Can e-learning impart medical students with complex knowledge? A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

BjarneSkjødt Worm, Kenneth Jensen

E-learning is a promising educational tool that is rapidly increasing in complexity and contents. While e-learning has proved more effective than no intervention and as effective as classroom teaching methods, little is known about its value in relaying contents of different levels of complexity to students. We wanted to compare knowledge test results after the use of e-cases with textbook learning and case-based classroom teaching for simple recall and complex problemsolving. After a general two-day introduction to emergency room topics, 60 medical students were evenly randomized to two groups and given internetbased knowledge tests before and after head trauma teaching (correct answers from 15 randomly chosen questions from a pool of 30 questions). The Glascow Coma Scale was used for simple recall, and scenarios for emergency room head trauma were used for complex problem-solving. Time spent on educational material was measured. For simple recall, all methods were equally effective. For problem-solving, the eCases group achieved a comparable knowledge level to case-based classroom teaching, while textbook learning was inferior to both (p<0.01). The textbook group also spent the least amount of time on acquiring knowledge (18 minutes, p<0.001), while the eCases group spent marginally more time on the subject (39 minutes vs 30 minutes, p=0.06). eCases are an effective tool for imparting problemsolving ability to medical students, and future studies using higher-level e-learning are encouraged. Simple recall skills, however, do not require any particular learning method.