To play or pause: Video-based or conventional lectures in medical classrooms

Abstract

Objectives: Medical knowledge has increased by leaps and bounds over the past century, but our teaching-learning methods remain archaic, lecturing being one of the oldest. This study was conducted to assess the change in knowledge following a conventional lecture and that following a video-based lecture using a medical television (TV) serial. Material and Methods: The students were divided into two groups based on their registration numbers. To one group, a video-based lecture using appropriate clips from a medical TV serial was administered while the other group was taught the same topic using conventional teaching-learning method of a lecture. A pre-test and a post-test were conducted and the change in the results compared. Results: The mean pre-test scores were higher in the successively senior batches of students as compared to the junior batches in both groups. The post-test scores were significantly higher in both the conventional lecture and the video group. Surprisingly, the mean post-test scores in the conventional lecture group were significantly higher than that of video-based lecture group. Students preferred the video-based lecture more than the conventional lecture. Conclusion: Both teaching learning methods have their own advantages. The conventional lecture uses an outcome-oriented session while the video-based sessions do not. The soft skills like breaking bad news, doctor patient communication skills etc which we never teach in conventional lectures can be learnt using these video-based sessions. Thus, we need a blended approach here as well, utilising the strengths of each of the teaching learning methods so that our students can achieve the laid down competencies.