Perception of Undergraduate Medical Students and Faculty towards Team Based Learning as a Teaching Tool- A Cross-sectional Study

Introduction: In India, the fast-changing medical education scenario needs to differentiate the meaningful learning from rote learning into the medical practice. Team Based Learning (TBL) is a dialectic form of learning where students learn in small groups or teams. Aim: The present study was conducted to introduce TBL methodology in ophthalmology subject as learning strategy among undergraduate medical students and to evaluate the perceptions of students and faculties towards TBL methodology. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in a tertiary care teaching hospital of Uttar Pradesh, India, from December 2019 to February 2020. Total 120 Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) students of 3rd year part 1 participated in the study. Main TBL sessions were conducted in two phases, wherein during preclass preparation the topic glaucoma was assigned to the students. In phase 1 individual Readiness Assurance Test (iRAT) and team Readiness Assurance Test (tRAT) were conducted using MCQs. In phase 2, tRAT was conducted for real-life clinical situations on glaucoma. Data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 20.0 software version. Results: In all 120 participants with the 100% response rate, mean score of iRAT, tRAT in phase 1 and tRAT in phase 2 was 18.9 +/- 5.24, 26.16 +/- 3.89 and 27.91 +/- 4.56, respectively. Majority of students perceived that TBL helped in understanding the glaucoma well and improved teacher student relationship. Almost all faculty members agreed that TBL was an innovative teaching method to develop critical thinking and imbibe subject knowledge in students. Conclusion: TBL as an innovative Teaching Learning (TL) method was well implemented and accepted among medical students and teaching faculty because TBL established rationale thinking and problem-solving skills.