Spaced education activates students in a theoretical radiological science course

TY - JOUR

T1 - Spaced education activates students in a theoretical radiological science course

T2 - a pilot study

AU - Nkenke, Emeka

AU - Vairaktaris, Elefterios

AU - Bauersachs, Anne

AU - Eitner, Stephan

AU - Budach, Alexander

AU - Knipfer, Christian

AU - Stelzle, Florian

PY - 2012/5/23

Y1 - 2012/5/23

N2 - BACKGROUND: The present study aimed at determining if the addition of spaced education to traditional face-to-face lectures increased the time students kept busy with the learning content of a theoretical radiological science course.METHODS: The study comprised two groups of 21 third-year dental students. The students were randomly assigned to a "traditional group" and a "spaced education group". Both groups followed a traditional face-to-face course. The intervention in the spaced education group was performed in way that these students received e-mails with a delay of 14 days to each face-to-face lecture. These e-mails contained multiple choice questions on the learning content of the lectures. The students returned their answers to the questions also by e-mail. On return they received an additional e-mail that included the correct answers and additional explanatory material.All students of both groups documented the time they worked on the learning content of the different lectures before a multiple choice exam was held after the completion of the course. All students of both groups completed the TRIL questionnaire (Trierer Inventar zur Lehrevaluation) for the evaluation of courses at university after the completion of the course. The results for the time invested in the learning content and the results of the questionnaire for the two groups were compared using the Mann-Whitney-U test.RESULTS: The spaced education group spent significantly more time (216.2 ± 123.9 min) on keeping busy with the learning content compared to the traditional group (58.4 ± 94.8 min, p < .0005). The spaced education group rated the didactics of the course significantly better than the traditional group (p = .034). The students of the spaced education group also felt that their needs were fulfilled significantly better compared to the traditional group as far as communication with the teacher was concerned (p = .022).CONCLUSIONS: Adding spaced education to a face-to-face theoretical radiological science course activates students in a way that they spend significantly more time on keeping busy with the learning content.

AB - BACKGROUND: The present study aimed at determining if the addition of spaced education to traditional face-to-face lectures increased the time students kept busy with the learning content of a theoretical radiological science course.METHODS: The study comprised two groups of 21 third-year dental students. The students were randomly assigned to a "traditional group" and a "spaced education group". Both groups followed a traditional face-to-face course. The intervention in the spaced education group was performed in way that these students received e-mails with a delay of 14 days to each face-to-face lecture. These e-mails contained multiple choice questions on the learning content of the lectures. The students returned their answers to the questions also by e-mail. On return they received an additional e-mail that included the correct answers and additional explanatory material.All students of both groups documented the time they worked on the learning content of the different lectures before a multiple choice exam was held after the completion of the course. All students of both groups completed the TRIL questionnaire (Trierer Inventar zur Lehrevaluation) for the evaluation of courses at university after the completion of the course. The results for the time invested in the learning content and the results of the questionnaire for the two groups were compared using the Mann-Whitney-U test.RESULTS: The spaced education group spent significantly more time (216.2 ± 123.9 min) on keeping busy with the learning content compared to the traditional group (58.4 ± 94.8 min, p < .0005). The spaced education group rated the didactics of the course significantly better than the traditional group (p = .034). The students of the spaced education group also felt that their needs were fulfilled significantly better compared to the traditional group as far as communication with the teacher was concerned (p = .022).CONCLUSIONS: Adding spaced education to a face-to-face theoretical radiological science course activates students in a way that they spend significantly more time on keeping busy with the learning content.

KW - Adult

KW - Attitude of Health Personnel

KW - Attitude to Computers

KW - Choice Behavior

KW - Computer-Assisted Instruction

KW - Curriculum

KW - Education, Dental

KW - Female

KW - Germany

KW - Humans

KW - Male

KW - Models, Theoretical

KW - Motivation

KW - Radiography, Dental

KW - Radiology

KW - Students, Dental

KW - Surveys and Questionnaires

KW - Young Adult

KW - Comparative Study

KW - Journal Article

KW - Randomized Controlled Trial

KW - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

U2 - 10.1186/1472-6920-12-32

DO - 10.1186/1472-6920-12-32

M3 - SCORING: Journal article

C2 - 22621409

VL - 12

SP - 32

JO - BMC MED EDUC

JF - BMC MED EDUC

SN - 1472-6920

ER -