gms | German Medical Science

Introduction: Bedside-Teaching is a very valuable and effective method to impart clinical, practical and communicative skills to medical students. Teaching with real patients is however often unpredictable for lecturers and students making appropriate preparation difficult. Students often have different pre-conceived ideas regarding required knowledge and expected ability. Shorter patient hospital admission periods and increasing faculty workload provide obstacles to implementing optimal and structured courses. Despite clinical teaching being a valuable resource, this unpredictability is associated with complex challenges. With the Learning Toolbox (LTB)^© platform (Raycom BV, Utrecht, Netherlands) there is a customisable application that enables, supports and facilitates mobile and context-based learning. LTB allows the creation of course-specific learning content in the form of text and image based illustrations. A mobile learning application (learning App) Learning Toolbox (LTB)^© was designed, specifically for students taking this course. The intent of the app was to facilitate preparation for the course as mentioned above as well as on-demand assistance during the sessions or when students had limited time for study such as on the train.

Methods: Following the course exam, a questionnaire survey in paper-pencil format was performed to evaluate the usefulness, flexibility and satisfaction with the learning app. Two open questions were asked to allow for individual feedback. Questionnaire participation was voluntary. A 5-point Likert scale (1=strongly disagree 5=completely agree) was used.

Results: The evaluation of 174 (99.4%) from a total of 175 questionnaires were completed. Results showed that LTB was used by 60% of the students occasionally to frequently. The students stated that the learning app had helped in the practical implementation of examination techniques in the course and had also contributed to effective exam preparation (3,5±1,2).

Discussion/Conclusion: The students strongly recommend LTB. Students felt supported by its focus on practical course implementation and felt prepared for the course. The LTB as a mobile learning aid was rarely used it on site. This may be a result of direct discouragement of student use of mobile devices at the bedside. Students may also perceive usage of a mobile device at the bedside as a sign of being less competent despite believing that usage increases patient care. In the context of clinical-practical medical education, learning apps can be used to complement classroom teaching and even improve learning practical skills. The app developed by us is directly tailored to a curricular course and can therefore only be used to a limited extent at other faculties. Students at our university used the app as preparation for their exams, this trend is also consistent with international research, showing increasing use of internet adjuncts for exam preparation.

Figure 1 [Fig. 1], Figure 2 [Fig. 2]