Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Copenhagen University Hospital Bispebjerg, Copenhagen, Denmark;
Med Educ Online. 2013 Nov 13;18:21877. doi: 10.3402/meo.v18i0.21877.
The fast development of e-learning and social forums demands us to update our understanding of e-learning and peer learning. We aimed to investigate if higher, pre-defined levels of e-learning or social interaction in web forums improved students' learning ability.
One hundred and twenty Danish medical students were randomized to six groups all with 20 students (eCases level 1, eCases level 2, eCases level 2+, eTextbook level 1, eTextbook level 2, and eTextbook level 2+). All students participated in a pre-test, Group 1 participated in an interactive case-based e-learning program, while Group 2 was presented with textbook material electronically. The 2+ groups were able to discuss the material between themselves in a web forum. The subject was head injury and associated treatment and observation guidelines in the emergency room. Following the e-learning, all students completed a post-test. Pre- and post-tests both consisted of 25 questions randomly chosen from a pool of 50 different questions.
All students concluded the study with comparable pre-test results. Students at Level 2 (in both groups) improved statistically significant compared to students at level 1 (p>0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between level 2 and level 2+. However, level 2+ was associated with statistically significant greater student's satisfaction than the rest of the students (p>0.05).
This study applies a new way of comparing different types of e-learning using a pre-defined level division and the possibility of peer learning. Our findings show that higher levels of e-learning does in fact provide better results when compared with the same type of e-learning at lower levels. While social interaction in web forums increase student satisfaction, learning ability does not seem to change. Both findings are relevant when designing new e-learning materials.
电子学习和社交论坛的快速发展要求我们更新对电子学习和同伴学习的理解。我们旨在研究网络论坛中更高、预先设定的电子学习或社交互动水平是否能提高学生的学习能力。
120 名丹麦医学生被随机分为六组，每组 20 名学生（eCases 水平 1、eCases 水平 2、eCases 水平 2+、eTextbook 水平 1、eTextbook 水平 2 和 eTextbook 水平 2+）。所有学生都参加了前测，第 1 组参加了基于案例的互动电子学习计划，而第 2 组则通过电子方式呈现了课本材料。2+组的学生可以在网络论坛上相互讨论材料。主题是头部损伤及其在急诊室的治疗和观察指南。电子学习结束后，所有学生都完成了后测。前测和后测都由从 50 个不同问题组成的题库中随机抽取的 25 个问题组成。
所有学生在前测中都取得了可比的成绩。与 1 级（两组）相比，2 级（两组）的学生统计学上有显著提高（p>0.05）。2 级和 2+级之间没有统计学上的显著差异。然而，2+级与其他学生相比，学生满意度有统计学上的显著提高（p>0.05）。
本研究采用了一种新的方法，通过预先设定的水平划分和同伴学习的可能性，比较了不同类型的电子学习。我们的发现表明，与较低水平的相同类型的电子学习相比，更高水平的电子学习实际上提供了更好的结果。虽然网络论坛中的社交互动提高了学生的满意度，但学习能力似乎没有改变。这两个发现都与设计新的电子学习材料有关。
