Abstract
BackgroundUse of the video digital format in the classroom is a common way to present clinical cases to stimulate discussion and increase learning. A simulated live performance with actors, also in the classroom, could be an alternative way to present cases that may be more attractive to arouse students’ interest and attention. The aim of the present study was to compare the learning process between a group of students who saw a clinical case as a simulated live scene in the classroom and others seeing the same clinical case projected by video.MethodOne hundred and thirty-one students (69 from physiotherapy and 62 from medicine) attended an interactive seminar on delirium in older people. Each group was subdivided into two groups: one saw the clinical case as a theatrical performance in the classroom (scene group; n = 68), while the other saw the same case projected on video (video group; n = 63). Before and after attending the seminar, students answered a questionnaire [four questions on theoretical knowledge of delirium (score 0–7) and two on subjective learning perception (linear scale: 0–10) (score 0–20)]. At the end, a further question was included on the usefulness of the scene or a video in the learning process (linear scale: 0–10).ResultsStudents in both groups (live scene and video) significantly improved in all questionnaire scores after the seminar (p = 0.001) with a large Effect Size (ES > 0.80). Students of the scene group obtained higher scores on theoretical delirium knowledge [6.41 ± 0.73 vs 5.93 ± 1.31 (p = 0.05)], subjective learning perception questions (what they thought they knew about delirium) (16.28 ± 3.51 versus 15.92 ± 2.47 (p = 0.072)], and the overall questionnaire (22.45 ± 4.15 versus 21.48 ± 2.94 (p = 0.027)] than the video group. Students of the scene group opined that live scene was very useful for learning with a mean score of 9.04 ± 1.16 (range 0–10), and opinion in the student’s video group scored 8.21 ± 1.22 (p = 0.001).ConclusionsAll students improved significantly their knowledge but those who saw the theatrical performance obtained slightly better results, which suggest that this form of clinical case presentation in the classroom may be an alternative at least as effective as traditional video projections.
Highlights
Use of the video digital format in the classroom is a common way to present clinical cases to stimulate discussion and increase learning
All students improved significantly their knowledge but those who saw the theatrical performance obtained slightly better results, which suggest that this form of clinical case presentation in the classroom may be an alternative at least as effective as traditional video projections
Students who attended the seminar in the scene group obtained higher scores on theoretical delirium knowledge, subjective learning perception questions and the overall questionnaire than the video group
Summary
Use of the video digital format in the classroom is a common way to present clinical cases to stimulate discussion and increase learning. Some authors have suggested that students can learn by watching the simulation without participating actively in it −the concept of learning by observing− which has become popular in the international literature under the term “vicarious learning” or “learning by seeing others” [4, 5] This concept offers a theoretical and practical basis for carrying out simulation techniques in conventional classrooms, which, has the advantage that all students can observe the simulation at the same time with the appropriate feedback and discussion (debriefing). Vicarious learning occurs both if the clinical case is seen by students in the form of a video projection or as a live simulated scene with actors (as if they were theatregoers). Previous experience performed in our setting showed that the use of actors in the classroom to simulate a clinical scenario may per se be a powerful stimulus to arouse students’ interest and attention and break the monotony of the classroom [6]
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