Background: Being informed of new methods of teaching and comparing their outcome help teachers use more effective and efficient methods in developing and implementing new training courses. The aim of this study was to examine the efficacy of epidemiology learning software on learning epidemiology courses. Methods: This quasi-experimental study included 101 nursing and midwifery students taking epidemiology course in two separate classes. One of the classes was selected as intervention group (taught via software) and another one as the control group. At the end of the semester, scores of the courses were analyzed using covariance analysis. Results: After adjusting the effect of grade point average, covariance analysis indicated a significant difference in epidemiology scores between the two groups (p<0.001). The students taught through the software obtained significantly higher scores compared to the students in traditional group. Conclusion: By means of this training software, teachers can use several strategies for presenting lessons and increasing training efficacy, leading to active learning in students

Bakhshi, Seifollah.

Kheiri, Soleiman.

Mardanpour Shahrekordi, Elham.

Mobasheri, Mahmoud.

PubMed

shahrekord university of medical scinces

Original Articlehttp://mjiri.iums.ac.ir Medical Journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran (MJIRI)Iran University of Medical Sciences____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________1. (Corresponding author) Associate  Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Faculty of Health, Shahrekord University ofMedical Sciences, Shahrekord, Iran. mobasheri@skums.ac.ir2. Associate Professor, Social Health Determinants Research Center, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord, Irankheyri.soleiman@gmail.com3. MSc Research and Technology Deputy, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord, Iran. e_m_s_5000@yahoo.com4. MSc Research and Technology Deputy, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord, Iran. se_bakhshi@yahoo.comEffects of epidemiology learning software on nursing and mid-wifery studentsMahmoud Mobasheri1, Soleiman Kheiri2, Elham Mardanpour3, Seifollah Bakhshi4Received: 1 October 2013 Accepted: 29 April 2014 Published: 24 November 2014AbstractBackground: Being informed of new methods of teaching and comparing their outcome help teachers usemore effective and efficient methods in developing and implementing new training courses. The aim of thisstudy was to examine the efficacy of epidemiology learning software on learning epidemiology courses.Methods: This quasi-experimental study included 101 nursing and midwifery students taking epidemiologycourse in two separate classes. One of the classes was selected as intervention group (taught via software) andanother one as the control group. At the end of the semester, scores of the courses were analyzed using covari-ance analysis.Results: After adjusting the effect of grade point average, covariance analysis indicated a significant differencein epidemiology scores between the two groups (p<0.001). The students taught through the software obtainedsignificantly higher scores compared to the students in traditional group.Conclusion: By means of this training software, teachers can use several strategies for presenting lessons andincreasing training efficacy, leading to active learning in students.Keywords: Software, Learning, Nursing students, Education.Cite this article as: Mobasheri M, Kheiri S, Mardanpour E, Bakhshi S. Effects of epidemiology learning software on nursing and mid-wifery students. Med J Islam Repub Iran 2014 (24 November). Vol. 28:137.IntroductionCurrently, teaching is recognized as abasic human right and an agent of changeand social progress (1). Introducing theteaching standards in medical sciences tothe faculties, Medical Federation in 2003recommended that teaching methods shouldbe selected in a way that students becomeresponsible for their own learning and areprepared for self-learning and lifelonglearning (2). Learning sciences is difficultfor students, requires repetition of complexconcepts and beliefs, and is not necessarilyguaranteed by traditional teaching strate-gies (3).It is argued that the amount of students’satisfaction affects the teaching output andefficacy of academic centers (4). The suc-cess of a teaching program is not possiblewithout considering individuals’ attitudestowards it (5) and acceptance or rejectionof computers, would have deep impact ontheir teaching and learning (6). Attitudes ofindividuals towards a teaching methodolo-gy can be affected by learning styles. Thelearning style is the preferred and intrinsicapproach or strategy of an individual todeal with information and feelings (7).In educational programs teaching meth-odology is mainly in the form of lectures(8). Nowadays students face many externalpressures which make following lecturersmore difficult (9).Traditional teaching methodologies en-courage passive learning, ignore individualdifferences and needs, and do not pay atten-Epidemiology learning software2 MJIRI, Vol. 28.137. 