McMaster University MD UNIT 1 THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A NEED-BASED WEB SITE IN LEARNING WITHIN A PBL ENVIRONMENT
GENERAL DEMOGRAPHIC SURVEY
If computer-aided learning is to make any significant impact on the education of medical students, it must be carefully and objectively evaluated, and its benefit must be clearly demonstrated to medical teachers. Accordingly, medical researchers from McMaster University Medical Center are interested in discovering new effective ways in which on-line education (the Internet) can be used by medical students as an effective teaching/learning medium. This study will be looking at students' major problems in using the Internet and any computer related methods to discover advantages and disadvantages of on-line education in a PBL environment. In this survey, e-Learning refers to courses and informal learning that takes place on-line over the Internet or any computer aided methods in teaching and learning. Your responses are submitted anonymously to the server. Therefore, your responses are automatically treated confidentially. Please click the answer you find most appropriate Rate your computer literacy relative to your classmates. Advanced   Average   Beginner Is having access to a computer (when you need one) a major issue for you? Yes   No Have you ever searched for health information on the World Wide Web for your own health issues? Yes   No For courses that do NOT require the Internet for learning material, how frequently do you search for health information on the World Wide Web to supplement your medical training? In preparation for every tutorial In preparation for more than half of the tutorial In preparation for less than half of the tutorial Never Not applicable For courses that DO require the Internet for learning material, how frequently do you search for health information on the World Wide Web to supplement your medical training? In preparation for every tutorial In preparation for more than half of the tutorial In preparation for less than half of the tutorial Never Not applicable If you use any medical web site as a part of your training, what specific medical web site do you access the most often? Web site: Not applicable How often do you use any on-line medical dictionaries? Most of the time   Occasionally   Never How often do you use any software programs or any on-line web sites to learn about human anatomy? Use it all the time   Occasionally   Never How often do you use any software programs or any on-line web sites to learn about human physiology? Use it all the time   Occasionally   Never How often do you use any software programs or any on-line web sites to learn about human histology? Use it all the time   Occasionally   Never How often do you use any software programs or any on-line web sites to learn about human pathology? Use it all the time   Occasionally   Never How often do you use any software programs or any on-line web sites to learn about pharmacology? Use it all the time   Occasionally   Never How often do you use software programs or on-line web sites as an informational learning source(s) for other academic course(s)? Which course(s), if any, are they used for? Use it all the time Occasionally Never Course(s): At the present time do you prefer getting your information from electronic sources or print sources? Strongly prefer electronic sources Somewhat prefer electronic sources No preference Strongly prefer print sources Somewhat prefer print sources As a medical student, what specific electronic resources do you use? (click one or more) e-books e-journals Personal web pages Hospital web pages Pharmaceutical web pages Other health company web pages Not applicable At the present time, how frequently do you use electronic sources compared to print sources? More frequently electronic No difference More frequently print If you have already used any e-Learning method (software or web site) for learning your course materials, how would you evaluate the effectiveness of this method? Useful Somewhat useful Neither useful nor useless Somewhat useless Useless Not applicable In comparing e-learning to textbook-based learning, how would you evaluate e-learning? Most effective (in learning) Somewhat effective The same Somewhat less effective Less effective Not applicable Why is e-learning more effective than textbook-based learning? (click one or more) Electronic-based texts provide the same information as textbooks plus three-dimensional animations and other supplements. It's more portable It's more time efficient It's more up to date It's more interactive and fun Not applicable Other reason(s): In terms of the time it takes you to find required information, how would you evaluate e-Learning compared to textbook-based learning? Faster Somewhat faster The same Somewhat slower Slower Not applicable Why is e-learning faster than textbook-based learning? (click one or more) Searching for specific information is easier and faster in e-learning With e-learning one can do a little need assessment quiz and it can recommend the components one needs to learn (one does not have to focus on everything all at once). Not applicable Other reason(s): In terms of the amount of information you