Effectiveness of a heart disease blended learning program in physiotherapy students: a prospective study

Area of Science:

• Health Professions Education
• Physiotherapy Curriculum Development
• Cardiovascular Disease Education

Background:

• Novel teaching methodologies are emerging to enhance student learning.
• Blended learning (BL) integrates traditional face-to-face teaching with online modalities.
• BL leverages the distinct strengths of both traditional and online educational approaches.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of a blended learning program focused on heart disease.
• The study targeted undergraduate physiotherapy students.

Main Methods:

• An 8-week blended learning program combining face-to-face classes and online resources was implemented.
• 124 undergraduate physiotherapy students participated, with 108 completing the study.
• Knowledge, motivation, engagement, instructional design, and learning behaviors were assessed at various time points.

Main Results:

• Significant increases in knowledge were observed mid-program, at program completion, and at 12 and 20 weeks post-intervention.
• Participants demonstrated high intrinsic motivation and adequate extrinsic motivation.
• Adequate scores were reported for engagement, instructional design, and learning behaviors (downloads, topic visits, online questionnaire completion).

Conclusions:

• The blended learning program is an appropriate methodology for training future physiotherapists.
• The program effectively improved students' knowledge of heart disease.
• High levels of motivation and engagement were achieved, alongside positive feedback on instructional design and learning behaviors.