Evaluation of medical students' expectations for multimedia teaching materials: Illustration by an original method using the evaluation of a web site on cardiovascular rehabilitation.
BACKGROUND
Different multimedia tools have been developed to help medical students prepare for the National Ranking Examination (NRE), rendering their choice quite difficult. No study has specifically evaluated students' expectations regarding these materials.


OBJECTIVE
To learn how medical students in Dijon assessed a website dedicated to cardiovascular rehabilitation, and collecting their suggestions in order to meet their expectations and the goals of second cycle medical studies.


METHODS
Eighteen second-cyle students were evaluated in a semi-directed manner and in ecological situation, a website specifically designed for the national curricula on cardiovascular rehabilitation for obtaining the Diploma of Specialty Studies (DES) for physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) residents. Students also had to fill out a pretest and a posttest (5 MCQs).


RESULTS
The overall quality of the site was deemed satisfactory (65.6 ± 7.7 points/100). Medical information was considered better than non-medical data and site's design (respectively 84.8 ± 8.1, 61.1 ± 20 and 64.4 ± 14.9/100). Students found the site useful in terms of understanding the items related to cardiovascular rehabilitation, although they judged it not completely in line with the NRE goals. The average score increased significantly between the pre-and post-test (6.8 ± 0.8 vs. 5 ± 1.5/8, p<0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
This site appears to be significantly useful for short-term knowledge improvement, but only partially meeting the expectations of second-cycle students. It seems relevant to study further possibilities for customizing and providing summarized learning for the NRE. These elements could serve as building grounds for the future version of this website.
Pôle rééducation-réadaptation, centre hospitalier universitaire de Dijon, France.
J-M
JM
Casillas
V
V
Gremeaux
D000072038:Cardiac Rehabilitation; D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D003479:Curriculum; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005602:France; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D019359:Knowledge; D007858:Learning; D019212:Multimedia; D010810:Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine / Q000193:education*; D012046:Rehabilitation / Q000193:education; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*