Effectiveness of Whatsapp as a Teaching Learning Tool for Problem Based Learning in Pharmacology: A Quasi-experimental Study

Abstract

Introduction: Instant Messaging Applications (IMAs) like Whatsapp has changed our lives including medical education in many ways. Aim: To explore and compare the effectiveness and acceptability of Whatsapp as a Teaching Learning (TL) tool for Small Group Learning (SGL) sessions when compared with traditional classroom based learning SGL sessions, for a specific topic (pharmacokinetics) in Pharmacology in Problem Based Learning (PBL) sessions. Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted in a tertiary care government medical college in Eastern India on second phase Bachelors of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) students in the year 2021 over a period of five weeks (from March to April 2021). After Didactic Lecture (DL) on the topic, the willing students were randomly divided into two groups, group A (n=46) and group B (n=45). Then group A and group B students attended classroom based and Whatsapp based SGL sessions, respectively, for a period of five consecutive days on "Pharmacokinetics" using PBL method. Students appeared for a Multiple Choice Question (MCQ) based examination (predecided and prevalidated) of 30 marks before and after the SGL sessions. Next, group A students attended Whatsapp based PBL session on the same topic in the same manner as group B and vice-versa. Finally the students filled in a feedback form using a 5-point Likert scale. Results: The post-test scores for both the groups were significantly better compared to the pretest scores; however, there were no significant differences in the post-test scores of both the groups. Regarding students’ feedback on the type of SGL, except for enjoyment (p-value=0.0345) and interactiveness (p-value=0.022), there were no significant differences between the two group scores. The students significantly preferred combination of both types of SGL to either of them (p-value=0.001). Conclusion: In this study, Whatsapp based SGL showed comparable effectiveness as classroom based SGL as measured in terms of MCQ based examination scores. Except for interactiveness and interest, classroom based SGL was equally acceptable to the students as Whatsapp based SGL. Interestingly, the students preferred a combination of both the type of SGL to either of them on the particular topic of Pharmacology.