the comparison between teacher centered and student centered educational methods

background and purpose: various approaches to learning are suggested practiced. the traditional medical education were more teacher centered oriented . in this method the students’ involvement in the process of learning is not remarkable, but the new approach to medical education supports the students involvement. this study evaluated the various method of lecturing considering students involvements. methods: one hundred two first year medical and nursing students involved in this study and their opinion about these two methods of learning were obtained by filling of a questionnaire. the subject of the lectures was “general psychology” which was carried out 50% by the students and 50% by the teacher. the statistical analysis was carried out by spss program. results: considering students opinion in student-centered method the various aspect of learning such as mutual understanding, use of textbooks and references were significantly increased , whereas other aspects of learning such as self esteem, study time, innovation, and study attitude though were improved, but were not significant as compared with teacher centered method. in teacher-centered method the understanding of the subjects was significantly increased .other aspects of learning such as motivation and concentration were improved but not significantly as compared with studentcentered method. conclusion: as the result showed student centered method was favored in several aspects of learning while in teacher centered method only understanding of the subject was better . careful choice of teaching method to provide a comprehensive learning experience should take into account these differences.