Comparison of a computer tutorial with other methods for teaching well-newborn care

Research using a computer-assisted instructional program developed for teaching well-newborn care is described. Third-year medical students were randomly assigned during their week-long nursery rotation into three groups to study the acceptability and effectiveness of using the computer-assisted instructional lessons. Group A, the control group, was not required to complete any additional educational task. Group B was assigned specific reading material. Group C completed the microcomputer-based tutorial. (The term tutorial is often used interchangeably to describe the computer-assisted instructional program.) Both groups B and C improved dramatically on a posttest in comparison with group A. There was no statistically significant difference between groups B and C on the improvement from pretest to posttest scores. However, significantly less time was spent by group C completing the tutorial compared with the total time spent reading by group B. The results of this study provide further illustration of the feasibility and effectiveness of using a computer-assisted instructional program for medical student education.