Abstract:

A pilot programme of the "Methodology of research" course based on blended-learning was started for Bachelor and Master degree Nursing students at the Faculty of Health Science, Warsaw Medical University in the academic year 2011/2012. Students took part in traditional lectures/seminars run by an academic teacher and obligatorily participated in an on-line original course which covered teaching content of "Methodology of research" course divided into several thematic modules.
The aim of the study was to analyse the opinions of Nursing students at the Faculty of Health Science, Warsaw Medical University about the application of on-line teaching (blended-learning) in the process of improvement of teaching quality of the "Methodology of research" course.
As many as 194 Nursing students (185 women and 8 men) of the Faculty of Health Science, Warsaw Medical University took part in the study. 109 full-time Bachelor degree students and 85 Master degree students participated in the study. The mean age of the study group of students was: 25.83 years of age (SD: 7.00; max. 49; min. 21).
An anonymous questionnaire was put on a Moodle e-learning platform in the form of a link to an e-form. The participation in the survey was voluntary and was not connected with passing the "Methodology of research” course. The link to the questionnaire was put at the end of the e-learning course below the teaching-related materials used by the students during the course. Only the students participating in the course had an access to the questionnaire. Quantitative questionnaire studies were supplemented by qualitative studies: non-structured interviews about the on-line "Methodology of research" course were carried out with randomly selected students. The analysis of the results was presented with the use of descriptive statistics (the number of participants, the percentage of participants) and qualitative analysis of opinions presented by the students during the interviews.
According to 53 students, e-learning courses improved the teaching quality of the "Methodology of research" course. 45 persons perceived the learning content as interesting. In the opinion of 25 persons a student participating in an e-learning course devotes more time to studying compared with traditional classes.
1. The opinions of students concerning the influence of teaching with the use of a blended-learning system on the teaching quality of the "Methodology of research" course were not unequivocal and were closely connected with the method used for collecting the opinions.
2. In the light of the opinions expressed by the students during direct interviews, a pilot teaching programme based on blended-learning with the use of modern Internet technology has improved the teaching quality of the "Methodology of research" course.
3. On-line "Methodology of research” courses should be improved in each consecutive edition with acknowledgement of opinions of students since these opinions often include very valuable remarks for lecturers. These remarks should be used in order to improve courses as well as their quality and usefulness.

Keywords:

Internet, distance-learning, students of health sciences, methodology of research, medical university.