How to improve medical education website design

Abstract

Background: The Internet provides a means of disseminating medical education curricula, allowing institutions to share educational resources. Much of what is published online is poorly planned, does not meet learners' needs, or is out of date.

Discussion: Applying principles of curriculum development, adult learning theory and educational website design may result in improved online educational resources. Key steps in developing and implementing an education website include: 1) Follow established principles of curriculum development; 2) Perform a needs assessment and repeat the needs assessment regularly after curriculum implementation; 3) Include in the needs assessment targeted learners, educators, institutions, and society; 4) Use principles of adult learning and behavioral theory when developing content and website function; 5) Design the website and curriculum to demonstrate educational effectiveness at an individual and programmatic level; 6) Include a mechanism for sustaining website operations and updating content over a long period of time.

Summary: Interactive, online education programs are effective for medical training, but require planning, implementation, and maintenance that follow established principles of curriculum development, adult learning, and behavioral theory.

Figure 1

Module navigation page. Learner selects module from list of topics on welcome page, which directs to module navigation page. Module topic is displayed on module navigation page (1). Modules are stuctured with both program control and learner control. To start a module, the learner must complete the pretest (2), which then activates the didactics section (3). The learner may complete didactics in the order of his/her choosing. The post test is then activated once all objectives of didactics are complete. Links to references may be accessed at any time (4). Completion of the entire module enables the learner to print the didactics section or a module summary, or have the summary emailed to their address (5). Website navigation includes access to other modules (6) or the current module (7). Tabs at the top of the page (8) access the main menu or individual test results. Learners can also post messages and communicate with other learners in a Forums section (i.e. "chat rooms"). Administrators at each training program have additional tabs (8) to access trainee and performance results, and to schedule modules according to their needs. The webmaster and curriculum editors have an additional administrative tab to approve/delete registrants and training programs, as well as upload educational content.

Figure 2

Main Results page. Pretest and post test performance is calculated as modules are completed and can be accessed by administrators at each participating program. Performance on each item is calculated (1) along with item discrimination (2). Results may be drilled down to include frequency of incorrect answers on each item. Cronbach's alpha is calculated on each pretest and post test (3). Results can also be viewed by year of training (4). A feedback section displays learner ratings on the instructive value of the module, and individual comments on how to improve the module can be accessed (5). For statistical calculations, individual scores grouped by year of training can be accessed (6). Performance may be drilled down for each training program (7), although each training program can view only their scores and aggregate scores of all participating programs. Performance on prior years can also be accessed (8).