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Improving Learning during Pediatric Lectures with Multiple Choice Questions

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Abstract

Objective

To evaluate the role of multiple choice questions (MCQs) administered at the conclusion of the lecture in improving medical student learning.

Methods

This prospective interventional study was conducted in a Medical College. In ten randomly chosen pediatric lectures delivered to prefinal year medical students, MCQs were administered at the conclusion of the lecture and the answers were discussed with the students. After the series of lectures, students were evaluated by hundred ‘single best response’ MCQs with half from the lectures with MCQs self-assessment (MSA group) and the rest were from the other set of lectures (WMSA group). Scores from both groups were compared using paired ‘t’ test.

Results

When the scores from MSA and WMSA groups were compared for the study population, no significant difference was noted. A significant difference (p = 0.003) was found between the groups, when the mean (± SD) scores of the men (25.2 ± 4.8 in the MSA group and 28.6 ± 7.3 in the WMSA group) were compared. No difference was seen among women, whose mean (± SD) scores in the MSA and the WMSA group were 26.6 ± 6.9 and 26.3 ± 6.9 respectively. When the scores of the first half of the session was analyzed, there was significant difference between the two groups among men (p = 0.0001) implying that lectures with MCQs self-assessment improved the long-term retention.

Conclusions

MCQs’ based self-assessment at the conclusion of the lecture does not improve the learning among prefinal year medical students. However, this study has shown the usefulness of MCQs based self-assessment among male medical students.

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Contributions

TSV designed the study, analyzed and critically evaluated the data and revised the manuscript and he will act as the guarantor of the paper. ABT collected the data, analyzed and interpreted the data and drafted the article. RM, VD, BK were involved in designing the study, collecting the data and drafting the manuscript.

Conflict of Interest

None.

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None.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Sri Lakshmi Narayana Institute of Medical Sciences (SLIMS), Osudu, Agaram Village, Villianur Commune, Kodapakkam Post, Pondicherry, 605 502, India

    Tiroumourougane V. Serane, Thirunavukkarasu Arun Babu & Vijaya Devagaran

  2. Department of Dermatology, Sri Lakshmi Narayana Institute of Medical Sciences (SLIMS), Osudu, Agaram Village, Pondicherry, 605 502, India

    Roshni Menon

  3. Department of General Medicine, Jawaharlal Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Pondicherry, 605006, India

    Bhuvaneswari Kothendaraman

Authors
  1. Tiroumourougane V. Serane
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  2. Thirunavukkarasu Arun Babu
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  3. Roshni Menon
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  4. Vijaya Devagaran
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  5. Bhuvaneswari Kothendaraman
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tiroumourougane V. Serane.

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Serane, T.V., Arun Babu, T., Menon, R. et al. Improving Learning during Pediatric Lectures with Multiple Choice Questions. Indian J Pediatr 78, 983–986 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-010-0361-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-010-0361-1

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