title: A web-based e-learning application for wound diagnosis and treatment.
abstract: Pressure ulcers (PrU) are considered as one of the most challenging problems that Nursing professionals have to deal with in their daily practice. Nowadays, the education on PrUs is mainly based on traditional lecturing, seminars and face-to-face instruction, sometimes with the support of photographs of wounds being used as teaching material. This traditional educational methodology suffers from some important limitations, which could affect the efficacy of the learning process. This current study has been designed to introduce information and communication technologies (ICT) in the education on PrU for undergraduate students, with the main objective of evaluating the advantages an disadvantages of using ICT, by comparing the learning results obtained from using an e-learning tool with those from a traditional teaching methodology. In order to meet this major objective, a web-based learning system named ePULab has been designed and developed as an adaptive e-learning tool for the autonomous acquisition of knowledge on PrU evaluation. This innovative system has been validated by means of a randomized controlled trial that compares its learning efficacy with that from a control group receiving a traditional face-to-face instruction. Students using ePULab gave significantly better (p<0.01) learning acquisition scores (from pre-test mean 8.27 (SD 1.39) to post-test mean 15.83 (SD 2.52)) than those following traditional lecture-style classes (from pre-test mean 8.23 (SD 1.23) to post-test mean 11.6 (SD 2.52)). In this article, the ePULab software is described in detail and the results from that experimental educational validation study are also presented and analyzed.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Lenguajes y Ciencias de la Computación, Universidad de Málaga, Málaga 29071, Spain. Electronic address: franveredas@uma.es.
authors.forename: Francisco J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Veredas
authors.affiliation: Servicio Andaluz de Salud, Junta de Andalucía, Málaga 29001, Spain. Electronic address: erbandera@malaga.es.
authors.forename: Esperanza
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ruiz-Bandera
authors.affiliation: Servicio Andaluz de Salud, Junta de Andalucía, Málaga 29001, Spain. Electronic address: paquivillaestrada@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Francisca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Villa-Estrada
authors.affiliation: Servicio Andaluz de Salud, Junta de Andalucía, Málaga 29001, Spain. Electronic address: j.f.rufino.gonzalez@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Juan F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Rufino-González
authors.affiliation: Escuela Universitaria de Enfermería, Diputación de Málaga, Málaga 29071, Spain. Electronic address: lmorente@malaga.es.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Morente
mesh_terms: D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction / Q000379:methods*; D004506:Education, Nursing / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D009862:Online Systems; D003668:Pressure Ulcer / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000451:nursing*; D061108:Social Media; D012984:Software; D012985:Software Design; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods; D014194:Traumatology / Q000193:education*; D014584:User-Computer Interface
keywords: Adaptive tutorial systems; Computational intelligence; E-learning; Image processing; Nursing informatics; Pressure ulcer