A Comparative Study of Lecture and Discussion Methods in education of Basic Life Support and Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support for medical students

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Comparing lecture and small-group discussion for medical students in emergency department.
METHODS: Over a 2-year period, 155 fourth to fifth-year medical students in the emergency department were given educational sessions on basic life support (BLS) and adult advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) by a single instructor, either in a traditional lecture format, in a small-group discussion and a combination of two methods. After the instructional sessions, students anonymously completed a 20-question multiple-choice examination on the covered topics. At the completion of session, students repeated the same multiple-choice examination. They also completed an evaluation form on the instructional format, using a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree).
RESULTS: There was significantly a higher level of enjoyment in the lecture plus discussion group; however, there were no differences in the test scores immediately after the instructional sessions.
CONCLUSION: Medical students learning about BLS and ACLS preferred lecture and small-group discussions over traditional lectures or discussion groups. However, this preference did not lead to improved test scores on these subjects.