QUALITY ASSURANCE OF PHYSIOLOGY LABORATORY TEACHING AT UNIVERSITY OF DAMMAM BY STUDENTS’ FEEDBACK

Abstract

Background: There is a great value of review of teaching and teachers for quality assurance of any curriculum used in medical education. Different types of reviews are used for this purpose. This study was carried out to get students’ feedback about laboratory teaching at Department of Physiology, University of Dammam. Methods: All the second year medical students of session 2008 (Males: 95 and Females: 95) at College of Medicine, University of Dammam were given a questionnaire to fill voluntarily at the end of second semester of second year Physiology course (MDPL-203). The questionnaire contained 10 questions (to be responded on a 5 point Likert scale) about teaching and learning, effect of laboratory work, motivation and development of scientific approach. It also had open ended questions about strengths and weakness of laboratory teaching. Results: Eighty-eight female and 51 male students returned the filled questionnaire. Most of the students found the teaching and learning at Physiology laboratory of great use. They were happy with practical work, small groups learning opportunity and team work. However, they pointed out many weaknesses including less interaction, long teaching hours, less equipment, no lab manual, and less number of practicals. These results were presented at Departmental Board Meeting and steps were taken to ensure remedies for all short comings. Conclusions: Review through students’ feedback is a valuable instrument for quality assurance and quality enhancement of Physiology curriculum.