Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29544474›Full record

ArticleBMC medical education2018

Smartphone learning as an adjunct to vascular teaching - a pilot project.

Nadeem A Mughal, Eleanor R Atkins, Darren Morrow, Wissam Al-Jundi

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC medical education, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Nadeem A MughalDepartment of Vascular Surgery, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, Colney Lane, Norwich, UK. nadeem_akhter@hotmail.co.uk.
Eleanor R AtkinsDepartment of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, The Royal Oldham Hospital, Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, Manchester, UK.
Darren MorrowDepartment of Vascular Surgery, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, Colney Lane, Norwich, UK.
Wissam Al-JundiDepartment of Vascular Surgery, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, Colney Lane, Norwich, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundM-learning is education using personal mobile electronic devices. Given the prevalence of these in society and amongst healthcare professionals, we aimed to assess their use and feasibility in improving the educational programme of a single vascular institution.

methodsA weekly vascular departmental teaching programme was initiated with registrars giving 30-min presentations on a defined book chapter. Two multiple-choice questions (MCQ) per session were devised by a supervising consultant utilising the smartphone response system application, Polltogo. A separate investigator disseminated one pre-teaching and one post-teaching MCQ to the attending trainees via a WhatsApp group. Instant feedback of the correct answer was provided by the application. Participants' satisfaction was judged through a survey after 13 sessions.

results11 junior doctors of varying seniority participated in the trial. The median number of session attendees was 5. 129 MCQ responses were received. The mobile engagement score (number of answers received divided by total possible answers) was 97.7%. The average correct score for pre-teaching MCQs was 39.4% and post-teaching MCQs 73.0% (p < 0.001). Satisfaction with the concept was high; 80% of responders agreed that it was a useful adjunct to the teaching programme whilst 90% found the system highly user-friendly.

conclusionsSmartphones can be utilised effectively and with high user satisfaction in assessing knowledge transfer throughout a departmental education programme. Trainees' responses to MCQs significantly improved after 30-min teaching sessions. This concept of m-learning could be developed further to assist with postgraduate examination revision or Deanery teaching programmes in larger cohorts.

Indexed as

SmartphoneComputer-Assisted InstructionEducational MeasurementFeasibility StudiesFeedbackHumansLearningMedical Staff, HospitalPersonal SatisfactionPilot ProjectsTeachingVascular Surgical ProceduresMCQsM-learningSmartphonesTeaching adjunctsVascular surgery

Identifiers

PMID29544474
PMCPMC5856212

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.