Journal of Research in Medical Education & Ethics

Undergraduate (UG) students, posted in Pediatrics, were unable to develop competencies in the four core (4C) areas of diet, immunisation, growth and development when taught in traditional small group teaching (SGT) tutorials. In a pilot study, the students developed these competencies when the tutorial was augmented with two other forms of SGT: (1) demonstration and (2) a group discussion.

To compare two sets of SGT, viz. tutorial versus tutorial along with demonstration and a group discussion for the development of 4C.

It was an interventional educational study. After approval of institutional ethics committee, UG students were taught the 4C in four tutorials (traditional). This teaching was augmented with a demonstration and a group discussion (intervention). The improvement in knowledge and skills was measured by a pre-and post-test questionnaire, a pre-and post-clinical assessment using a checklist and a feedback questionnaire.

There was statistically significant (P<.001) improvement in the knowledge of students as shown by pre-and post-test questionnaire (mean score: 0.5/1 versus 0.88/1) and in skills as seen by the checklists 1 and 2 (mean score: 2.04/5 versus 3.03/5). The feedback was in the favour of the intervention.

Increased learning occurs with more interventional SGT methods like demonstration and group discussion. Combination of SGT should be used to impart skills for the 4C.