Introduction:

There are several didactic strategies in the teaching-learning process; the perception of the effectiveness of the teaching method through collaborative learning, as opposed to traditional learning, is little known

Objectives:

To determine the effectiveness of the collaborative learning method compared to traditional learning in research training.

Methodology:

Analytical and cross-sectional study, developed between 2018 and 2019; the sample population consisted of 46 medical students.The effectiveness of collaborative learning and traditional learning was determined by academic performance through a test and the perception of the effectiveness of both methods through a questionnaire. For the inferential statistical analysis, the X2 test and Student's t-test were used, considering a p < 0.05.

Results:

The average age of the students was 25 years (range: 22-39), 29 (63 %) were women. The level of "very good" academic learning was higher with the collaborative learning method compared to the traditional learning method (47.83 % vs. 4.35 %; p = 0.000). Likewise, a significant percentage of "fair" academic learning was achieved with the traditional learning method compared to the collaborative learning method (36.96 % vs. 6.52 %; p = 0.004). The level of learning knowledge about the scientific research process according to academic performance was higher with the application of collaborative learning compared to the group with traditional learning (13.8 ± 2.1 vs. 11.6 ± 3; p = 0.0015).

Conclusions:

The satisfactory perception of the effectiveness of the collaborative learning method was higher compared to traditional learning for research training.