Effectiveness of a Blended-Learning Intervention in Teachers’ Vocal Health

Abstract

To verify the effectiveness of a blended-learning voice assistance program for elementary school teachers. Nonrandomized and comparative interventional clinical trial. A total of 59 teachers participated; 33 of the 59 teachers participated in face-to-face learning (control group-CG), and 26 of the 59 teachers participated in blended learning (experimental group-EG). The Voice Assistance Program included the following for both groups: preintervention assessment, four voice workshops and postintervention assessment. The instruments used were the Vocal Production Condition - Teacher (VPC-T) questionnaire, the Screening Index for Voice Disorder (SIVD), the Vocal Health and Hygiene Questionnaire (VHHQ) and the Voice-Related Quality of Life (V-RQOL) measure. Additionally, voice samples were collected for auditory-perceptual analysis of voice quality. The workshops included theoretical and practical content for both groups. All the workshops for the CG were conducted face-to-face, while the workshops for the EG consisted of two online workshops and two face-to-face workshops. A descriptive analysis of the data was performed, and paired Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney tests were performed using R software, with a significance level of 0.05. Both groups showed improved acquisition of knowledge regarding vocal health and improved voice quality, but the improvement was greater for the EG. There was a significant decrease in the risk of voice disorder in the EG. Only the CG showed significant improvement in voice-related quality of life. The voice assistance program with blended learning is effective for increasing knowledge about vocal health, reducing the risk of voice disorder and improving the voice quality of teachers.