Lawler Frank H, Cacy Jim
Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73104, USA.
Teach Learn Med. 2005 Spring;17(2):166-8. doi: 10.1207/s15328015tlm1702_11.
The utility of personal digital assistants (PDAs) in basic science medical education is uncertain.
Student outcomes on an epidemiology course final examination for academic years 2003 and 2004 were examined. Students were given permission to use PDAs on the final examination, and self-selected whether these instruments were used. Performance on the examination based on use of a PDA and whether students thought it was useful for the examination was compared.
A total of 389 students took the final examination, with an 88% response rate to the survey questions. No statistically significant differences were found on final examination scores. No trends toward significance were found on analyses of the total examination, specific topical domains, or on specific questions where a PDA might be expected to be especially useful.
From this study, it can be concluded that use of PDAs and whether students thought they might be helpful had no measurable effect on performance on an epidemiology final examination. Further delineation of the possible use of PDAs in a basic science course and on the final examination is indicated.
个人数字助理（PDA）在基础医学教育中的效用尚不确定。
对2003年和2004学年流行病学课程期末考试的学生成绩进行了考查。学生在期末考试中被允许使用PDA，且自行选择是否使用这些工具。比较了基于PDA使用情况的考试成绩以及学生认为其对考试是否有用的情况。
共有389名学生参加了期末考试，对调查问卷问题的回复率为88%。期末考试成绩未发现统计学上的显著差异。在对整个考试、特定主题领域或预期PDA可能特别有用的特定问题进行分析时，未发现显著趋势。
从这项研究可以得出结论，使用PDA以及学生是否认为其可能有帮助，对流行病学期末考试成绩没有可测量的影响。表明需要进一步明确PDA在基础科学课程和期末考试中可能的用途。
