Flipped classroom as an effective educational tool in teaching physiology for first-year undergraduate medical students

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Flipped classroom (FC) teaching has recently received much attention in medical education. It has been introduced in our institution for 2 years, and we studied the effectiveness and perception of FC teaching in Physiology for first-year undergraduate students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In total, 150 out of 250 first-year MBBS students participated in this study. They were divided into two groups, each consisting of 75 students. Multiple topics in the cardiovascular system were taught to the students by employing traditional classroom (TC) didactic lectures in group A. The same topics were handled using FC in group B, where the students came prepared with the study materials the facilitator provided before class commenced. A well-planned classroom discussion with a formative assessment was conducted at the end. The test scores were compared between the two groups by using an independent t-test. A feedback report was obtained from both groups’ students to analyze the teaching-learning methods’ accomplishment. RESULT: FC teaching scores were significantly higher than the traditional lecture among all students. Feedback results showed that 93% of students agreed that the resource materials, group discussions, videos, and exercise tools used in FC were very useful; 95% of students agreed that it provided a good understanding and better appreciation of basic science knowledge in health and disease, and 91% reported that it was well-organized with good interaction, clear explanation, relevant information, and encouraged critical thinking with active student participation. CONCLUSION: FC proves to be an effective, interesting, and motivating teaching-learning module. It enhances communication skills, clinical thinking, interaction, and active student participation.