Self Directed Learning: A More Impactful Tool for Learning Tracheostomy by Medical Undergraduate?!

An educational project in medical undergraduate otorhinolaryngology teaching-learningmethodology was designed with the aimof objectively studying the impact of self-directed learning on the topic of tracheostomy, since the latter has been included by the National Medical Commission as a core-competence for students. 150 third-year medical undergraduates participated in the study. They were divided into two groups, namely A and B. Group A was guided to undertake self-directed learning on tracheostomy while Group B underwent a lecture on the sametopic. Thereafter, both the groups responded to a validated feedback performa. Both the groups were assessed before and after the teaching-learning sessions by way of validated multiple-choice questions. Seventy-eight percent of participants from Group A agreed with the fact that they had acquired adequate knowledge on tracheostomy following the self-directed learning session as compared to 93.3% of those in Group B. Lacunae in the knowledge at the end of the teaching sessions were found to be more (27.4%) in Group B as compared to Group A (22%). The results obtained through the preand post-tests found Group A students to be performing significantly better than those in Group B, indicating that self-directed learning had been a more effective method for teaching the skills of tracheostomy as compared to the conventional lecture involving a large group. Self-directed learning, when used alone for a topic like tracheostomy, is more effective than a lecture in terms of reduced lacunae in knowledge and students performance in examinations.