A Comparative Study of the Effects of Two Educational Methods, PBL and E-PBL on the Learning of Cardiology Ward Interns

Introduction: There has been a growing trend in many countries to present medical courses electronically and in the form of learner-based learning. Hence, the present study aimed to compare the effects of two educational methods, Problem-based Learning (PBL) and Electronic Problem-based Learning (E-PBL), on the learning of cardiology ward interns in 2013. Methods: This pretest-posttest quasi-experimental study was performed on 64 interns in the cardiology ward of Shariati Hospital, Isfahan in 2013-2014 academic years. The participants were divided randomly into two groups (32 in each) and matched in terms of educational progress, age, gender, and mastery of computer skills. Researcher-made questionnaires were completed before and after the intervention in order to measure knowledge, attitude, and practice. Trainings were separately presented for each group in the forms of PBL and E-PBL. Data were analyzed using independent t-test and T-square test. Results: In PBL method, mean scores of knowledge, attitude, and practice were 12.2±11.38 (out of 40), 3.2±1.8 (out of 10), and 8.1±4.25 (out of 20) respectively before trainings and 4.8±4.4, 6.5±4.31, 16.7±1.4 respectively after the intervention. As for E-PBL, mean scores were 2.21±0.5, 11.78±2.4, and 6.2±1.82 respectively before the intervention and 75.74±1.7, 8.85±0.38, and 19.2±1.2 respectively after the intervention. Findings indicated that there was a significant difference between students’ learning before and after the intervention in both methods and this difference was more significant for E-PBL (P≤0.001) than PBL. Conclusion: Given the significant difference between the scores of participants trained by means of PBL and E-PBL methods and the advantages of the electronic method, Electronic Problem-based Learning is suggested for this course for medical students.