Measuring students' knowledge and attitude towards E- learning in Mashhad University of Medical Sciences (MUMS)

Introduction: Nowadays, E-learning is one of the most advanced educational techniques. Considering the commencement of adopting such modern teaching techniques across the world as well as in the Iranian universities, one needs to apprehend the knowledge and attitude of students as one of the most important components in the education system. Thus, this study was designed to investigate the knowledge and attitude of students towards E- learning at MUMS. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 380 students who were studying in semester two or higher in 2009 in MUMS and were selected by stratified random sampling. Students' knowledge and technology information was measured using self-structured questionnaires whose validity and reliability had been confirmed. Mishra’s E-Learning Attitude Scale was used to measure attitude. Data were analyzed using Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis, One-way ANOVA, Student t-test and Spearman and Pearson correlation in SPSS software. Results: The mean score of attitude was 37.21±7.177 (minimum score: 11, maximum: 55) and the mean score of knowledge was 10.63±3.940 (minimum score: 0, maximum score: 20).There was a significant relationship between attitude and students' sex, study program and course of study. A significant relationship also was found between knowledge, the study program and duration of using computer and internet. Conclusion: Considering the poor knowledge and relatively positive attitude of students toward e-learning, it is recommended to implement training programs such as workshops to develop students’ awareness and ability to utilize e-learning as an effective learning tool.