ENHANCING UNDERGRADUATE MEDICAL STUDENT EXPERIENCE THROUGH ACTIVE LEARNING: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

It is important for the higher education institutions nowadays, to consider and provide various strategies to achieve learning outcomes of the program and to enrich the undergraduate experience. According to past literatures, active learning strategies were found to be superior in enhancing the student engagement and attention compared to the traditional lectures. This paper shares the experience of active learning from the teaching perspective through my self-reflection on the usage of various active learning activities at a private university in Malaysia to enhance the undergraduate medical student engagement and learning experience. The provision of useful pre-learning materials such as online videos, quizzes, reading articles and clinical scenarios assist better understanding of the topic before the real active session and enrich critical thinking and problem-solving skills. During the active session, the usage of team activities improves collaborative, cooperative learning and team work. The students get opportunity to engage in the learning activities and discussion among them which encourages higher order thinking and deeper learning. In addition, the usage of available technology with live interactive audience participation to share the group discussions and to project the correct answers further supports the learning activities. Drawing, annotating the diagrams and concept maps assists better understanding of the basic concepts and mechanism of actions of the drugs. The relevant examples of clinical cases are useful for integration of basic science and clinical application which reinforces learning. The challenges include time for preparation, planning and designing the sessions, training the academics, feasibility of technology and concerns on the content coverage.