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Undergraduate Medical Students’ Perception about Learning in Small Group at University of Sharjah



Author(s)

Mousa Abu Ghoush, Mohammed Abdul Qadir, Zaharaa Al-Lami, Safa Al-Abdullah and Nihar Dash

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DOI:10.17265/2328-7136/2016.04.005

Learning in small groups is a key instructional strategy in medicine and more so in the problem based curriculum (PBL). It is perceived that working in small groups enhances acquisition, processing and retention of the ever increasing medical knowledge. Learning in small group will help the students to be better learner and improve their personal, social and cognitive skills. The objective of this study is to describe undergraduate medical students’ perception toward small group learning in a PBL curriculum. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among the undergraduate medical students in the phase 2 of their MBBS program at University of Sharjah. A total of 277 undergraduate medical students participated in the study. The mean age of the study population was 20 years and 61% were female students. The most rewarding experiences as perceived by medical students were exposure to different views (71%), making friends (57%) improving their grades (52%) and underwent personal development (46%). The main disadvantages of small group learning were waste of time (55%), side talks (16%), and other distractions (14%). Majority of students had a positive perception towards small group learning and agreed that it enhances their collaborative learning and team work skills. Small group learning was perceived as a key instructional method in the PBL curriculum [3] and it enhances their grades, learning outcomes, personal development and critical thinking abilities [4].

PBL, small group learning, University of Sharjah, College of Medicine.