DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2013.v01i06.0042

Pages: 837-842

Traditionally, most of the lectures are taken with chalk and board (C&B) in India. However with the economic growth, the use of computer assisted techniques in teaching is inevitable. The use of power-point presentations (PPT) has been increasingly adopted by many of the medical colleges. Present study assesses the students’ perspectives and preferences for chalk and board and power point presentations. Also it evaluates efficacy of these tools as far as examination performance is concerned. Twelve lectures of Head-Neck-Face were delivered to Ist MBBS students, each of 45 minutes, – six by C&B and six by PPT. The standard of lectures was kept good and uniform for both methods. Students were given a questionnaire seeking their opinions about helpfulness of the teaching tools for reproducibility of diagrams and text in examination, retention of lecture information in memory and understanding of simple and complex concepts. After each lecture, examination was conducted to evaluate the reproducibility of diagrams, retention of lecture information in memory and understanding of simple and complex concepts. The answers were evaluated on 10 – point scale. Most of the students opined that C&B is more helpful than PPT for all the three parameters. More than 2/3rd of them preferred chalk - board over PPT. The post lecture test performance endorses the same. We feel that PPT should not replace chalk & board, but be used as a supplementary to enhance the efficacy of teaching. As suggested by recognizable number of students, both methods should be used in combination, as per need of the topic.