Abstract

Background: In the developing countries like India, where there is an exponential increase of institutions catering to the medical students and easy availability of study materials through internet, it is a challenge to teaching faculties to teach large number of students drawing their attention per class. Hence, research is needed to identify the needs of students in relation to their day-to-day learning activities. Aims and Objectives: The present study was taken to understand the current teaching aids, to assess the preferences of teaching aids, and to identify the barriers in learning among medical students.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted among 146 voluntary medical students at the end of their theory classes with the prior permission from respective teacher during September and October of 2018 and after getting the Institutional ethics committee permission. The filled responses were analyzed by descriptive statistics.
Results: Out of 146 students, 42.47% were males and 57.53% were females. They preferred more of small group discussion (32.88%) and problem-based learning (28.08%) than didactic lectures (15.75%). In the present study, majority of them preferred bedside teaching (39.73%), following by video lectures (21.92%), mannequin (19.86%), and role play (10.96%), with the least preference to demonstration (7.53%). Moreover, most of them liked to teach using blackboard (54.79%) than power point presentation. Conclusion: The present study concludes that students are preferring more of active way of learning rather than passive didactic teaching. Hence, the teaching habits should focus mainly on improving student’s competencies and communication skills