“Blended learning” as an effective teaching and learning strategy in
clinical medicine: a comparative cross sectional university – based study.
Makhdoom, N., Khoshhal, K, I., Algaidi, S., Heissam, K., Zolaly, M, A.
(2013). Journal of Taibah University Medical Sciences, 8 (1): 12-17.
The aim of this study was to
assess the effectiveness of blended learning in studying family medicine as an
example of a clinical medical science. This comparative cross-sectional study
involved 121 fourth-year medical students, at the clinical phase of a family
medicine course at the College of Medicine, Taibah University, Almadinah
Almunawwarah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The students were randomly divided into
two groups: 61 taught by the traditional approach (face-to-face) and 60 taught
by blended learning (both electronic and face-to-face).
Students following the
traditional course received lectures, participated in clinical rounds, kept a
logbook and attended seminars. The students who received blended learning were
taught by the traditional methods and also by use of an electronic course
management system. The system was supported with options for video
conferencing, a discussion board and e-mail. The tutors uploaded all their
lectures and video demonstrations of basic clinical skills. The students
uploaded their logbooks and received feedback electronically. The blended
learning group also had the option of chatting or discussing learning issues
through a discussion board, student forum or video conferencing, individually
or in groups.
Results showed that blended learning was statistically
significantly better than traditional learning in all domains of the
educational environment, except for social perception. The group taught by
blended learning showed significant better performance in written examinations,
objective structured clinical examinations and clinical scenarios examinations.
Thus, students taught by blended learning gained more knowledge and clinical
skills and had better problem-solving, critical thinking and decision-making
skills and attitude.
The overall findings indicated
that blended learning results in a beneficial interaction between students,
teachers and resources and permits greater flexibility and responsiveness in teaching
and learning. In addition, integration of on-line teaching has been shown to
overcome the restrictions of time and place, support teaching methods that are
hard to achieve with textbooks and reach a larger number of students without
increasing resources. It was also stated
that although blended learning can be done in many different ways, the emphasis
is not on the tools: once the learning outcomes of the course have been
selected, the tools that best facilitate achievement of those outcomes should
be chosen.
I completely agree with the authors
that blended learning can be used in many areas of health education. It can certainly
be applied to my teaching setting. The most important factor is to design and
implement blended learning initiatives that are appropriate and match the
outcomes of the learning programmes.
Dear Vanitha,
ReplyDeleteBoth of your articles proved that blended learning is better than traditional teaching. In addition, teachers should focus on the learning outcomes rather than the teaching tools. Blended learning also resulted beneficial interaction between student-student and student-teacher.
It is interesting for me to know that even students' clinical skills are improved by blended learning. I must say that my institution is slow in implementing blended learning especially clinical departments. In my opinion, the attitude of the clinical teacher towards e-learning and their computer anxiety play major roles here. How is it in your bloodbank?
Hello Vanitha,
ReplyDeleteYour article adds up to the body of literature that proves that students who are engaged in blended learning performs better than those who are taught traditionally. It is interesting to know that video demonstrations of basic clinical skills were uploaded and students performed better in their Objective Structured Clinical Exams. I have downloaded the article; it certainly applies to my context as well.
Dear Vanitha,
ReplyDeleteThis study explained the effectiveness of ‘blended learning’ in family medicine training regarding students’ perception of the educational environment and their performance in different types of assessments.
The design and development of the blended learning approach in the study for blended learning is quite comprehensive. I was amazed that students were supported widely with video conferencing, a discussion board and email. This could be done in an institution where technology is quite advanced. I wish we could do that in our context.
I learnt quite a lot from this study in terms of design and development of blended learning. One significant thing that I learnt from this study is how to plan which parts of the curriculum to be delivered face-to-face and which can be delivered on-line; and how to balance between them. For this purpose, I agree that the learning outcome, students’ level, trainer’s experience and electronic resources are important factors to be considered. As “assessment drives learning”, I would also consider types of assessment of the curriculum in division of face-to-face and on-line.