Student′s preference of various audiovisual aids used in teaching pre- and para-clinical areas of medicine

Abstract

<b>Introduction:</b> The formal lecture is among the oldest teaching methods that have been widely used in medical education. Delivering a lecture is made easy and better by use of audiovisual aids (AV aids) such as blackboard or whiteboard, an overhead projector, and PowerPoint presentation (PPT). <b>Objective:</b> To know the students preference of various AV aids and their use in medical education with an aim to improve their use in didactic lectures. <b>Materials and Methods:</b> The study was carried out among 230 undergraduate medical students of first and second M.B.B.S studying at Malla Reddy Medical College for Women, Hyderabad, Telangana, India during the month of November 2014. Students were asked to answer a questionnaire on the use of AV aids for various aspects of learning. <b>Results:</b> This study indicates that students preferred PPT, the most for a didactic lecture, for better perception of diagrams and flowcharts. Ninety-five percent of the students (first and second M.B.B.S) were stimulated for further reading if they attended a lecture augmented by the use of visual aids. Teacher with good teaching skills and AV aids (58%) was preferred most than a teacher with only good teaching skills (42%). <b>Conclusion:</b> Our study demonstrates that lecture delivered using PPT was more appreciated and preferred by the students. Furthermore, teachers with a proper lesson plan, good interactive and communicating skills are needed for an effective presentation of lecture.