24 November 2014http://mjiri.iums.ac.irtion to other higher level cognitive skills(10). Therefore, many experts emphasizethe necessity of change or complement oftraditional teaching methodology (11).E-learning is considered as one type ofindividual teaching. Research has indicatedthat if training content and evaluations areappropriate, e-learning will be successful.E-learning has also been recommended inIran’s educational system (1). For this, ap-propriate utilization of the software that arecomprehensible for students and are devel-oped based on teaching experiences canreduce teaching problems of professors andteachers to some extent and facilitate thelearning accompanied with insight for stu-dents.In this research, the software under studyis Studying Population. It is a trainingsoftware developed at the University ofDundee, UK. This software includes acomplete and compact course of epidemi-ology. The content of an epidemiologycourse is taught attractively in EducationModules framework. At the end of eachdiscussion, there are drills to be run throughby the learners themselves and then are au-tomatically self-evaluated. Demographics,statistics, ecology, sociology, and medicalgeography are hyperlinks that the learnerscan study if needed. These hyperlinks endwith a glossary to help learners find andlearn the technical terms of epidemiology.Having implemented the subjects, we in-troduced this software during a session atthe end of the course and the students werefamiliarized with its instruction. One of thepositive aspects of this study is that the stu-dents are exposed to the topics of epidemi-ology before the software is introduced.This preparation facilitates software appli-cation. This study was conducted to exam-ine the efficacy of software application onepidemiology learning in Shahrekord Uni-versity of Medical Sciences in educationalyear 2012-2013.MethodsThe present study was a quasi-experimental one. Considering the generalaim of the research and existence of twogroups of control and intervention with in-dependent intervention variable (softwarefor the intervention group), we adopted ttest to compare the results.No training software for epidemiologycourse has been yet developed in Iran. Inthis software, each subject is designated asone section to address relevant theories andworks. By this way, the learner can followthe steps through the main page consecu-tively after completing each step’s drillsand/or he/she may only go through a par-ticular step based on his/her professor’sopinion. In each page, it was possible toeasily navigate through training section,drills, or main page via the icons.In this research, a quasi-experimentalmethod was adopted to avoid the limita-tions of genuinely experimental methods.Consequently, the population was dividedinto two intervention (taught through thesoftware) and control (traditional) groups;intervention group included the studentsthat were taught through the software for17 two-hour sessions and control group in-cluded the students that were taught viatraditional method for 17 two-hour ses-sions. At the end of the course the meanscore of the epidemiology course werecompared between the two classes.At the end of the educational semester aresearcher-developed questionnaire, whosevalidity and reliability had already beenapproved by test-retest, was distributedamong the students of both classes to eval-uate their attitude and learning based on theLikert scale. This study was carried out inaccordance with the Declaration of Helsin-ki, the anonymity of participants was guar-anteed, and the informed consent was ob-tained from the participants. The study wasconducted with coordination of EducationDeputy of Shahrekord University of Medi-cal Sciences after the approval of EthicsCommittee was obtained.For continuous quantitative variables, da-ta were presented as means ± SD and forcategorical ones, as number with frequen-cy. Comparisons between age and sex ofM. Mobasheri, et al.3MJIRI, Vol. 28.137. 24 November 2014 http://mjiri.iums.ac.irthe two groups were made by the inde-pendent t-test and chi-square test, respec-tively. The analysis of covariance was usedto compare the epidemiology score whileadjusting the grade point average (GPA)factor. Statistical analysis was performedby SPSS and p<0.05 was considered statis-tically significant.ResultsOne hundred and two students (49 in thegroup taught through the software and 53 inthe traditional group) with an age range of17-29 (mean age of 19.07 ± 1.73) years oldwere enrolled. The mean age of the grouptaught through the software was 19.38 ±1.65 years old and that of the traditionalgroup was 18.97 ± 1.77 years, with no sig-nificant difference (p=0.08). Eighteen(34%) individuals in the traditional groupand 19 (38.8%) in the software group weremale. The two groups were not significant-ly different in gender (p=0.61).Mean GPA and mean epidemiology scoreof the two groups are shown in Table 1.Pearson correlation indicated a positive,significant correlation between the epide-miology scores and GPAs (p<0.001,r=0.667); the students with higher GPAsobtained higher epidemiology scores.Therefore, it could be assumed that the dif-ference in epidemiology score between thetwo groups was due to the difference inGPA and scientific ability. To adjust theeffect of GPA, the covariance analysis wasused (Table 2). In addition to the differencein the GPA, the covariance analysis showeda significant difference in epidemiologyscores between the two groups (p<0.001);the students taught through the softwareobtained significantly