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The impact of participatory teaching methods on medical students’ perception of their abilities and knowledge of epidemiology and statistics

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  • Margarita Rubio
  • María Sánchez-Ronco
  • Rosa Mohedano
  • Asunción Hernando

Abstract

Statistics and Epidemiology are crucial both in clinical decision-making and clinical research. Teaching these disciplines in a Bachelor’s Degree in Medicine is a significant challenge. In this paper, we aim to describe two participatory teaching methods used in a yearlong second-year course that includes both Epidemiology and Statistics, and to analyze how these two methodologies affect the students’ perception of the course and their abilities related to these subjects. Both methodologies consist in carrying out a specific practical activity. The first practical activity is carried out using a website and aims to help students understand concepts and interpret information; the second involves analyzing a database using a statistical package and, subsequently, producing a scientific report. In addition, we prepared a questionnaire to find out the students’ perception of these issues. The nine questionnaire items were assessed using a rating scale and adapted to characteristics of the course, which covers Epidemiology and Statistics in an integrated manner. Then we assessed the differences in perception before and after the activities were carried out. The results show that the students’ perception improved significantly in the following items: “importance of Statistics and Epidemiology in Medicine”; “usefulness in clinical practice”; “understanding concepts”; “ability to perform a statistical analysis”; and “ability to sort data”. The difference was not significant in the remaining four items. In conclusion, the students’ perception of their ability in Statistics and Epidemiology significantly improved after completing the practical activities, and their perception of importance and usefulness of these subjects also improved.

Suggested Citation

  • Margarita Rubio & María Sánchez-Ronco & Rosa Mohedano & Asunción Hernando, 2018. "The impact of participatory teaching methods on medical students’ perception of their abilities and knowledge of epidemiology and statistics," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(8), pages 1-12, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0202769
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0202769
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Dejana Stanisavljevic & Goran Trajkovic & Jelena Marinkovic & Zoran Bukumiric & Andja Cirkovic & Natasa Milic, 2014. "Assessing Attitudes towards Statistics among Medical Students: Psychometric Properties of the Serbian Version of the Survey of Attitudes Towards Statistics (SATS)," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(11), pages 1-7, November.
    2. Tracey L Weissgerber & Vesna D Garovic & Jelena S Milin-Lazovic & Stacey J Winham & Zoran Obradovic & Jerome P Trzeciakowski & Natasa M Milic, 2016. "Reinventing Biostatistics Education for Basic Scientists," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(4), pages 1-12, April.
    3. Natasa M Milic & Srdjan Masic & Jelena Milin-Lazovic & Goran Trajkovic & Zoran Bukumiric & Marko Savic & Nikola V Milic & Andja Cirkovic & Milan Gajic & Mirjana Kostic & Aleksandra Ilic & Dejana Stani, 2016. "The Importance of Medical Students' Attitudes Regarding Cognitive Competence for Teaching Applied Statistics: Multi-Site Study and Meta-Analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(10), pages 1-13, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Yousef Elfanagely & Joshua Ray Tanzer & Ricardo Pulido & Hanin Rashid & Liesel Copeland, 2020. "How curricular changes influence medical students’ perceptions of basic science: A pilot study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(7), pages 1-10, July.

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