gms | German Medical Science

Background: The current generation of undergraduate medical students is often referred to as "Net-Generation" [1] or "Digital Natives" [2]. While it is widely acknowledged that this generation is more technologically savvy than their predecessors, it remains to be investigated if their use of learning media is fundamentally different.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to analyze the use and acceptance of different learning media by undergraduate medical students in pharmacology.

Methods: A mixed-methods study consisting of quantitative (surveys, web statistics) and qualitative methods (focus groups) was conducted during a four-week pharmacology course with 372 undergraduate medical students at Technische Universität München (Munich, Germany). To assess the most frequently used learning media during the course period, students were asked to name the 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd most frequently used learning medium of the previous day from a list of ten different items (textbooks >300 pages, textbooks <300 pages, lecture slides, smartphone apps, internet search, e-learning cases, podcasts, e-books, written notes, exam questions). A total of 275 of 372 students (73%) participated in the surveys with a daily average of 73 (SD: 26) participants. A paper-based survey was conducted after completion of the pharmacology course to retrospectively gain information on the use and acceptance of mobile learning media in the study cohort. 322 of 340 students participated (95%). To qualitatively assess the potential of digital learning media in undergraduate medical education, focus groups (3 groups with 5–7 participants and 120 min each; a total of 18 participants) were conducted.

Results: The 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd most used learning media during the 35 day course period were lecture slides (27%), smartphone apps (22%) followed by written notes (15%), textbooks >300 pages (10%), e-learning cases (8%) and internet search (8%). The numbers indicate the proportion of each learning medium in percent in relation to all learning media on the list. 80% of the students (258 of 322) owned a mobile internet device (smartphone or tablet-PC). Of these, 37% stated that the use of smartphone apps intensified learning, and 23% indicated that the use of apps resulted in a more constant learning activity. Focus groups revealed that students appreciate smartphone apps as tools to consolidate knowledge through repetition, rather than primary knowledge acquisition and learning.

Summary and Conclusions: This study is the first “real-time” longitudinal analysis on the use and acceptance of learning media by undergraduate students in pharmacology. Our data revealed a high acceptance and use of digital learning media, in particular smartphone apps. We thus conclude that mobile learning media such as smartphone apps might constitute an additional complementary powerful learning and teaching medium for undergraduate medical education of digital natives.