Off-line virtual microscopy in teaching histology to the undergraduate medical students: do the benefits correlate with the learning style preferences?

Introduction: Advances in technology have metamorphosed the methods and tools used in medical education. Teaching microscopic anatomy has shifted in the last few decades from conventional microscopy using light microscope and glass slides to virtual microscopy using computers and virtual slides. Students differ in their learning style preferences. Their performance is optimized when the teaching method or a strategy is adopted to their learning style preference. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of using the off-line virtual slides in teaching histology on the performance of the first-year medical students and to ascertain its suitability to students with different learning style preferences. Method: Learning style preferences of the students was determined by using VARK questionnaire. Students were taught histology using the offline virtual slides. Pre- and post-intervention tests using two methods of examination determined the impact of virtual slides in teaching anatomy to students with different learning style preferences. Results: Using paired t-test, independent t-test and Kruskall Wallis rank test (as applicable), intra- and inter-group scores for the pre- and post-tests were compared. Results revealed significant gain in the scores with the use of virtual slides irrespective of the method of examination or learning style preferences. Discussion: Virtual slides, when used in teaching histology as an adjunct to conventional microscopy, positively influenced the performance of the students irrespective of their learning style preferences. Offline virtual slides can be a via-media approach for using virtual microscopy in the institutions lacking in high-end infrastructure. (C) 2018 Anatomical Society of India. Published by Elsevier, a division of RELX India, Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved.