Abstract:

The goal of this study was to assess the criticisms, viewpoints and suggestions of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd year of students of Istanbul Medical Faculty about Biochemistry education (theoretical and practical) including examinations. These data were obtained from the questionnaires which were administered to the students at the last practical studies of each term (autumn and spring) and all participants were asked to answer each item in the questionnaire on five point scale as 1=strongly disagree, 2= disagree, 3= not sure, 4= agree, 5= strongly agree. The numbers of 1st, 2nd 3rd, 4th and 6th half-term year of participant students were 309, 299, 306, 280, 233, respectively. The technical presentation of 1st and 2nd year lectures were approved by a small percentage of students. Most of the subjects were not found interesting and stimulating. However, almost half of the 3rd year students had positive viewpoints about clinical biochemistry lessons. As for the 1st and 2nd year practical studies, a very small group of students had positive views on both the appropriateness of the goals of education and also usefulness in professional life. On the contrary, most of the 3rd year students had positive opinions from this point of view. Most of the students prefer to have test questions with multiple choice in both theoretical and practical examinations. But they have been suggesting that the exams are generally of inferior quality in terms of accurate evaluations. The questionnaires have been received with pleasure by our students and perceived as an index of being considered important. Since the average percentage of participation is almost 90%, the reliability of the results obtained are very high. Our results indicate that, more than half of our students were pleased with the education system in Istanbul Medical Faculty. However, it appears that the positive sides of our classical education should be strengthened and improved by using various processes. In particular, advanced technology-based facilities should be used by all teachers to improve the teaching effectiveness. In addition, the interaction skills between educators and students should also be strengthened. It also appears that the students should be encouraged to try to ask questions by the educators. It is concluded that, student opinions obtained from the present study, may be beneficial for future planning of our Biochemistry Education, for preparing our core education curriculum, for improving the teaching presentation of our university teachers and also for improving the teacher/student interaction.

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