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ERIC Number: EJ1407996
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023
Pages: 9
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1043-4046
EISSN: EISSN-1522-1229
Perspectives of Nonmajor Undergraduate Students on the Impact of Group Discussions in Learning Physiology
Elikplimi K. Asem
Advances in Physiology Education, v47 n4 p856-864 2023
A 3-year study (2017-2019) was conducted to obtain the views of nonmajor undergraduate students about discussions in learning physiology. The teaching methods used were lecture only (lecture), group discussion alone (discussion), and a combination of lecture and discussion (lecture + discussion). Students were assigned homework in a textbook, and they did not have access to textbook/notes during discussions. Under these conditions, 58% of students indicated that they learned best with lecture + discussion strategy, compared with 49% for lecture and 18% for discussion approaches. Remarkably, 61% of students said the discussion did not enhance learning; by comparison, 35% and 14% had the same views about lecture and lecture + discussion, respectively. Furthermore, if given the opportunity to choose a teaching/learning environment, 66% of students would select lecture + discussion, 33% would pick lecture, and only 6% would choose discussion setting. As many as 77% of students would reject the discussion setting if given the choice. The opinions of students were similar irrespective of their expected grades (whether A, B, or C); however, greater proportions of B or C students disliked discussion than A students. Thus, whereas 63% of A students disliked discussion, 81% of B students and 83% of C students disliked it. Also, 64% of students indicated that they would have been poorly prepared for classes without assigned homework. Essential outcomes of this study include undergraduates viewed the lecture + discussion setting as a supportive/desirable environment for learning physiology, and they consistently rated the lecture method higher than the discussion-only approach. Students did not relish learning physiology in a discussion-only setting. These findings may help in establishing teaching/learning environments from the student's perspective.
American Physiological Society. 9650 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20814-3991. Tel: 301-634-7164; Fax: 301-634-7241; e-mail: webmaster@the-aps.org; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2487/journal/advances
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: N/A
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A