GMS Medizinische Informatik, Biometrie und Epidemiologie (Jan 2010)
Teaching the examination of the dog's heart in a blended learning setting – an effective way of using “new media” / Vermittlung der Herzauskultation bei Hunden und der tiermedizinischen Kardiologie als Bended-Learning – eine effektive Nutzung
Abstract
The interpretation of acoustic findings during the examination of the heart in dogs is a great challenge for newcomer veterinarians. To raise the quality of teaching in this area a blended learning elective course was developed in cooperation between the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover and the Szent István University Budapest to prove the acceptance and effectiveness of integrated learning in this special field of veterinary medicine. The course was divided into three parts: I. Kick-off-meeting face-to-face (approx. 1.5 h). II. Self-study with web-based training (80 courselab pages with short text passages, figures, video-clips and mp3-files of heart sounds, approx. 3 h in a 5-day period). III. Face-to-face seminar (approx. 4 h). To evaluate the learning success, a pre-test with 20 MCQ (TypeApos) was written. This test was repeated after the self-study phase and again after the final face-to-face meeting. The acceptance of the web-based training (WBT) was evaluated after part II with a survey containing Likert scale questions (1=no, bad, 2=not very good/much, 3=quite good/much, 4=yes, very good). The course was offered three times as an elective class for third-year students (group A, n=36) and for comparison, twice for fifth-year students in the clinical practical year (group B, n=33). Group B only had the possibility to participate in parts I and II. The students rated the WBT positive (3.3) with good practical relevance (3.2). They had different feelings about the learning success (2.7) and worked with the WBT for 2.3 hours (mean duration of learning). As advantages in the qualitative feedback mainly the mp3-files of the heart sounds and the possibility of independent learning were mentioned. Disadvantages were technical problems with downloading video- and audio-files and with short explanations in the text passages. There were no significant differences between either group in the pre-test. The students in both groups raised their test-score significantly (p<0.001) by using the WBT. Students in group A improved significantly in the test score after the second face-to-face meeting. The feedback of the lecturer regarding the setting was also very good. The students were well prepared using the WBT. The face-to-face meeting occurred in an atmosphere of cooperation and discussion which had positive effects on the motivation of the students as well as on the teacher. In conclusion, the results of the current study showed that the blended-learning concept was not only well accepted by the students, but enhanced the learning effect, reflected in the test results. Furthermore, the face-to-face meetings with the teacher could further increase the learning success than e-learning alone.
