Effectiveness of team teaching in biochemistry lectures for undergraduate students.

Abstract

Team teaching is an innovative method to engage the large group and make lectures more interesting. The aim of the study is to evaluate the impact of team teaching in first year biochemistry lecture classes. After obtaining ethical clearance, 150 first year medical undergraduate students participated in the study on a voluntary basis. Topic identified for team teaching was "Protein biosynthesis" in Biochemistry, which was designed to be carried out in 5 h of lecture by three teachers. At the end of the team teaching module and traditional lectures, a structured anonymous feedback was obtained from the students. At the end of each class, students' understanding of the lecture was assessed by an MCQ test comprising 5-6 items, which mainly tested the recollection and understanding levels of Bloom's taxonomy. This was compared with traditional lectures. The mean MCQ test score was significantly higher for team teaching when compared to traditional teaching. The students had increased attention span and were able to answer questions from later part of the class in team lectures. The students had reported that lectures taught by team were more interesting and informative. They also felt that the team was more receptive to the doubts raised, stimulated discussion on the topic and had a better rapport with the class.