Effectiveness of teaching: Jigsaw technique vs. lecture for medical students’ Physics course

Background: Cooperative learning considered as one of the greatest innovations in the educational system. Jigsaw learning technique, one form of cooperative learning method, has been successfully used to improve academic achievement among students. The present study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of jigsaw technique with lecture-based teaching method for medical students’ physics course. Methods: A pretest was performed on the students to ensure their literacy. Relevant topics, i.e. bioelectricity (first subject) and application of electricity for diagnosis and treatment (second subject) were then presented to the two groups using mentioned methods. A questionnaire with a confirmed validity and reliability and a posttest were used to measure their learning and assess whether it was satisfactory or not. Results: The mean posttest scores differed significantly between the two groups (p 0.001 for subject 1 and subject 2). More than 80% of the participants agreed or agreed with all the items that assessed their satisfaction with what they had learned in Jigsaw class. However, some of them were concerned about the sufficiency of their learning and their final score. Conclusions: Jigsaw learning technique is recommended as a proper method for teaching physics if the students’ concern about their final score can be resolved and the accuracy of the information conveyed to them is ensured.