Abstract

Background: Modern teaching trends in medical education exhibit paradigm shift from conventional classroom teaching to nonconventionalteachingaids.Continuouseffortsarerequiredtoincorporateinnovativeteaching–learningmethodsincurriculumto make learning interesting and interactive for students. Aims and
Objective: Determine students’ perception toward an innovative, active teaching–learning method and its effect on learning.MaterialsandMethods: An intervention study conducted with second- year MBBS students (n = 77) after approval from institutional ethics committee. Test group (n = 44) was taught cardiovascular pharmacology by innovative way while control group (n = 33) was taught the same topic by conventional way. Knowledge of both groups was assessed by pre and post-test of objective type while perceptions of test group toward the innovative way were documented on Likert scale by semi-structured questionnaire. A pre-activity opinion was taken to know about perceptions toward conventionalpharmacologyteachingfromallthestudents.Pairedandindependentt-testswereappliedforstatisticalanalysisofdata. Result: There was no statistically significant difference in performance of pre- and posttest scores between the groups (p4 0.05). Students’ perceptions in the pre-activity questionnaire feedback revealed that more than 60% of students found teaching of pharmacologymonotonousandnotfosteringactivelearning.About70%studentsfelttheneedforactiveteaching–learningmodules that can generate interest in subject. Post-activity feedback revealed that majority of students (about 66%) had enjoyed the new learning process and found it to be more engaging, interesting, and interactive. Conclusion: Students need to be actively engaged while learning and faculty should explore novel teaching practices that help in maintaining students’ interest.