ABSTRACT
Background Medical education is gradually moving towards self-directed learning, thus the roles of a teacher have assumed wider dimensions than before. The awareness of these roles among medical teachers has been studied in several countries, but no study on the awareness of these roles among Indian medical faculty has been found. The aim of this research was to assess the current and future commitment perception of the roles of a teacher among Indian medical faculty. Methods A cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey regarding the 12 roles of a teacher, as defined by Harden and Crosby, was conducted among medical teachers in a tertiary-level hospital and medical college. The questionnaire consisted of three categories: importance in medical teaching, current commitment, and preferred future commitment to these roles, all measured on a five-point Likert scale. Results The highest mean scores were given to the roles of learning facilitator and on-the-job role model. In contrast, the lowest scores were designated to the production of study guides. Interestingly, the teachers' current commitment to roles such as curriculum planner and course organizer was found to be low. A significant difference was observed between the three categories for the majority of the roles. Younger faculties showed significant difference among categories, while the senior professors did not show significant variations across the roles. Conclusion This study of Indian medical teachers emphasizes the decreased importance attributed to roles like curriculum planning and course organization. Further studies in other developing countries are essential to understand this issue more comprehensively.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: In the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the closure of educational institutions has imposed a situation of potential gap in learning. Since training of medical and paramedical students is vital in creation of our army of these frontline health-care workers, this study was aimed at comparing the asynchronous and synchronous methods of online teaching for imparting training to students of medical laboratory technology (MLT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 33 students of the 1st-year batch of MLT course at a tertiary level hospital. Ten lectures each from the subject of biomedical statistics were delivered through asynchronous (lecture shared on WhatsApp group) and synchronous (online live lecture) methods followed by a brief examination for each topic. A short survey was designed to assess the students' perception of clarity of concepts, confidence of solving the examination, and their preference for one of these methods. Appropriate statistical tests were applied to the data. RESULTS: Synchronous method of online teaching was preferred by majority of the students (P < 0.001). Students' clarity in understanding of the concepts (P < 0.001) and confidence of the ability to solve examination questions (P < 0.05) was higher after synchronous teaching. The examination scores after synchronous online teaching were significantly higher (P = 0.0156) than those for topics covered through asynchronous method. CONCLUSION: Online teaching, especially the synchronous method, offers an opportunity of continuum of training during crisis situations such as the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic. The wide availability of internet services and the ever-changing global situation mandates readiness for this modality of teaching, both for the teachers and the students.