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The digital age: is this the future of medical education? A cross-sectional study to assess medical students’ opinions about e-learning in psychiatry undergraduate medical education

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 May 2014

D. Mullins ,
F. Jabbar ,
N. Fenlon  and
K. C. Murphy
D. Mullins*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Education and Research Centre, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin 9, Ireland
F. Jabbar
Affiliation:
University of Northern British Columbia, British Columbia, Canada
N. Fenlon
Affiliation:
Irish College of General Practitioners, Lincoln Place, Dublin 2, Ireland
K. C. Murphy
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Education and Research Centre, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin 9, Ireland
*
*Address for correspondence: D. Mullins, Senior Clinical Lecturer in Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Education and Research Centre, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin 9, Ireland. (Email: dianetmullins@rcsi.ie)
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Abstract

Objectives

The main objectives were to assess medical students’ opinions about e-learning in psychiatry undergraduate medical education, and to investigate a possible relationship between learning styles and preferences for learning modalities.

Method

During the academic year 2009/2010, all 231 senior Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) medical students in their penultimate year of study were invited to answer a questionnaire that was posted online on Moodle, the RCSI virtual learning environment.

Results

In all, 186 students responded to the questionnaire, a response rate of 80%. Significantly more students stated a preference for live psychiatry tutorials over e-learning lectures. Students considered flexible learning, having the option of viewing material again and the ability to learn at one’s own pace with e-learning lectures, to be more valuable than having faster and easier information retrieval.

Conclusion

Students prefer traditional in-class studying, even when they are offered a rich e-learning environment. Understanding students’ learning styles has been identified as an important element for e-learning development, delivery and instruction, which can lead to improved student performance.

Keywords

e-learninglearning stylesmedical education
Type
Original Research
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 31 , Issue 2 , June 2014 , pp. 89 - 96
Copyright
© College of Psychiatrists of Ireland 2014 

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