higher scores com-pared to the students in traditional group.In addition, the questionnaire items onsatisfaction with the software are shown inTable 3. Moreover, 52.5% of the studentswere highly satisfied and 22.5% were lowlysatisfied; this shows a relative satisfactionof the students taught through the softwarewith the software.Forty students taught through the soft-ware were satisfied with the software (Ta-ble 3). A large proportion (85%) of the re-spondents completely agreed or agreedwith the usefulness of the software.DiscussionThe results of this study indicated thatthere was a statistically significant differ-ence in scores and GPAs between the twogroups and the group taught through thesoftware obtained higher scores comparedto the traditional group.This study’s results are consistent withthe findings of a study by Abdelaziz et al.Their study indicated that, based on thescores of knowledge post-test, there was asignificant difference between the interven-tion group and the control group. Thatstudy also confirmed that e-learning wasone of the effective teaching methods forTable 1. Mean ± SD of GPA * and epidemiology score in the two groupsSoftwareTraditionalVariableMean ± SDMean ± SD15.44 ± 1.2214.64 ± 1.44Semester GPA15.97 ± 1.8112.75 ± 1.78Epidemiology Score*Grade point averageTable 2. The result of covariance analysis for the factors effective on epidemiology scoreSource of Variation Type III SS df Mean Square F SignificanceIntercept 0.400 1 0.400 0.203 0.654Semester GPA * 133.700 1 133.700 69.384< 0.001Group 134.300 1 134.300 69.729< 0.001Error 169.500 88 1.900Total 19390.80 91* Grade point averageEpidemiology learning software4 MJIRI, Vol. 28.137. 24 November 2014http://mjiri.iums.ac.irthe students (12). Another study by Jenkinset al. indicated that there was a significantdifference between the two groups; e-learning group obtained better scores com-pared to the traditional training group (13).In contrast, the study carried out by Reimeet al. in the Netherlands reported that lec-ture group obtained better total scores inmultiple-choice tests compared to e-learning group (14).Besides, our results showed that studentswere satisfied with the software. In a studyby Green et al., 79% of participants evalu-ated the course as excellent and had posi-tive attitude towards the course (15). An-other study by Hart et al. indicated thatknowledge, attitude, and skills of nurses inrelation to the use of evidence-based careincreased after training. Based on the find-ings, the researchers of that study statedthat computer-based learning was an effec-tive learning approach that can be used bynursing managers to train nurses and getthem involved in the learning process indifferent fields (16).The findings derived from this study indi-cated that in spite of students’ satisfactionwith the software and their attitude towardshelpful impact of software on learning epi-demiology course, their tendency towardsreuse of software in future was 17.5%. Astudy carried out by Zolfaghari et al. ob-tained similar results, concluding that thestudents of traditional method preferred e-learning (1).Considering the above-mentioned results,in e-learning in which learning itself is stra-tegic learners take the responsibility of theirown learning. Some experts believe that inlearning, learners’ independence is central-ized. Computer-assisted learning in whichstudents are active and involved in theirown leaning is more effective in terms ofdeeper comprehension of scientific subjectsand knowledge promotion. Besides, learn-ing in the form of attending a class orworkshop could result in fatigue and requir-ing the learner to learn a lesson in a pre-specified time may limit his/her learning(1).ConclusionSince the students taught through thesoftware obtained significantly higherscores compared to the students in tradi-tional group, e-learning methods, alongsidetraditional ones, could be used to improvethe quality of learning in students.AcknowledgementsHereby, we thank Research and Technol-ogy Deputy of Shahrekord University ofMedical Sciences for funding this researchproject.Table 3. The questionnaire items on satisfaction with the training software Studying PopulationTitle TotallyagreeAgree Neutral Disagree TotallydisagreeNumber(Percent)Number(Percent)Number(Percent)Number(Percent)Number(Percent)1. The software is comprehensive and clear. 11 (27.5) 21 (52.5) 6 (15) 2 (5)2. The objective of the software is clear. 9 (22.5) 22 (55) 9 (22.5)3. Its design, format, and color are in a waythat facilitates learning.9 (22.5) 19 (47.5) 11 (27.5) 1 (2.5)4. The drills of software help comprehen-sion.13 (32.5) 19 (47.5) 8 (20)5. Because of familiarity with epidemiologytopics, comprehension of the software waseasier.8 (20) 17 (42.5) 12 (30) 2 (5) 1 (2.5)6. The time for presentation of software (onesession) is enough.5 (12.5) 16 (40) 10 (25) 8 (20) 1 (2.5)7. The software can be used in the form ofself-study.10 (25) 17 (42.5) 11 (27.5) 2 (5)8. It was better to develop the software inPersian.19 (47.5) 13 (32.5) 6 (15) 2(5)9. In total, it is a useful software. 11 (27.5) 23 (57.5) 6 (15)Total 40 (100)M. Mobasheri, et al.5MJIRI, Vol. 28.137. 24 November 2014 http://mjiri.iums.ac.irConflict of interestAuthors of the present work declare noconflict of interest.References1. 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