A randomised trial of an online lecture with and without audio

To determine the impact of adding audio-feed to an online lecture on screening given to medical students who were participating in an outpatient clerkship.

Prospective, randomised, controlled study.

Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville and Wake Forest Medical School, Winston-Salem.

A total of 59 Years 3 and 4 medical students.

Students' use of time, satisfaction with the lecture experience, and knowledge. Educational intervention The online lecture was developed at Vanderbilt University. At Vanderbilt, 16 Year 4 medical students were randomised to the lecture on screening with audio and 17 Year 4 medical students were randomised to the same lecture without audio. At Wake Forest, 13 Year 3 medical students were randomised to the lecture on screening with audio and 13 Year 3 students were randomised to the same lecture without audio.

The audio lecture required 20 more minutes to complete than the non-audio lecture. Students in the audio group were more satisfied with their experience than students in the non-audio group. Students in the audio-feed group achieved a trend for higher post-intervention knowledge scores, with the difference attributed to the students at Vanderbilt.

Audio narration is an important aspect of an online lecture. The distribution of online lectures to students at different sites and different training levels requires further study.