PowerPoint versus chalk and board teaching in physiology of vision - A comparative study

Abstract

Background: It was always debated, which one is the best PowerPoint (PPT) or chalk and board (CB), many studies prove the efficacy and advantages of one over another. With an increasing number of medical seats in medical colleges and an extensive syllabus, there has been a constant effort to use modern teaching aids in medical colleges. Most of the studies were qualitative, so we carried out a quantitative study to compare the above methods of teaching. Aims and Objective: The aim of the study was to compare the performance of students after PPT and CB teaching in the physiology of vision for first MBBS students. Materials and Methods: This comparative study was conducted in the department of physiology on April–June 2016. Approval from Institutional Ethical Committee has been taken. After written consent from students, they were divided into two different groups in two different lecture halls at different times; the division was random, each group has 40 students. For the Group I, pre-test and post-test were conducted for 10 min (10 marks) before and after the PPT teaching (30 min). For Group II, same was done after CB teaching. A total of five sessions were conducted for the physiology of vision. The obtained marks by two groups were analyzed with the paired t-test. Results: In post-test, mean marks of CB are slightly higher than PPT. Values are statistically significant on applying the paired t-test in all sessions (except in session 5). Conclusion: In small group, teaching performance of students in CB teaching is better than PPT teaching group, and it is statistically significant.