Transforming Medical Students from Passive to Active Learners: Introducing the Jigsaw Technique in Undergraduate Physiology Teaching

Introduction: Developing interpersonal, collaborative and teamwork skills in medical students from an early stage of their training is crucial for mastering the extensive medical curriculum and excelling in clinical practice. The Jigsaw (JS) teaching technique assigns each student in a group to learn and teach an equally important subtopic, ensuring active participation and promoting cooperative learning. Aim: To evaluate the perceptions of students and faculty regarding the “JS” teaching-learning technique and to assess its effectiveness compared to the traditional didactic lecture method among first-year medical students in Physiology. Materials and Methods: This educational interventional study was conducted at the Department of Physiology, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar State Institute of Medical Sciences, Mohali, Punjab, India, between May 2024 and July 2024, with 97 first-year medical students. Participants were divided into two groups: one exposed to the JS teaching-learning technique and the other to traditional didactic lectures. In the JS method, seven subtopics of a physiology competency were assigned to “parent” groups, which later formed “expert” groups for peer teaching. Two sessions were conducted on separate days with a crossover between groups. The study assessed knowledge acquisition through pre- and post-test scores and perceptions through validated feedback questionnaires. Statistical analysis included paired and independent sample t-tests for test score comparisons, with a p-value of <0.05 considered significant. Results: All 97 participants (38 males, 59 females; mean age: 19.94±1.33 years) completed the study. The majority (89.67%) of students reported that the JS activity improved their communication skills and provided opportunities for team members to share information with one another. Students felt the method enhanced their peer teaching skills, analytical ability, interest in learning physiology and that they became more confident through active peer discussions. Both JS and traditional methods resulted in a statistically significant improvement in pre- and post-test scores (p<0.001). Conclusion: Students in the present study expressed that working as a team in the JS technique enabled them to grasp topics more efficiently, facilitated deeper understanding through active peer discussions and fostered a sense of accomplishment. Such interactive, student-centred teaching-learning methods can be particularly valuable in the early years of medical training, transforming passive learners into active, engaged participants in their own education.