Lectures and collaborative working improves the performance of medical students

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Physiology

Background:

• Effective teaching methodologies are crucial for complex subjects like digestive physiology.
• Active learning strategies, when integrated with lectures, can improve student achievement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of integrating short lectures with collaborative portfolio compilation on first-year medical students' performance and perception in digestive physiology.

Main Methods:

• Students participated in lectures and collaboratively created portfolios on digestive physiology.
• Performance was assessed using cognitive monitoring tests (CMT) and integrative cognitive tests (ICT).
• Student perceptions of the strategy were collected post-intervention.

Main Results:

• The portfolio group showed higher pass rates (grades >7.0) on both CMT and ICT compared to the non-portfolio group.
• The portfolio group exhibited fewer incorrect answers on both assessments.
• The majority of students felt the collaborative portfolio enhanced their learning and were comfortable with group work.

Conclusions:

• Combining short lectures with collaborative portfolio work is an effective strategy for improving digestive physiology learning in medical students.
• This active learning approach positively influences student performance and learning perception.
• Collaborative work within groups was well-received, fostering comfort and equal participation.