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Does E-learning Facilitate Medical Education in Pediatric Neurology?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2023

Brittany Curry Open the ORCID record for Brittany Curry [Opens in a new window] ,
Sarah Buttle Open the ORCID record for Sarah Buttle [Opens in a new window] ,
Hugh J. McMillan Open the ORCID record for Hugh J. McMillan [Opens in a new window] ,
Richard Webster ,
Deepti Reddy ,
Aneesh Karir ,
Stewart Spence ,
Aleksandra Mineyko ,
Hilary Writer  and
Heather MacLean
...Show all authors
Brittany Curry
Affiliation:
Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, ON, Canada Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), Ottawa, ON, Canada
Sarah Buttle
Affiliation:
Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), Ottawa, ON, Canada University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Hugh J. McMillan
Affiliation:
Montreal Children’s Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
Richard Webster
Affiliation:
Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), Ottawa, ON, Canada
Deepti Reddy
Affiliation:
Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), Ottawa, ON, Canada
Aneesh Karir
Affiliation:
Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
Stewart Spence
Affiliation:
The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Aleksandra Mineyko
Affiliation:
Alberta Children’s Hospital, Calgary, AB, Canada
Hilary Writer
Affiliation:
Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), Ottawa, ON, Canada University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Heather MacLean
Affiliation:
University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine, Ottawa, ON, Canada The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Daniela Pohl*
Affiliation:
Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), Ottawa, ON, Canada University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine, Ottawa, ON, Canada
*
Corresponding author: Daniela Pohl, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), 401 Smyth Road, Ottawa, ON, K1H 8L1, Canada. Email: dpohl@cheo.on.ca
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Abstract:

Background:

E-learning has become commonplace in medical education. Incorporation of multimedia, clinical cases, and interactive elements has increased its attractiveness over textbooks. Although there has been an expansion of e-learning in medicine, the feasibility of e-learning in pediatric neurology is unclear. This study evaluates knowledge acquisition and satisfaction using pediatric neurology e-learning compared to conventional learning.

Methods:

Residents of Canadian pediatrics, neurology, and pediatric neurology programs and medical students from Queens University, Western University, and the University of Ottawa were invited to participate. Learners were randomly assigned two review papers and two ebrain modules in a four-topic crossover design. Participants completed pre-tests, experience surveys, and post-tests. We calculated the median change in score from pre-test to post-test and constructed a mixed-effects model to determine the effect of variables on post-test scores.

Results:

In total, 119 individuals participated (53 medical students; 66 residents). Ebrain had a larger positive change than review papers in post-test score from pre-test score for the pediatric stroke learning topic but a smaller positive change for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, childhood absence epilepsy, and acute disseminated encephalomyelitis. Learning topics showed statistical relationship to post-test scores (p = 0.04). Depending on topic, 57–92% (N = 59–66) of respondents favored e-learning over review article learning.

Conclusions:

Ebrain users scored higher on post-tests than review paper users. However, the effect is small and it is unclear if it is educationally meaningful. Although the difference in scores may not be substantially different, most learners preferred e-learning. Future projects should focus on improving the quality and efficacy of e-learning modules.

Résumé :

RÉSUMÉ :

L’apprentissage en ligne facilite-t-il la formation médicale en neurologie pédiatrique?

Contexte :

L’apprentissage en ligne est devenu chose courante en formation médicale. L’intégration du multimédia, des cas cliniques et de l’interactivité a eu pour effet de rendre ce mode d’apprentissage plus attrayant que les livres. Certes, l’apprentissage en ligne a pris de l’essor en médecine, mais on ne connaît pas très bien la faisabilité de l’apprentissage en ligne en neurologie pédiatrique. L’étude visait donc à évaluer l’acquisition des connaissances en neurologie pédiatrique par l’apprentissage en ligne, de même que le degré de satisfaction, et à les comparer avec la formule classique d’apprentissage.

Méthode :

Des résidents et résidentes inscrits aux programmes de pédiatrie, de neurologie et de neurologie pédiatrique au Canada ainsi que des étudiants et étudiantes en médecine de l’Université Queen’s, de l’Université Western et de l’Université d’Ottawa ont été invités à participer à l’étude. Les apprenants ont été répartis au hasard vers deux articles de synthèse ou vers deux modules d’apprentissage ebrain selon un plan d’étude croisé comptant quatre sujets. Les participants ont répondu à des prétests et à des post-tests ainsi qu’à un questionnaire d’enquête sur leur expérience. L’équipe de recherche a par la suite calculé l’écart médian entre les résultats obtenus aux prétests et aux post-tests, puis élaboré un modèle à effets mixtes pour déterminer l’effet des variables sur les résultats aux post-tests.

Résultats :

Au total, 119 sujets (53 étudiants en médecine et 66 résidents) ont participé à l’étude. Les résultats aux post-tests par rapport aux prétests ont révélé un écart favorable plus grand pour ebrain que pour les articles de synthèse en ce qui concerne les accidents vasculaires cérébraux chez les enfants, mais cet écart favorable était plus mince pour la myopathie de Duchenne, les absences de l’enfant et l’encéphalite aiguë disséminée. Une relation statistique a été établie entre les sujets d’apprentissage et les résultats obtenus aux post-tests (p = 0,04). Selon les sujets étudiés, de 57 à 92 % (n = 59–66) des répondants préféraient l’apprentissage en ligne à celui par les articles de synthèse.

Conclusion :

Les utilisateurs d’ebrain ont enregistré des résultats plus élevés aux post-tests que les apprenants par les articles de synthèse. Toutefois, l’écart est faible, et peut-être n’est-il pas significatif sur le plan pédagogique. Malgré des différences peu importantes, la plupart des apprenants ont indiqué une préférence pour l’apprentissage en ligne. Aussi faudrait-il à l’avenir s’attacher à améliorer la qualité et l’efficacité des modules d’apprentissage en ligne.

Keywords

Postgrad medical educationNeurology – educationPediatric neurologyLearning and memory
Type
Original Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences , Volume 51 , Issue 2 , March 2024 , pp. 196 - 202
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Canadian Neurological Sciences Federation

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