Abstract

Background: Lecture still remains the most common mode of instruction in higher education. Students learn from lectures by listening, observing, summarizing, and note taking. Lectures can be supplemented with audiovisual aids for better illustrations, clarity, and learning. Aims and
Objective: To assess student’s perceptions of the impact of different teaching aids and to analyze the preferences for teaching aids of medical versus dental students.
Materials and Methods: Medical and dental undergraduates were asked to fill in 10-item questionnaire about their perceptions on three lecture delivery methods used in our college. The results were analyzed separately for medical and dental students to see any difference in their perceptions. Result: Majority of the medical students (66.05%) preferred PowerPoint (PPT) presentation, whereas 22.21% preferred the use of blackboard (BB) and 11.1% preferred overhead projector transparency (OHPT) for teaching (Po 0.001). Of the dental students, 61.2% preferred PPT presentation, 26.5% preferred BB, and 12.2% preferred OHPT during lectures (Po 0.001). Conclusion: Majority of both the medical and the dental students clearly preferred the use of PPT presentation in lectures over the other two methods. Visual aids such as PPT will motivate the students to learn their subjects, thus making the learning process an enjoyable experience.