can find for your required subject, how would you evaluate e-Learning compared to textbook-based learning? Much easier Somewhat easier The same Somewhat difficult More difficult No preference Not applicable In general, for acquiring basic medical knowledge in areas such as anatomy, physiology, histology, etc, do you prefer e-learning to textbook-based learning? Strongly prefer e-learning Somewhat prefer e-learning No preference Strongly prefer textbook Somewhat prefer textbook Not applicable Answer this question if it's applicable to you: You don't use e-Learning because: (click one or more) You don't have access to your own computer There are limited opportunities to use free Internet-enabled campus computer labs It's time consuming You don't know how to search for the required subject on the Internet You don't know for sure if information is accurate and reputable None of the above Other reason(s): Answer this question if it's applicable to you: You use e-learning because: (Click one or more) You have your own computer There is a universal access to computer labs Print sources are not updated (electronic sources are more updated) It takes less time to do a search on the Internet None of the above Other reason(s): By relying on an e-Learning-based method within an electronic teaching/learning system such as LearnLink (The Little Red School House), do you feel that you can get prompt feedback (answers) on any points that you need to have clarified (or further explained)? Yes   No
MORE FOCUS ON MD UNIT 1 WEB SITE
With respect to the following outcome, how do you rate problem-based learning compared to any other undergraduate lecture-based learning? More effective Somewhat effective The same Somewhat less effective Less effective In comparison to any other undergraduate tutorial lecture-based learning, how would you evaluate the effectiveness of tutorials in MD Unit 1? More effective Somewhat effective The same Somewhat less effective Less effective How often do you refer to the Unit 1 Handbook? Use it all the time Occasionally Never Not applicable How often do you refer to the MD Unit1 web site? Use it all the time Occasionally Never Not applicable How would you evaluate the organization of the MD Unit 1 web site in outlining the learning materials? Very organized Somewhat organized Neither organized nor disorganized Somewhat disorganized Very disorganized How would you evaluate the color scheme (For example, the background turquoise color) of the MD Unit 1 web page? Aesthetically pleasing Somewhat aesthetically pleasing Neither aesthetically pleasing nor displeasing Somewhat aesthetically displeasing Very aesthetically displeasing Which would you prefer as an emphasizing method of importance in writings of a web site? Bold Underline CAPITAL LETTERS COMBINATION OF ABOVE (two or more) Would it be helpful if a compiled list of general and specialty medical web sites was made available to you either in the Unit 1 Handbook, or posted on the MD Unit 1 web site, or distributed in the first week of Unit 1? Yes   No   Not applicable If your answer is Yes, please indicate your preference from the choices below. Published in the Unit 1 Handbook Posted on the MD Unit 1 web site Distributed in the first week of Unit 1 Any of the above Have you ever used web-based source(s) of genetics information on the Internet? Yes   No If your answer is No, why not? It has not been applicable for me I prefer using the print source None of the above Based on your own learning, the advantages of e-learning are (Click one or more): It saves me time It saves me money It gives me easy accessibility It provides me with large pool of information It gives me variability in resources It gives me easy informational navigation None of the above / Your comment: Based on your own learning, the disadvantages of e-learning are (Click one or more): It is too time consuming It is too expensive The materials on-line are in less detailed compared to textbooks The materials on-line are less organized compared to textbooks It is easy to lose focus while searching on-line None of the above / Your comment: The hyperlinks on MD Unit 1 web site are designed to help a student obtain more information. How would you evaluate them? Very helpful Somewhat helpful Neither helpful nor unhelpful Somewhat unhelpful Very unhelpful MD Unit 1 web site is designed in the simplest format possible. I find the design to be: Aesthetically pleasing Somewhat aesthetically pleasing Neither aesthetically pleasing nor displeasing Somewhat aesthetically displeasing Very aesthetically displeasing In general, doing medical research on the Internet is: Very easy Somewhat easy Neither easy nor difficult Somewhat difficult Very difficult In general, do you get a sense of community and fellowship in using on-line education method within an electronic teaching/learning system such as LearnLink (The Little Red School House)? Yes   No What is your gender? Male Female What is your age?    years What year of medical school does the university classify you? 1st year 2nd year 3rd year Other:
Thank you for taking the time to complete this evaluation task. Your input is beneficial to assessing student needs and the effectiveness of different learning media.