Medical students’ perception of live lectures compared to video lectures in basic sciences medical education: a cross-sectional survey of medical colleges in Pakistan

Abstract BackgroundLive lectures are commonly used in medical education, yet many students prefer video lectures instead. As different learning modalities may affect knowledge, it was necessary to explore medical students’ perspectives about the two learning modalities in Pakistan. ObjectivesThis study aimed to explore and compare the medical students’ perspectives regarding live lectures and video lectures. MethodsThis cross-sectional study used an online questionnaire. This was distributed to medical students via internet platforms after institutional approval. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 23 using descriptive statistics. Results585 students, from 11 medical colleges across six cities of Pakistan, were enrolled. 64.4% (n=377) of the students were females, while 34.0% (n=199) were males. The first years comprised 32.7% (n=191), second years, 29.2% (n=171), and third years, 38.1% (n=223) of the total. The commonest reason for attending live lectures was ‘they are compulsory’. The commonest reason for not attending was ‘poor teaching quality’. 5.0% (n=29) of 585 students reported live lectures and 51.8% (n=290 of 560) found video lectures to be ‘very helpful’ in concept clarification. 85.1% (n=258) of 303 students found video lectures more effective for learning. For 45.4% (n=254) of students, video lectures improved their grades a lot; more students used video lectures for exam preparation over the years. 50.6% (n=296) of students wanted video lectures to be compulsory, compared with 28.5% (n=167) for live lectures. The main improvement in live lectures was not using slides. ConclusionMedical students in Pakistan prefer video lectures over live lectures for learning and exam preparation. More students wanted video lectures to be compulsory in medical education. Several improvements have been suggested for live lectures. Summary boxSection 1: What is already known on this topic?Medical students prefer video-based learning over attending live lectures.The choice of learning modality (video lectures versus live lectures) may affect knowledge and examination scores.Studies have not compared the effectiveness of commercial video lectures (created by any individual, not necessarily affiliated with a medical college, board examination preparation company, or independent person) to live lectures.Section 2: What this study adds?Medical students prefer video lectures to live lectures in basic sciences medical education and most want video lectures to be compulsory in medical education.Medical students find video lectures more effective in concept clarification and use them more often in exam preparation and believe video lectures improve their grades.Medical students do not want (PowerPoint) slides to be used in live lectures.