Interactive intragroup tutorials: a need-based modification to enhance learning in physiology.

A TUTORIAL is a period of instruction given by a university or college tutor to an individual or a very small group. Essentially, it is a small class of a few students in which the tutor (a lecturer or other academic staff member) gives individual attention to every learner. The tutorial focuses on certain subject areas and generally proceeds with careful reading of selected primary texts and working through associated exercises. In Indian medical curricula, it is adopted as a significant method of teaching learning across all subjects. Despite obvious benefits, there are challenges attributable to traditional tutorials (TT) such as an increase in student number and decrease in the number of faculty members/specialty, as prescribed by regulatory bodies (2). This often leads to a tutorial being conducted in larger groups, more so, as a teacher-controlled activity with little or no active involvement of learners. Students get a limited opportunity to express their opinions and enhance communication skills. In this regard, some studies (1, 2) have also reported an incongruence between educational theory and practice in the traditional tutorial (TT) method. Since the tutorial is a regular activity in physiology at our university, it has necessitated certain beneficial yet less resource-intensive modifications that favor the active involvement of learners. The modification so proposed is in consonance with the potential advantages of the traditional method. TTs. The routine practice for taking tutorials is to divide the batch of 150 first-phase Bachelor of Medicine Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) students into groups of four (group A: 37 students, group B: 37 students, group C: 37 students, and group D: 39 students). The topic to be discussed for the tutorial is displayed on the notice board 2 days previously, and students are asked to be prepared with the same. On the day of the tutorial, this topic is discussed in small groups by a tutor assigned to the group. The discussion is semistructured, mostly focusing on gray areas about the topic, as identified by the tutor. In this type of tutorials, much of the participation can be observed from more motivated students or those that are well prepared. There are passive recipients and dominant responders. Interactive intragroup tutorials. Keeping in view the challenges of tutorials being conducted in the traditional way, we made certain modifications (hence, interactive intragroup tutorials). The topic is selected for tutorials by a multivoting system by the students. The topic, along with its subtopics to be discussed, is displayed on notice boards 2 days previously. The allocation of groups is as shown in Fig. 1. On the day of the tutorial, one subtopic is allotted to each group (by the tutor), and students are asked to prepare a comprehensive writeup about that topic in 20 min. It is ensured that they follow all principles of group dynamics, i.e., the way in which the group functions and types of interactions that take place within the group (the principles of group dynamics are taught during postings in the communication skills laboratory). The tutor (only one) monitors the intragroup discussions during that Address for reprint requests and other correspondence: T. K. Srivastava, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Sciences, Sawangi (Meghe), Wardha, Maharashtra 442004, India (e-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]).