Medical students' perceptions of small group teaching effectiveness in hybrid curriculum

The objective of this study was designed to investigate medical students' perceptions of small group teaching effectiveness in a hybrid curriculum.

A cross-sectional, descriptive survey was conducted at the School of Medicine, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine where we collected the data from 195 undergraduate students. A self-administered questionnaire consisting of 25 items was used to measure students' perception on the effectiveness of problem-based learning (PBL) with regard to learning experience, teamwork, confidence, communication skills, and role of the tutor. Statistical analyses included mean and standard deviation for the description of each item; t-test to compare the mean scores for gender and class year, and one-way analysis of variance between groups for age group comparisons.

The students overall perceptions of small group teaching effectiveness showed that the PBL sessions were beneficial to their learning process (mean: 3.63 ± 0.46). Students have positive perceptions toward small group effectiveness, particularly in learning experience (mean: 3.98 ± 0.63) and teamwork (mean: 3.67 ± 0.58). The mean scores, measuring teamwork, for 2^nd year students was significantly higher than that for 1^st year students (3.76 ± 0.55 and 3.55 ± 0.60 respectively, P = 013). A similar significant trend was observed between 2^nd year and 1^st year students on communication skills (3.48 ± 0.67 and 3.29 ± 0.55, respectively, P = 0.046).

PBL is an effective small group teaching method for medical students. Faculty development and students' training programs are required before implementing PBL.