Small group discussion: Students perspectives.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Physiology Teaching
• Pedagogy

Background:

• Medical colleges increasingly use alternative methods to supplement traditional physiology lectures.
• Small group teaching encompasses diverse activities like problem-solving, role-playing, and debates.
• Group discussions are known to enhance material synthesis and retention.

Purpose of the Study:

• To implement a problem-based learning approach connecting basic sciences with clinical scenarios via self-learning.
• To cultivate students' soft skills and understanding of group dynamics.
• To introduce and evaluate a novel teaching-learning methodology.

Main Methods:

• An experimental study design involved 120 first-year medical students (2014-2015 batch).
• Students were divided into small groups of 15 for facilitated discussions.
• Feedback was collected from 40 students using a five-point Likert scale, with data analyzed via SPSS.

Main Results:

• 70% of students found small group discussions interactive, friendly, and innovative.
• These discussions fostered better teacher-student interaction.
• Participants reported enhanced thought processes and improved communication skills.

Conclusions:

• Small group discussions create a more interactive and friendly learning environment, bridging the teacher-student gap.
• The methodology demonstrably improves students' communication abilities.
• Small group discussion is a more effective educational strategy compared to traditional teaching methods.