Exploring the Impact of Small Group Teaching and Case-Based Learning on Optometry Students' Binocular Vision Clinical Knowledge.

Introduction: Small group teaching is widely used in healthcare education. Few studies have specifically focused on small group teaching in optometry. This study investigated the effects of small group clinical teaching combined with case-based learning (CBL) on final-year optometry students' knowledge in the assessment, diagnosis and management of accommodation and convergence anomalies.

Methods: Students took part in a tutorial session involving the assessment of accommodation and convergence. A total of 89 final-year optometry students were randomly divided into two groups (control and intervention) prior to attending a binocular vision tutorial. Before undergoing the tutorial, the control group completed 20 multiple-choice questions (sets A and B), whilst the intervention group answered 10 questions (set A) before and the remaining 10 questions (set B) after the tutorial. Non-parametric statistics were employed to investigate the differences in Set A and B scores within and between the groups.

Results: There was no significant difference in set A scores between the control (48.18%, ±17.16) and intervention (43.81%, ±13.43) groups (p = 0.27). The intervention group had significantly higher set B scores (60.71%, ±17.02) than the control group (50.68%, ±17.84) (p = 0.01).

Conclusion: Small group teaching combined with CBL significantly enhances optometry students' knowledge of the diagnosis and management of accommodation and convergence anomalies. This teaching and evaluation methodology has the potential to be applied across all healthcare disciplines.