Distribution of Handouts in Undergraduate Class to Create More Effective Educational Environment

Introduction: Taking notes is a traditional task for students, although it is rather hard but it helps transferring the educational content. Some universities provide comprehensive notes. However, these full notes might have a negative effect on active attending the class and subsequent academic performance. In this study we evaluate the students’ satisfaction with a partial handout which included some illustrations but required substantial annotation in comparison with comprehensive notes. Methods: A total of 156 medical and pharmacy students who took biochemistry or microbiology courses participated in the study. Power point slides were used in all lectures. At the beginning of half of the classes students were provided with printed handouts, while the remained sessions were presented without handouts. Finally, students’ attitude toward using handouts was evaluated with a questionnaire based on Likert rating scale.

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