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. 2019 Jan 25;19(1):36.
doi: 10.1186/s12909-019-1462-9.

Medical students: what educational resources are they using?

Lucinda Wynter  1 , Annette Burgess  2   3 , Eszter Kalman  2 , Jack Edward Heron  2 , Jane Bleasel  2   3
Affiliations

Medical students: what educational resources are they using?

Lucinda Wynter et al. BMC Med Educ. .

Abstract

Background: The number of resources available to medical students studying a degree in medicine is growing exponentially. In addition to traditional learning resources such as lectures and textbooks, students are increasingly using e-learning tools like commercially available question banks to supplement their learning. Student preference for learning resources has not been described in detail, and a better understanding of the tools perceived to be useful could provide essential information to medical educators when designing and implementing medical curricula.

Methods: We invited 1083 undergraduate and postgraduate medical students from two major Australian universities to complete an online survey. Questions asked students to indicate the frequency with which they use various types of resources when learning new material or when revising previous content.

Results: Approximately one third (32.3%, N = 350) of invited participants completed the survey, and of those who responded, the gender distribution was even with a median age of 25 years. Making written notes and reading textbooks were the most frequently utilized resources for learning new material. Online or downloaded question banks were the most frequently used resource for revision. In addition to the use of traditional learning tools, the majority of students report using a variety of e-learning tools including online teaching videos (92%, n = 322) and question banks (90.6%, n = 317).

Conclusion: Despite the trend towards e-learning, traditional resources like attendance at face-to-face lectures remain the most popular for learning new material. The increasing use of question banks raises potential issues of poor alignment to medical school curricula. With the advantages of exam technique practice, time efficiency and multiplatform availability, their popularity is likely to continue. Evaluation of existing question banks is required to facilitate appropriate integration into the curricula, with equitable access for all students.

Keywords: E-learning; Learning resources; Question banks.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The University of Sydney Human Research Ethics Committee approved the study. Completion of the survey was assumed as consent to participate in the study.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

Annette Burgess is a member of the Editorial Board for BMC Medical Education.

All other authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The frequency with which students indicate the use of resources used when learning new materials or revising
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Distribution of terms used by students to indicate the rates of uptake of the common learning resources and tools, when learning new material
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Distribution of terms used by students to indicate the rates of uptake of the common resources and tools, when revising old material
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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