Abstract:

Background:
A pilot programme of the "Methodology of Research" e-course was held for the first time in the Medical University of Warsaw among Nursing students in the academic year 2011/2012. The opinions of students on the e-course were analyzed and some improvements in the new version of the "Methodology of Research" e-course were made. Thenew programme of the "Methodology of Research" course based on e-learning was started for Bachelor’s degree Physiotherapy students at the 2nd Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Warsaw in the academic year 2012/2013. The students obligatorily participated in an on-line original course which covered teaching content ofthe "Methodology of Research" course divided into several thematic modules.

The aim of the study:
The aim of the study was to analyse the opinions of Physiotherapy students of the Faculty of Health Science,Medical University of Warsaw on the application of on-line teaching in the process ofimprovement of teaching quality of the "Methodology of Research" course.

Material and methods:
As many as 78Physiotherapyfull-time Bachelor’s degree students (62 women and 16 men) of the 2ndFaculty of Medicine, Medical University of Warsaw participated in the study. The mean age of the study group of students was 22.04years (SD:0.47; max.24; 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-learningcourse below the teaching-related materials used by the students during the course. Only the studentsparticipating in the course had an access to the questionnaire. The analysis of the results waspresented with the use of descriptive statistics (the number of participants, the percentage of participants).

Results:
According to 66 (84%) students, e-learning courses improved the teaching quality of the "Methodology ofResearch" course. 70 (89%) persons perceived the learning content as interesting. In the opinion of 50 (64%)persons a student participating in an e-learning course devotes more time to studying compared with traditional classes. According to 69 (88%) students, e-learning courses included very helpful and useful learning content and definitely made it easier to prepare a diploma project. In the opinion ofthe entire group of students, the learning content included in on-line courses should be available during all years of studies, which would increase their usefulness for students.

Conclusions:
1. Ateaching programme based on e-learning with the use of modern Internet technology has improved the teaching quality of the "Methodology of Research" course.
2. "Methodology of Research” e-courses should be improved in each consecutive edition with acknowledgement of opinions of students since these opinions often include very valuable remarks for lecturers that could improve courses as well as their quality and usefulness.
3. The study on students' opinions on e-learning should be continued on a regular basis in the consecutive years with a larger group of students. Such studies will make it possible for lecturers to check whether the improvement of a course according to students' suggestions indeed increased the quality of a course.

Keywords:

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