Assessment of undergraduates’ preferences and opinions on teaching of Pharmacology
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/2319-2003.ijbcp20180090Keywords:
Assessment, Feedback, Preference, Pharmacology, Teaching methods, Undergraduate studentsAbstract
Background: The preference and opinion of undergraduate students on teaching of pharmacology was assessed using structured-based questionnaires. The objective was to determine the best way to teach pharmacology and the areas the students prefer most.
Methods: The questionnaires were administered to students during academic sessions in any of their pharmacology lectures by the help of technical assistants. It was also ensured that the identity of the students was not made known except for the gender. A total of 8 questions with options ranging from 2-4 were used. Each respondent was to select only one option as the most preferred. A total of 405 students participated during the study period and it was ensured that no student participated more than once. The students recruited were 4th and 5th year medical and pharmacy students of the University of Jos, Jos, Nigeria for the 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 academic sessions.
Results: The results showed that the students have high preference for latest technology teaching aids such as power point presentation and use of software for lecture notes.
Conclusions: Knowledge of pharmacodynamics, clinical pharmacology and laboratory experiment were preferred and significant differences exist between observed and expected results and also between males and females in preferences among some of the options. Students need to be informed at the beginning of their lectures that pharmacology is a subject that must be regarded as a whole with no areas of preference.
Metrics
References
Saroyan A, Sneill L. Variations in teaching styles. Higher Educ. 1997;33:85-104.
Tikoo D, Gupta M, Geeta S. Student feedback on teaching-learning methodology and evaluation methods in pharmacology. Int. J. Basic Clin. Pharmacol. 2015;4(6):1260-6.
Barry OP, Sullivian EO, McCarthy M. Periodic review sessions contribute to student learning across the disciplines in pharmacology. J. Sch. Teaching. Learning. 2015;15(1):38-56.
Westwood P. What teachers need to know about teaching methods, Camberwell, Vic., Australian Council for Education Research (ACER) Press, Australia; 2008.
Chulwant KS. Comparison of two teaching methods, structured interactive lecture and conventional lectures. Biomed. Res. 2012;23(3):363-6.
Rogers KM. A feasibility study on the development and integration of teaching aid for pharmacology. Int. J. Modern Educ. Forum. 2012;1(2):53-6.
Achike FI, Ogle CW. Information overload in the teaching of pharmacology. J. Clin. Pharmacol. 2000;40(2):177-83.
Natu MV, Sigh T. Objective structure practical examination (OSPE) on pharmacology students’ point of view. Indian J. Pharmacol. 1994;26:188-9.
Shefield GM. Integrating clinical pharmacology teaching with general practice. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1998;45:399-401.
Hosseini DR. How to use power-point effectively. Educ. Stat. Med, Sci. 2008;1:2-10.
Zgheib NK, Simoan JA, Sabra R. Using team-based learning to teach pharmacology to second year medical students improves student performance. Medical Teaching 2010;32(2):130-5.
Eteraf-Oskouer T, Najafi M. The effective teaching method of pharmacology for the students in the Faculty of Health and Nutrition in Tabrez University of Medical Sciences. Res. Dev. Med. Educ. 2013;2(1):7-11.
Lloyd H, Hinton T, Bullock S, Babey AM, Davis E, Fernandes L, et al. An evaluation of pharmacology curricula in Australian Science and Health-related degree programs. BMC. Med. Educ. 2013;13:153-67.
Mathur VS. Towards a more meaningful teaching of pharmacology. Indian J Pharmacol. 2004;36:259-61.
Garg A, Rataboli PV, Muchandi K. Students’ opinion on the prevailing teaching methods in pharmacology and changes recommended. Indian J. Pharmacol. 2004;38(3):155-8.
Badyal DK, Bala S, Kathuria P. Student evaluation of teaching and assessment methods in pharmacology. Indian J. Pharmacol. 2010;42(2):87-9.