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Students can learn medicine with computers. Evaluation of an interactive computer learning package in geriatric
P V Andrews1, J Schwarz, R D Helme
1National Research Institute of Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine, North West Hospital, Mount Royal Campus, Parkville, Vic.
Objective:
To assess the effectiveness of a computer-aided learning program on dementia.
Design:
Fourth year medical students were arbitrarily assigned to groups that used a computer-aided learning program (65) or had a tutorial covering similar material (73). These sessions were in addition to a base curriculum in a two-week course in geriatric medicine.
Main Outcome Measures:
The effectiveness of the teaching sessions was judged by the performance on a multiple choice questionnaire about dementia, given to the students on two occasions, one at the beginning and one at the end of the two-week course.
Results:
Both groups of students scored significantly better on the second test (computer group, 66% [95% confidence interval, 64-69] to 81% [79-83] and tutorial group, 66% [63-67] to 74% [73-77]). The difference between the groups at the start of the course was not significant (F1,136 = 0.61, P = 0.61); however, there was a significant difference between the groups at the end of the course (F1,136 = 21.83, P < 0.001).
Conclusion:
Both groups improved their knowledge of dementia during the two-week course. Students who used the computer-aided learning programs showed a greater improvement in score. Computer learning programs are effective learning tools and are a useful addition to traditional teaching methods. Further study is required to assess the effects of computer-aided learning programs in long-term studies of dementia knowledge.