Evaluating the effectiveness of pre- and post-test model of learning in a medical school

Background: Didactic lecture is one of the most widely accepted methods among teaching and learning methodology. Because of time restriction and vast syllabus to be covered through lectures, feedback knowledge before and after the lectures to assess the extent knowledge of learners gained provides the platform for feedback method to improve the lectures to make it more receptive for students. Aims and Objectives: Aims and objectives were to evaluate the knowledge of didactic lecture among students by giving pre- and post-test questionnaire based evaluation technique. Material and Methods: 2nd year MBBS students (4th and 5th term) after obtaining their consent for voluntary participation, asked to take the pretest containing 10 questions on antiamoebic drugs, and the same 10 questions were provided at the end of the lecture as a post-test questionnaire to assess the effectiveness of the teaching as well as the receptive power of students and their pre- and post-lecture knowledge. Papers were valued on score basis and improvement, data recorded, interpreted, and analyzed. Results: There was significant improvement in the recipient knowledge after post-lecture assessment when compared to pretest. Out of 156 students, only 56 (35.90%) obtained scores between 5 and 8 and 100 (64.10%) were below 5. These scores were improved in post-test by 78.21% (122) obtained scores between 5 and 8, while 21.79% (34) got scores more than 8 indicating the high recipient group reflecting good improvement in cognitive structure. Conclusion: Voluntary participation in such tests provides feedback on teachers teaching effectiveness and adequacy of knowledge gained by learners.