Abstract
BackgroundE-learning is a common and popular mode of educational delivery, but little is known about its effectiveness in teaching practical skills. The aim of this study was to determine whether the Physiotherapy eSkills Training Online resource in addition to usual teaching improved the performance of practical skills in physiotherapy students.MethodThis study was a non-randomised controlled trial. The participants were graduate entry physiotherapy students enrolled in consecutive semesters of a neurological physiotherapy unit of study. The experimental group received the Physiotherapy eSkills Training Online resource as well as usual teaching. The Physiotherapy eSkills Training Online resource is an online resource incorporating (i) video-clips of patient-therapist simulations; (ii) supportive text describing the aim, rationale, equipment, key points, common errors and methods of progression; and (iii) a downloadable PDF document incorporating the online text information and a still image of the video-clip for each practical skill. The control group received usual teaching only. The primary outcomes were the overall performance of practical skills as well as their individual components, measured using a practical examination.ResultsThe implementation of the Physiotherapy eSkills Training Online resource resulted in an increase of 1.6 out of 25 (95% CI −0.1 to 3.3) in the experimental group compared with the control group. In addition, the experimental group scored 0.5 points out of 4 (95% CI 0 to 1.1) higher than the control group for ‘effectiveness of the practical skill’ and 0.6 points out of 4 (95% CI 0.1 to 1.1) higher for ‘rationale for the practical skill’.ConclusionThere was improvement in performance of practical skills in students who had access to the Physiotherapy eSkills Training Online resource in addition to usual teaching. Students considered the resource to be very useful for learning.
Highlights
E-learning is a common and popular mode of educational delivery, but little is known about its effectiveness in teaching practical skills
The implementation of the Physiotherapy eSkills Training Online resource resulted in an increase of 1.6 out of 25 in the experimental group compared with the control group
The resource incorporates 88 practical skills related to neurological physiotherapy, including practical skills related to the management of stroke, cerebellar ataxia, Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury
Summary
E-learning is a common and popular mode of educational delivery, but little is known about its effectiveness in teaching practical skills. E-learning is popular with students since study can be carried out at the convenience of the learner and it allows for revision of content It is popular with educational institutions because it allows flexible delivery and appears to be cost effective [1]. Practical skills in physiotherapy curricula have been taught based on live demonstration, followed by practice and feedback, at a time and manner determined by classroom and time constraints. This leaves students to revise the skill outside class time based on memory or on hand-written, potentially inaccurate, notes. Current teaching of practical skills may not be optimal
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