How We Evaluate Postgraduate Medical E-Learning: Systematic Review.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Digital Learning Technologies
• Instructional Design Evaluation

Background:

• Electronic learning (e-learning) is rapidly evolving in postgraduate medical education.
• Effectiveness evaluation often focuses solely on learning outcomes, neglecting instructional design.
• A comprehensive overview of e-learning design evaluation methods is crucial for identifying preferred approaches.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and compare the outcomes and methods used for evaluating postgraduate medical e-learning.
• To provide insights into current practices for assessing e-learning instructional design.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature review across major databases (Web of Science, PubMed, ERIC, CINAHL).
• Inclusion criteria: studies involving postgraduate participants and any form of e-learning evaluation.
• Exclusion criteria: studies lacking evaluation outcomes.

Main Results:

• Analysis of 418 studies revealed primary outcomes like knowledge, skills, and attitude, evaluated by 12 instruments.
• Secondary outcomes included satisfaction, motivation, efficiency, and usefulness.
• Only 19 studies (4%) evaluated specific e-learning design methods (e.g., usability, learning styles, instructional design theories).

Conclusions:

• Evaluating e-learning design is complex, with diverse methods and a lack of consensus on evaluation indicators.
• A validated, standardized evaluation tool is needed for homogeneous comparison and improvement of e-learning products.
• Further research should focus on developing and testing such a tool.