Teaching pathology differently: Comparision between three diverse teaching learning methods

Pathology is a subject which demands deep understanding of the fundamentals. This entails regular reading, discussion, viewing the organs and slides to understand the evolution of the disease. For a sound understanding of the subject a robust clinicopathological correlation is a must. However, quite frequently students resort to rote learning of the concepts which over time leads to losing interest in the subject. In this pandemic induced circumstance, the challenge had suddenly increased.

We embarked on this project with an aim to compare the effectiveness of the traditional didactic lecture (DL), Online web base learning which is the E learning (EL) and a mix of voice annotated/ audio video presentation followed by interactive large group discussion on the topic , which is a Blended learning (BL) and come to the best possible Teaching-Learning Method (TLM).

124 second year MBBS students participated in the study, of which 41 participated in the DL group, 42 were in EL group and 41 were in BL group. They were taught a topic on alcoholic liver disease. There was significant improvement in the scholastic performance of the BL group. The BL group perceived this method as more interesting and interactive.

The study highlights the advantage of BL over EL and DL as the former provides an all round understanding and transforms the learning experience of the students.