Computer-Assisted Learning Versus Traditional Theoretical Teaching In Experimental Pharmacology Student Perception

Experimental Pharmacology is an integral component of pharmacological teaching in second professional of MBBS curriculum. With issues related to animal procurement, care, breeding and maintenance, strict regulations by authorities, it has become increasingly difficult to perform experiments on animals. Earlier these were replaced by Traditional Theoretical Instructions (TTI) with the help of previous tracings. To make learning both interesting and interactive for the students newer teaching learning methods needs to be incorporated into the curriculum. Novel concept of learning experimental pharmacology by Computer Assisted Learning (CAL) has emerged as a futuristic trend with potential impact.

To compare the performance of students using CAL and TTI and to determine the students and faculty perception for teaching techniques on five point Likerts scale.

An educational, interventional and cross-over study was conducted in the department of Pharmacology, Himalayan Institute of Medical Sciences, Dehradun. About 150 MBBS II^nd year professional students were recruited in the study. The students were taught experimental pharmacology in two sessions by TTI and CAL. Assessment was done by structured MCQs test and the test scores were compared. Student and faculty perception for CAL was obtained by using 5-points Likert scale.

Student performance was significantly higher in the CAL group in both the sessions. 86% of the students preferred the novel teaching method, that is, CAL for experimental pharmacology learning, 49.6% students found learning by the novel method easier to understand and remember. Novel method of teaching was preferred by 53.3% students and 60% faculty.

CAL was an interactive and preferred method of teaching and learning experimental pharmacology. Thus novel method (CAL) can be used to replace the traditional methods (TTI) for better understanding of Experimental Pharmacology.