Modified Conventional Teaching: An Assessment of Clinical Biochemistry Learning Process Among Medical Undergraduate Students Using the Traditional Teaching in Combination with Group Discussion

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Clinical biochemistry is a branch of organic chemistry which involves a detailed study on the normal functioning of living cells in relation to the disease. The subject is not only volatile but also complicated. Also, teaching biochemistry to medical undergraduates is really a challenging job. Routine didactic lectures alone may not be enough for students while learning clinical biochemistry. METHODS: This study included 90 first-year medical undergraduate students. They were grouped as three groups of 30 students each. The routine conventional classroom teaching method was followed by a group discussion session. The topics were informed in advance so that they were provided with adequate time to prepare and be mentally ready for the session. The group discussion was preceded by a set of 10 multiple-choice questions (MCQs), and a final assessment of five MCQs following the discussion. RESULTS: There was only minor difference in the marks obtained by various student groups after the group discussion with Group B students (5.5 ± 1.54; p < 0.001) performing better than the other two groups. Students also scored evenly in the final assessment using MCQs with Group A (2.7 ± 1.36; p < 0.001) performing better than the other two groups. Prior to the group discussion session, 33% of the students in all the groups scored more than 75% of marks. The overall performance of all the students after the final assessment using MCQs revealed that 60% of the students scored more than 75% marks. CONCLUSION: The study results confirm the fact that the modified conventional teaching method appears to be better than traditional teaching. The student performances had significantly improved with such kind of education process. The results also highlight the importance of increased student efforts, probably including group discussions and revisions to improve understanding and subject retention.