To Flip or Not to Flip: Learning Style Preferences among Millennial Physician Assistant Students

Introduction: Presenting material in a manner that is most palatable to students is important to improve the learning process. We evaluated the efficacy of different teaching styles including the flipped classroom and assessed the learning style preferences of a cohort of medical learners in a preclinical obstetrics and gynecology course. Methods: We conducted three teaching sessions with 35 physician assistant students. A different teaching style was implemented for each session including a traditional lecture with interactive learning technology augmentation, a flipped classroom, and a hybrid approach incorporating lecture and group work. Students were surveyed using a Likert scale regarding the efficacy of the format, clinical relevance of the material, and their learning preference for future sessions. Results: Students rated the traditional approach as the most effective, most relevant, and most preferred method. Students preferred the flipped classroom least, but they rated it as slightly more effective and relevant than the hybrid approach. Conclusion: The teaching style of various coursework including the preclinical obstetrics and gynecology curriculum may not need to be altered for millennial learners. This study showed the flipped classroom was the least favored teaching style and that there was a marked preference by students for a more traditional didactic lecture.