional Teaching Technique in the Era of Medical Education Technology: A Study of Biochemistry Learning Process among First Year Medical Students Using Traditional Chalk and Board Teaching. American Journal of Educational Research. 2018; 6(8):1137-1140. doi: 10.12691/education-6-8-11

Abstract

Background: In traditional class-room teaching, although we deal with processes of human disease, what is very important for a teacher is to know how much the learners can understand it. From the era when only chalk and board was the method of choice for teaching, currently there are several teaching methodologies available that include the audio-visual aids, overhead projection, PowerPoint presentations, computer graphics and videos. Recently there has been an increase in the usage of modern techniques in teaching and learning processes. Also, there is a debate on whether a traditional chalk and board teaching be completely replaced by the newer medical education technologies. The present study attempts to assess the effectiveness of chalk and board method of teaching biochemistry for first year medical undergraduate students. Methods: The study was conducted at a tertiary care teaching hospital and included 149 first year Medicine (MBBS) students. Chalk and board teaching was used, and a set of ten multiple choice questions (MCQ) was given as a pre-test to all the students before the class with a 10-minute time duration. After completion of the topic, the same set of ten MCQ’s was given as a post-test to all the students in the class. The test was valued, and the marks were noted down. The Microsoft word, and excel were used to prepare and analyze the data. The results of the pre-test and the post-test were interpreted using student t test. Results: Of the 149 study participants and 146 students who completed both the pre and post-test, 123 students had scored more in the post-test compared to the pre-test assessment, accounting for 85% increased marks in post-test. The scores for pre-test and post-tests were 5.87±1.59 (<0.0001) and 7.88±1.58 (<0.0001) respectively. Conclusion: The chalk and board teaching appeared to have been beneficial and had increased the understanding of the subject.

Keywords:
class-room teaching biochemistry human disease chalk and board teaching methodologies audio-visual aids overhead projection PowerPoint presentations computer graphics learning process

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