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
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.
Descriptors: Nonmajors, Science Instruction, Teaching Methods, Physiology, Undergraduate Students, Lecture Method, Homework, Discussion (Teaching Technique), Comparative Analysis, Textbooks, Student Attitudes, Grades (Scholastic), Learning Processes
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