Perceived efficacy and attitude of undergraduate medical students towards teaching learning media

Purpose: Obtaining knowledge of learners and their preferences is vastly underutilized in classroom instruction. This study aimed to assess attitudes of medical undergraduate towards PowerPoint, overhead projector and chalkboard teaching and to compare the perceived efficacy of the three teaching aids.

Methodology: This cross sectional descriptive study was carried out in a medical college in Puducherry during January – February 2012. A self-administered questionnaire in English was given to all undergraduate medical students. The perceived efficacy of the different teaching methods was assessed using a 5 point Likert scale, while preferences and views were collected using open ended questions.

Results: Response rate was 98.3% (361/367). Combination of PowerPoint and blackboard was preferred by 85%. PowerPoint method was preferred for information content, visual enhancement, organised nature and overall delivery of the topics. Blackboard was perceived to be better for making lectures understandable, providing better grasp and retention, resulting in better impact. Transparencies were considered „out dated, unclear, unattractive, boring and not useful‟ by the majority, and illustrations and graphics were preferred for better retention.

Conclusions: Though PowerPoint was found suitable for the visual content and presentation style, students preferred a combination of PowerPoint and blackboard for lecture delivery, while use of transparencies was not preferred. These findings suggest need for changes in the current practice to facilitate overall improvement of the teaching learning experience.