Student and faculty perspectives on Laboratory Based Learning (LBL) sessions in Physiology

Objective: To explore students’ and faculty members’ perspectives regarding LBL sessions-the gaps/pitfalls- to explore possibilities for improvement.

Method: Two sets of questionnaires, one each for students and faculty members were developed and administered to the students of first year MBBS (n=113) and Faculty members of physiology department (n=13) of MMMC, Manipal. Both questionnaires had closed-ended questions (no negative statements) inviting responses in the form of Likert scale. Open-ended questions were included in the questionnaire distributed to faculty members. Quantitative analysis was done using SPSS version 16.

Results: Students agreed to all items, with a median score of 4. Students’ responses clearly indicated that, in general, they were satisfied with conduction of LBL sessions in physiology, while, faculty members concurred with them with a median score of 4 for items other than student related and expressed that current LBL sessions were adequate for MBBS curriculum. Faculty members were of the opinion that students need to practice more in LBL sessions. They also suggested inclusion of additional teaching aids in LBL sessions.