Technology-based vs. traditional instruction. A comparison of two methods for teaching the skill of performing a 12-lead ECG.
The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of an interactive, multimedia CD-ROM with traditional methods of teaching the skill of performing a 12-lead ECG. A randomized pre/posttest experimental design was used. Seventy-seven baccalaureate nursing students in a required, senior-level critical-care course at a large midwestern university were recruited for the study. Two teaching methods were compared. The traditional method included a self-study module, a brief lecture and demonstration by an instructor, and hands-on experience using a plastic manikin and a real 12-lead ECG machine in the learning laboratory. The second method covered the same content using an interactive, multimedia CD-ROM embedded with virtual reality and supplemented with a self-study module. There were no significant (p < .05) baseline differences in pretest scores between the two groups and no significant differences by group in cognitive gains, student satisfaction with their learning method, or perception of self-efficacy in performing the skill. Overall results indicated that both groups were satisfied with their instructional method and were similar in their ability to demonstrate the skill correctly on a live, simulated patient. This evaluation study is a beginning step to assess new and potentially more cost-effective teaching methods and their effects on student learning outcomes and behaviors, including the transfer of skill acquisition via a computer simulation to a real patient.
Indiana University School of Nursing, Indianapolis, USA.
Pamela R
PR
Jeffries
Shirley
S
Woolf
Beverly
B
Linde
D000328:Adult; D019034:CD-I; D004508:Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate; D004562:Electrocardiography / Q000451:nursing*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015146:Midwestern United States; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods*