Many within the Medical science education community and beyond see practical work carried out by students as an essential feature of medical science education. Questions have, however, been raised by some medical educators about its effectiveness as a teaching learning strategy. This study explored the effectiveness of practical work by analyzing a “typical” medical science lessons involving practical work in PGDMLT class. The teachers focus in these lessons was predominantly on developing student’s substantive medical knowledge and practical skill. The framework used in this study offers a means of assessing the learning demand of practical tasks, and identifying those that require specific support for students thinking and self learning in order to be effective.