COMPUTER ASSISTED LEARNING: PERCEPTION AND ACCEPTABILITY OF UNDERGRADUATE MEDICAL STUDENTS IN PHARMACOLOGY EXPERIMENTS

BACKGROUND According to Medical Council of India theory and practical curriculum is very essential for all medical subjects in the undergraduate medical course in India. Animal based experimental pharmacology is still being taught in many institutions in the country, though such a practice has been...

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Published inJournal of evolution of medical and dental sciences Vol. 4; no. 102; pp. 16761 - 16764
Main Authors Babu, Ravi K, Singh, A. Heraman, Palla, Jayasree
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Akshantala Enterprises Private Limited 21.12.2015
Subjects
Analysis
Animal behavior
Animal experimentation
College students
Medical students
Pharmacology
Training
India
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Summary:BACKGROUND According to Medical Council of India theory and practical curriculum is very essential for all medical subjects in the undergraduate medical course in India. Animal based experimental pharmacology is still being taught in many institutions in the country, though such a practice has been abandoned at many centers. However, the use of animals in research and experimentation has been debated, defended and protested by both individuals and organizations at various levels. In recent years undergraduate training in pharmacology has been revolutionized with adoptions of new methods of teaching that focus on supportive learning through novel teaching approaches like CAL (Computer Assisted Learning). OBJECTIVE To assess the student's perception and acceptability of Computer Assisted Learning (CAL) as a tool in demonstrating the drug effects in animals and to analyze feedback about advantages and disadvantages of CAL software. METHODS CAL software was used to demonstrate action of drugs in animals. Feedback was taken from students regarding their perception, acceptability, advantages and disadvantages of this tool. RESULTS More than 50% of the students opined that CAL is an effective method of teaching practical aspects of pharmacology; 88.88% of students expressed that lack of interaction with living tissues and animals is the main disadvantage. CONCLUSION Computer Assisted Learning (CAL) is an excellent beneficial tool. It enhances the learning experience of the students and it is one of the alternative educational tools to demonstrate the drug effects in animals. KEYWORDS Computer Assisted Learning, Perception, Educational Tool, Adjuvant, Pharmacology Experiments.
ISSN:2278-4748
2278-4802
DOI:10.14260/jemds/2015/2511