Anatomy Teachers’ Perspective of Augmentation of Student Interest & Aptitude Using Multimedia versus Problem Based Learning in Physiotherapy Teaching- A Qualitative pilot study

BACKGROUND: Teachers are builders of society and students of today will determine our tomorrow. The methodology utilized by teachers for physiotherapy teaching is a vital tool for imparting knowledge. PURPOSE: The present study aims to provide an insight into teacher perspective regarding the two teaching methodologies in vogue i.e. use of multimedia and Problem based learning. METHODS: It is universally realized that an objective understanding of anatomy is the foundation for physiotherapy learning. A structured questionnaire with ten items and nineteen sub items was given to 150 anatomy teachers of both sexes (102 males and 48 females) in the age group of 35 to 70 years with a five point Likert scale. RESULTS: These teachers had a mean age of 48 years and were established faculty members in reputed colleges having physiotherapy teaching experience of at least five years They unanimously root for a combination approach ie. Traditional lecture supplemented by Multimedia/Problem Based Learning (PBL) approach. They preferred multimedia approach (76.6%) vis a vis PBL even though majority felt that student eagerness/participation increased more with PBL as compared to multimedia. It emerged that most teachers preferred the ADAM’s software (56%) and Gray’s Anatomy CD/DVD format(51.3%) for visual demonstration and application of structures. Even though they don’t prefer PBL to multimedia as it is time consuming they agree that classes are not repetitive and monotonous with PBL. CONCLUSION: The authors have tried to explain the various views of the educators and the unanimous view on combination approach (100%) with preference for multimedia compared to PBL due to difficulty in topic coverage(40%) with PBL can be utilized in effective curriculum planning and execution. This will lead to good learning and definitely contribute to an effector education system.