Comparison of viewpoints of dermatology medical students involved in teaching-learning process about two methods of learning: group discussion versus lecture

The World Federation for Medical Education developed standards for medical education and recommended medical schools to encourage their students to take active responsibility for their self-learning، and prepare them for lifelong learning. The purpose of this study was to compare the viewpoints of medical students about the effectiveness of their participation in two methods of teaching-learning process، group discussion versus lecture. This cross-sectional study was performed between the years 2011-2013 during which 19 one-month courses of dermatology for medical students were presented. In each course، attended by 5-7 students، 16 sessions of dermatology theory classes were planned. The first four sessions were completely presented by medical tutors and the next 12 sessions involved active student participation، 6 presented as group discussions and 6 aslecture presentation. At the end of each course the students’ perspective were asked by using a questionnaire evaluating the effectiveness of each method. From 102 students that participated in this study the following results were attained: 94 students (92. 15%) considered group discussion more efficient than conference presentation (2 students [1. 96%])، 5 (4. 9%) reported both methods were efficient and 1 student (0. 98%) said that none of these two methods were useful. The reasons that students preferred group discussion were: studying the subject matters before class and mental readiness، active participation of all students، learning at a higher degree and better durability of the subject in mind، expression of key points by the medical teacher، restatement of subject matters and enthusiasm of the class in group discussion. Group discussion is a valuable technique in teaching-learning process which requires active participation of all students، leading to deeper understanding of the subject matters، self-learning and more attention to key points، it also makes the class more lively.