Assessment of audiovisual aids in teaching anatomy: the students perspective

Background: With advancement of technologies, medical education has been changed vastly. Audiovisual aids like overhead projections (OHP) and power point presentations (PPT) are replacing traditional teaching methods of using chalk and board (C&B) alone. Recent and vast knowledge in a limited time of lectures cannot be provided to the students by chalk and board only. So, use of different audiovisual aids can supplement our lectures for better illustrations, learning, and understanding of the topic. Aims and Objectives: The objective of our study was to find out first year medical students preference for different teaching aids i.e., Chalk and board, Overhead projection and Power point presentation commonly used in medical teaching. Materials and Methods: A Cross-sectional, pre-structured, pre-tested, self-administered questionnaire based study was conducted in English among first year medical students of 2015-16 batch, MNR Medical college and hospital, Sangareddy, Telangana. 100 first semester medical students including girls and boys participated in the present study. A 16 item questionnaires were used to get the opinion of students regarding different teaching aids. Statistical analysis: Data was entered in MS excel and were analyzed. Results were shown with the help of tables and figures as bar diagram and pie charts. Results: In present study, most preferred (63%) teaching aid was the combination of chalk and board and power point presentation. 68% students feels lectures were easy to understand and subject per lecture is covered more by combination of chalk and board and power point presentation. Chalk and board is preferred for drawing diagrams (36%) and for better problem solving (55%). Best mode to recall tough points (46%), understanding flow charts (54%) and for demonstration of clinical aspects (61%) was power point presentation. Overhead projection was the least preferred mode of teaching among students. 72% students prefer quick revision by using multiple choice questions (MCQs) and 67% feels videos or animations to be used for better understanding of the topics. Conclusion: Present day medical students prefer combination of teaching aids rather than traditional method of chalk and board only. Chalk and board should always be supplemented with power point presentations or overhead projections for improvement of medical teaching.