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Effectiveness of Small Group Discussions for Teaching Specific Pharmacology Concepts

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Abstract

Small group discussions are used in medical education to reinforce learning and to promote the application of knowledge. Small group discussions can involve a variety of tasks, such as critical thinking, self-directed learning, problem-solving, and brainstorming. The objective of this study is to find out if small group discussions can improve students’ learning of specific pharmacology topics and students’ performance on assessments. In the present study, small group discussions were utilized for six unique topics in the pharmacology course, and knowledge-based tests were administered before and after small group discussions to examine their efficacy. Statistically significant improvement in knowledge gains was observed for antimicrobials and neuropharmacology topics, but not for anticancer agents. Students’ performance in topics that had group discussions was better on summative assessments compared with the overall performance on the summative assessment in the pharmacology (study group; summer 2018). Students’ (study group; summer 2018) overall grade on the summative assessment of the pharmacology course was better than overall pharmacology grade on the summative assessment of students who had no group discussions (control group; winter 2018). Students’ perceptions of the small group discussions were satisfactory, suggesting group discussions may be an enjoyable way to improve students’ performance in some pharmacology topics.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge educational and fellowship committee of International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE), and, Dr. Kelly Quesnelle, Dr. Kathryn Huggett, Dr. Amber Heck, and Dr. Joseph Stein.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Avalon University School of Medicine, Willemstad, Curacao, Netherlands Antilles

    Sireesha Bala Arja, Kumar Ponnusamy, Praveen Kottathveetil, Tarig Fadlallah Altahir Ahmed, Reshma Fatteh & Sateesh Babu Arja

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  1. Sireesha Bala Arja
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  2. Kumar Ponnusamy
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Correspondence to Sireesha Bala Arja.

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This study is approved by the Research and Ethics committee of Avalon University School of Medicine.

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Informed written consent was taken from all participants (students) and they had a right to decline participation in this study.

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Arja, S.B., Ponnusamy, K., Kottathveetil, P. et al. Effectiveness of Small Group Discussions for Teaching Specific Pharmacology Concepts. Med.Sci.Educ. 30, 713–718 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-020-00938-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-020-00938-9

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