Students' attitudes towards the use of audio visual aids during didactic lectures in pharmacology

Introduction Students favour teaching methods employing audiovisual aids over didactic lectures not using these aids. However, the optimum use of audiovisual aids is essential for deriving their benefits. This study was done to know the students' preference regarding the various audiovisual aids, with an aim to improve their use in didactic lectures. Methods Two hundred and fifty seven fifth semester medical students were invited to participate in a questionnaire based study. Two hundred and twenty four (87.2%) students completed the questionnaire and their responses were analyzed. The first part of the questionnaire included demographic and educational details. The second part consisted of 12 statements regarding the preference of audiovisual aids for various aspects of learning. Results 41.1% were female students. 85.3% of the students preferred the use of audiovisual aids during didactic lectures. A mixture of audiovisual aids during didactic lectures was preferred (42.4%), especially for understanding a particular topic. Females were more likely to take notes during the class lecture (p<0.001). Males preferred handouts over self made notes (p<0.001). Students from government institutions preferred power point presentations for understanding the subject matter (p=0.03), while those from private schools preferred the blackboard (p=0.04). Conclusion Our study demonstrates that lectures delivered by using a mixture of audio visual aids are more appreciated by the students. Furthermore, the lecture should be constructed in a fashion so as to enable the students to gather factual information easily and in a concise manner. Teachers should note that the students preferred a combination of visual aids and were interested in taking notes during lectures.