Indian Journal of Pharmacology Medknow Publications on behalf of Indian Pharmacological Society ISSN: 0253-7613 EISSN: 1998-3751 Vol. 36, Num. 5, 2004, pp. 327-327

Indian Journal of Pharmacology, Vol. 36, No. 5, October, 2004, pp. 327

Correspondence

Crossword puzzle: A novel teaching-learning method

Srivastava SK

Department of Pharmacology, Surat Municipal, Institute of Medical Education and Research, Nr. Bombay Market, Umarwada, Surat - 395 010
Correspondence Address:Department of Pharmacology, Surat Municipal, Institute of Medical Education and Research, Nr. Bombay Market, Umarwada, Surat - 395 010 sachendra_ks@yahoo.co.in

Code Number: ph04113

Sir,

I read with interest the article on crossword puzzle (G. Sivagnanam, M. Rajasekaran, C. Jayashree, R. Sreepriya, R. Rajakannu. Crossword puzzle: A novel teaching-learning method. Indian J Pharmacol 2004;36:179-80) and I would like to comment on it:

1. The title is misleading as the knowledge of the student has not been evaluated, so how can one conclude that it is a novel teaching learning method (TLM).

2. The objectives mentioned were to gauge the interest among the students and to test the knowledge of the relevant system in pharmacology. However, nowhere in this article was the knowledge of the students evaluated. What is described in the article is the feedback from the students related to the usefulness of the TLM and the level of difficulty of the questions but how much the students have learnt is not evaluated. In this study the conclusion lacks support i.e. on what basis do the authors conclude that it is a novel TLM?

3. In fact it would be better

(a) to compare this (crossword puzzle) TLM with other standard TLMs.
(b) to comparatively evaluate the knowledge of the students gained by the two methods with the help of MCQs or any other equivalent method for objective assessment.
(c) to clarify whether the crossword puzzle as a method of evaluation can be compared with evaluation by MCQ test.
(d) to record students′ feedback as an additional parameter using a viewpoint questionnaire (grading can be poor, average, good and excellent) so as to make the study meaningful and relevant.

Copyright 2004 - Indian Journal of Pharmacology