Abstract:

Introduction:
To optimize the teaching/learning process of practical skills training, we conducted research in three institutions of Bachelor Nursing in Flanders Belgium. In this comparative analysis we investigate the effect of the educational design of an online instruction video and of an interactive multimedia module on the learning process as well as on the learning outcomes. A cost-effectiveness study results in the decision on future design of the blended learning method for the practical skills training. This primarily applies to the pre-and post-service Nursing programs.

Three issues are questioned by the subject lecturers concerning the design and production of the media:

- “If we do what students ask, explaining everything in the instruction film, they won’t look at their textbooks anymore !”
- “Is the time consuming production process of an interactive multimedia module worth the effort ? “
- “Is there an equivalent less time consuming way to add active learning activities to the passive watching of a video, by means of our learning management system?”

Objective:
The objective of the research is to compare the efficiency and effectiveness of the use of different designs of teaching/learning media for students to prepare themselves optimal for a skills lab.

Main reseach questions:
1. Do elaborate self sufficient instruction films contribute to learning effectiveness as compared to short videos whereby one still has to read the written textbook or guidelines to understand the rationale behind certain steps of the procedure ?

2. Does a flexible interactive learning path of a multimedia module with integrated learning objects (text, video, self-evaluation questions with immediate feedback ) significantly enhance learning as compared to a linear instruction video offered separately from the other learning objects ?

Method:
A decision on the educational design of media should not solely be based on perception questionnaires on the preferences of students. Student's perceptions on what is supportive for their learning, is not always measured in the outcomes.

Therefore we have used both a questionnaire to investigate the learning process and perceptions on learning as well as a real test to examine the learning outcomes. A team of lecturers of the three different institutions has identified the crucial insights on steps to be remembered in the procedure of the skill “Intra-muscular Injection”. The day after the learning process had taken place under controlled circumstances, the written test was executed.

We are comparing three stratified groups of hundred students. They learn to remember and understand the procedure of the skill by means of respectively a short instruction film, an elaborate instruction film and a multimedia learning module.

Conclusion:
The presentation will show the results of the comparative analysis of the learning efficiency and effectiveness of the different media designs. We will also share our preliminary conclusions regarding the future design of learning media for the preparations of skills labs and possible further research needs.

Keywords:

Blended learning, learning media design, multimedia, practical skills training, learning effectiveness, linear/non-linear learning.