Blended learning mediated fostering of students' engagement in an undergraduate medical education module

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Introduction The study investigated students' perception of introducing blended learning strategies to engage and motivate them towards lecture halls and Problem Based Learning (PBL) sessions for improving the quality of the overall students' learning experience. Methods A prospective study was conducted at the Aga Khan University Medical College involving a total of one hundred four (104) year II medical students for the Endocrine and Reproduction module in the academic year 2018. This module ran for six weeks. Modifications in teaching methods were made for this module introduced after approval from Endocrine & Reproduction module, year II and curriculum committees. Written informed consent was obtained from facilitators and students. To assess the effectiveness of modifications introduced, students' feedback was taken on a Likert's scale of 1-5, at the end of the module. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 20. Results Total 94 (90%) students participated in the written feedback. Forty percent medical students (n=38) responded that videos were useful, 54% (n=51) acknowledged that post-PBL activities like crossword puzzles and Kahoot games, created significant discussions amongst students in a fun yet intellectual manner. Seventy percent of students (n=66) agreed that access to Kahoot was easy and no connectivity issues were faced. Twenty percent students (n=20) endorsed that flipped lectures enhanced understanding of topics, 87% students (n=82) felt that recorded lecture was very helpful and flash cards were found helpful by 14% students (n=12). Conclusion Student engagement is an important issue in medical schools in this era. Results showed that blended learning and educational activities enhanced students' learning motivation and interest.