Pedagogical mediation using the virtual learning environment and the new generation: A search for improved performance in medical education

Introduction: Medical schools face increasing challenges toaccommodate new health care needs. However, little has changedregarding the students’ education. In addition, educators face thechallenge of improving their teaching approach, making it suitableand effective for the new generation. The purpose of this work wasto describe and contextualize the application of active pedagogicalmethodologies using the virtual learning environment (VLE) as atool to improve the students’ performance.Methods: This research is a quantitative and qualitative casestudy, carried out in one faculty of medicine in the state ofAmazonas. Given a total population of senior students in thisfaculty, the number of participants corresponds to a proportionof 75% in the period of two years. This work required a paradigmshift, by focusing on interactive and technological teaching,professionalism, mentoring, communication, and feedback.Courses using virtual learning environment (VLE) should beprone to interaction, dialogue, collaboration and, asynchronously,autonomy. One of the key aspects of VLE content production isto select appropriate subject matters and texts to be discussed.It is through the VLE contents that the mediation of knowledgeconstruction process and the participants’ interaction takes place.Results: The improvement over the pre-test evaluation wasevident, ranging between 12.59 and 50.9%, depending on thesubject matter, to 81.31% in the final evaluation. In addition, thestudents expressed consistently positive opinions regarding theuse of VLE.Conclusion: The use of VLE as a pedagogical tool, in aninteractive format and appropriate to the transmission ofinformation and knowledge construction, was adequate for anevident improvement in the cognitive performance of the seniorstudents of medicine. In addition, the positive evaluation of thestudents regarding the pedagogical methodology used constitutesan added value of this approach.Keywords: Teaching, Education, Medical, User-computer interface