Bobby Zachariah, Koner Bidhan Chandra, Sridhar M G, Nandeesha H, Renuka P, Setia Sajita, Kumaran S Senthil, Asmathulla S
Department of Biochemistry, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Pondicherry 605 006, India.
Biochem Mol Biol Educ. 2007 Jan;35(1):45-8. doi: 10.1002/bmb.3.
Undergraduate medical students get fewer opportunities to clarify their doubts and to reinforce their understanding of concepts after lecture classes. There is no information available in the literature that addresses the question of usefulness of prior formulation of questions followed by small group discussion by undergraduate medical students as a revision exercise. The purpose of this work is to evaluate the effect of formulation of objective type short answer questions by undergraduate medical students followed by small group discussion on the answers of the questions prepared as a revision exercise on their understanding of the topic "amino acid metabolism" and the retention of the gain after 15 days. At the end of a regular teaching module on the topic of amino acid metabolism, undergraduate medical students were asked to prepare 16 objective type short answer questions on the various aspects of the topic as homework. Small group discussions involving 12-14 students in each group and lasting one hour were conducted on the questions and answers prepared by them in the presence of a faculty member. The effects on low, medium, and high achievers were evaluated with multiple choice questions by pre-test and post-tests before and after the group discussion. Formulation of questions was highly effective in improving understanding on the topic for all the students. The overall mean post-test scores after the formulation of questions (12.6) and after the small group discussion that followed (14.7) were significantly higher than the mean pre-test score (8.5). For high achievers, the gain from formulation of questions was higher than the gain from small group discussion. Small group discussion was highly effective for all students. The gain from small group discussion was higher among the low and medium achievers in comparison with the high achievers. The gain from the exercise was retained among the low, medium, and high achievers after 15 days. In conclusion, formulation of short answer questions followed by small group discussion on the answers of the questions prepared by the undergraduate medical students is an effective revision exercise for improving their understanding on a selected topic.
本科医学生在课堂讲授后，澄清疑问和强化概念理解的机会较少。文献中没有关于本科医学生预先提出问题然后进行小组讨论作为复习练习是否有用的相关信息。本研究的目的是评估本科医学生编制客观型简答题并随后对作为复习练习所准备问题的答案进行小组讨论，对他们理解“氨基酸代谢”主题以及15天后对所学内容的记忆保持情况的影响。在关于氨基酸代谢主题的常规教学模块结束时，要求本科医学生作为作业就该主题的各个方面编制16道客观型简答题。在教师在场的情况下，对他们准备的问题及答案进行了小组讨论，每组12 - 14名学生，持续一小时。通过小组讨论前后的预测试和后测试中的多项选择题，评估了对成绩低、中、高的学生的影响。编制问题对所有学生理解该主题非常有效。编制问题后（12.6）和随后小组讨论后的总体后测试平均分（14.7）显著高于预测试平均分（8.5）。对于成绩优秀的学生，编制问题的收获高于小组讨论。小组讨论对所有学生都非常有效。与成绩优秀的学生相比，成绩低和中等的学生从小组讨论中获得的收获更大。15天后，成绩低、中、高的学生都保持了练习带来的收获。总之，本科医学生编制简答题然后对所编制问题的答案进行小组讨论是一种有效的复习练习，可提高他们对选定主题的理解。
