Case Based Learning as a Teaching Learning Tool for Microbiology

Introduction: Medical and health care related education is currently changing. In the present day scenario, didactic lectures are the main stay of teaching Microbiology in most of the medical Colleges. However didactic lecture is a teaching centered method that promotes passive learning. Active learning that integrates the knowledge of basic sciences with clinical conditions is the need of the hour. Case Based learning (CBL) is an interactive student centered approach that engages students in the process of making real world decisions.

Aim: The present study has been planned to assess the effectiveness of case based learning as compared to traditional lecture in teaching Microbiology and also to find out the students and faculty perception on Case based learning.

Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in the Department of Microbiology, ACS Medical College and Hospital, Chennai. Two diseases namely Hepatitis-B and Rabies were selected. Study involved 104 students from II MBBS and they were divided into two groups. Group A underwent a CBL session on Hepatitis-B and Group B had the Didactic lecture session on the same topic and the groups were crossed for the second phase on Rabies. Pre and post-test were conducted for both the groups and the results were analyzed using paired and unpaired t-test. Lastly structured feedback questionnaire on acceptability and usefulness of CBL was obtained from the students and the faculty.

Results: The performance of the students showed a significant improvement after the CBL sessions when compared to the Didactic lecture. Majority of the students felt that CBL is better in understanding Microbiology topic.

Conclusion: The present study shows that CBL is a better method than Didactic Lectures. Therefore CBL can be used as an adjunct to the lectures to strengthen the traditional T/L methods through active learning.