Teaching Medical Students How to Interpret Chest X-Rays: The Design and Development of an e-Learning Resource

Abstract

Introduction The teaching of radiology to medical students has often been criticised for being inadequate and unstructured, with students reporting lack of confidence in assessing x-rays. In this paper, we describe how an e-learning resource, on how to interpret a chest x-ray for medical students, was designed and developed. The aim of the resource was to provide medical students with knowledge of how to interpret a chest x-ray in a systematic approach. Methods The technology used to design the e-learning resource was Xerte Online Toolkits. The design and development of the e-learning resource was based upon andragogical principles and followed Overbaugh’s guidelines and Mayer’s 12 multimedia principles. An instructional design model called ADDIE was used to help develop the resource and its content. These included cases of common conditions, a quiz and summary table at the end. The paper focuses mainly on the way in which instructional design, education and multimedia principles were used to inform the development of the resource. Findings A preliminary evaluation was completed by 18 medical students from year 3–5 who completed the e-learning resource. The feedback was positive with an average rating of 9/10 and 100% of students saying they would recommend the resource to a colleague. Students commented that they liked the resource as it was easy to navigate, had good visual learning and contained good explanations with relevant content. Conclusion and Future Implications This paper demonstrates how, with the use of instructional models, educational theories and principles, an e-learning resource can be created. Preliminary evaluation showed that students were satisfied with the resource and felt it helped them acquire knowledge on how to interpret chest x-rays. This resource can be further utilized either as a standalone resource or before starting clinical placements and may prove particularly useful in the current and challenging learning environment where there is an increased need for digital resources.

Assessment of the knowledge of radiology in exiting medical students in University of Calabar

“…Moreover, it affords the instructor the opportunity to identify the concepts and skills that proved challenging to individual medical students and attempt to effect illumination and consequently, promote mastery. [8,[13][14][15][16] Salajegeh et al [4] found out in their study that a majority of the undergraduate medical students (71.4%) felt that the E-learning package was effective in helping them learn the art of interpreting X-rays. Sait et al [14] realized that the medical students in their study were in support of this opinion when 100% of the participants agreed or strongly agreed that E-learning in Radiology was appropriate and should be recommended to other colleagues.…”

“…[8,[13][14][15][16] Salajegeh et al [4] found out in their study that a majority of the undergraduate medical students (71.4%) felt that the E-learning package was effective in helping them learn the art of interpreting X-rays. Sait et al [14] realized that the medical students in their study were in support of this opinion when 100% of the participants agreed or strongly agreed that E-learning in Radiology was appropriate and should be recommended to other colleagues. Nyhsen et al [15] thought otherwise by stating that E-learning module was relatively poorly rated and should be regarded as a less effective method of learning.…”

Designing multimedia patient education materials for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: a protocol for a feasibility randomized controlled trial of patient education videos

“…Multimedia education has been examined extensively in the pedagogical literature, resulting in recommendations on how to best design materials in order to maximise engagement and learning [13,42] While this information has informed the design of educational materials in healthcare [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27] this has been less frequent in the MSK literature with only one RCT examining osteoarthritis-related pain, [43] and other MSK conditions being informed by narrative advice only. [28][29][30] The use of such principles [42] has not been tested in a randomized controlled trial of education for a MSK population such as adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.…”

A novel approach to improving colonoscopy learning efficiency through a colonoscope roaming system: randomized controlled trial

“…Many researchers are studying e-learning applications in the field of medical education ( Sait & Tombs, 2021 ; Soundy et al, 2021 ; Su et al, 2021 ; Vedi & Dulloo, 2021 ; Oropesa et al, 2022 ). The colonoscopy teaching model will inevitably develop in this direction due to digitization, networking and intelligence ( Feng et al, 2013 ; Longhini et al, 2021 ; Ouajdouni, Chafik & Boubker, 2021 ).…”