Effectiveness of Delivering Key Points in Biochemistry on improvement of academic performance and attitude of first year MBBS students

Abstract

Introduction: The undergraduate students have difficulty in achieving good academic performance in Biochemistry subject. In spite of using various teaching methodologies the teacher is not able to create interest in the subject as well as improve knowledge. This study was undertaken to assess the efficacy of delivering key points on the improvement in academic performance as well as changing their perception about Biochemistry amongst first year MBBS students.

Methods: The study was conducted by the Department of Biochemistry in Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute in the year 2016. Students of 2015 batch were provided with important points in the proper format which were prepared by the faculty. Formative assessment examination marks were compared with students of previous four batches. Also, the perception of delivery of key points was assessed. Ethics approval was obtained from the institutional ethics committee (IEC-NI/16/AUG/55/63). Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version16.0. p<0.05 was considered significant. No funding was obtained for conducting this study.

Results: There was significant increase in the performance of the students in the formative assessment examinations. The students’ responses were positive in more than 80% in all the items of the survey questionnaire.

Conclusion: There was improvement in the academic performance of the students. They said it was useful for understanding and preparing for the examinations.