Publication:

Assessment of innovations in tutorial method of teaching among medical students

Background The main focus of a tutorial is to make learning more interactive. Enthusiasm and innovations of tutors make tutorials more effective. This study was done to assess the usefulness of few innovative approaches applied during a tutorial session among medical students.

Methods A total of 84 medical undergraduate students were divided in to seven groups with 12 students in each group with a faculty as a facilitator. A pretest was conducted among the students to assess their knowledge and understanding on the topic of discussion. Then the students were given a review article on the topic of discussion to read followed by group discussion. After this each group was assessed by the way of a quiz programme and individually by a post test.

Results The mean scores obtained in the pretest increased significantly in the post test from 53.6% to 83.7%. Most of the students agreed upon the various advantages of this method of teaching. About 97% of the students rated this method of teaching as good and above.

Conclusions Tutorials are effective methods of teaching medical graduates. The innovations used in this study were well appreciated by the students.