Evaluation of the use of digital teaching methods in ultrasound education

Introduction:

In the digital age learning no longer takes place only in analogue form. As part of the student peer-to-peer ultrasound course "Sono for Clinic" (Student Initiative, UM Mainz), the existing digital and conventional teaching methods were evaluated.

Method:

Evaluation sheets of the years 2017/2018 were used to compare different teaching methods and materials (live demonstration, PowerPoint presentations, graphic learning boards, pathology books, drawings on flipcharts).

Live demonstration and PowerPoint presentations were classified as digital teaching methods.

The evaluation was empirically used on a seven-step Likert scale between "fully applicable" and "completely inaccurate".

Results:

356 evaluation sheets were analyzed. There was a moderate to significant equivalence (r = 0.528, p < 0.01, Spearman) of the subjective rating between live demonstration and PowerPoint presentations, so that these two were comparable as digital teaching methods. Digital teaching methods showed a significantly better result in the unpaired t-test (p = 0.001) compared to conventional learning materials (graphic learning boards, pathology book, drawings on flipcharts). However, the actual effect can be classified as "small" or "just below small" (Cohen's d = 0.18).

Conclusions:

The use of digital teaching methods and materials seems to have a positive effect in the context of peer-to-peer ultrasound education, even if the effect seems rather small with the standard teaching methods (PowerPoint presentations) used so far.

The results are motivation enough for us to develop and validate modern learning methods such as software applications for mobile devices in ultrasound education.

Publication History

Publication Date:
23 April 2019 (online)