A randomized, controlled, single-blind trial of teaching provided by a computer-based multimedia package versus...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Educational Technology
• Psychiatry Training

Background:

• Computer-based teaching offers potential for effective instruction in psychiatric knowledge and skills.
• Evaluating novel educational modalities is crucial for medical training.
• Traditional lectures remain a cornerstone of medical education.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the effectiveness of computer-based teaching versus traditional lectures.
• To assess the acceptability of computer-based learning among medical students.
• To investigate differences in knowledge and skills acquisition between teaching methods.

Main Methods:

• A single-blind, randomized controlled trial was conducted with 166 undergraduate medical students.
• Participants were assigned to either a structured lecture or a computer-based teaching package of equal duration.
• Knowledge and skills were assessed using both subjective ratings and objective measures.

Main Results:

• Both computer-based and lecture-based teaching led to significant knowledge gains.
• Students rated lectures higher for subjective knowledge and skills, but computer-based learning resulted in higher objective assessment skills.
• Despite ease of use and positive recommendations, students found computer-based teaching less useful than lectures.

Conclusions:

• Objective assessments indicate computer-based teaching is equivalent for knowledge acquisition and superior for skills development compared to lectures.
• Subjective student perceptions of learning are lower with computer-based methods than with traditional lectures.
• Computer-based teaching presents a valuable, albeit subjectively less preferred, tool for medical education.