OBJECTIVE

To determine if modified Team Based Learning (TBL) was more effective than Traditional Didactic Lecture (TDL) in improving knowledge outcomes about Diabetes management in fourth year medical students and to check the students' view about the TBL method in comparison with their earlier experience with TDL.

STUDY DESIGN

A comparative study.

PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY

Lahore Medical and Dental College, Lahore, from January to February 2011 in 4 weeks.

METHODOLOGY

Modification of the original TBL method as described by Michaelsen was done to accommodate the educational system. A total of 7 sessions were allotted to teach non-communicable diseases to fourth year MBBS students. Session which was scheduled for teaching Diabetes mellitus was conducted first by TDL and three weeks later with the TBL session. MCQ based tests were administered to self paired groups of students first after the TDL session and then after the TBL session. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare post-TDL and post-TBL test scores of the students. Students' views about the TBL session compared to the TDL session were checked by using pre-tested questionnaire.

RESULTS

Seventy two, fourth year MBBS students participated in this TBL session. Majority were females 49 (68.1%). There was improvement of test scores of students after the TBL session when compared to the test scores after TDL session (p < 0.001). Majority of the respondents noted that TBL session was a better learning strategy compared to TDL.

CONCLUSION

The 72 students included in the study achieved higher mean test scores on test questions that assessed their knowledge of Diabetes mellitus content learned using the TBL strategy compared with TDL method (p < 0.001). TBL learning method was favoured by a majority of medical students compared to the TDL session.