Diversified teaching methods of medical physiology: Effects on examination-forced study

Objective: To diversify the methods of human physiology teaching for medical students at Chang Gung University College of Medicine. Methods: We divided the grades of semester evaluation for physiology into two parts: 70% for lecture-examinations, 30% for non-examination-associated learning model including oral presentation of a scientific paper (conference), problem-based learning (PBL) performance, and quizzes. Results: By a questionnaire survey at the end of the semester, we found that students were willing to spend time preparing non-examination-associated learning model; and from their own evaluations, the effectiveness of non-examination-associated learning was comparable to lecture-examination methods. Conclusion: We conclude that from this analysis of students' learning attitude and actual time (in hours per week) spent in each learning models, non-examination-associated learning model is well accepted and appeares to be as effective as traditional examination-forced study.