Paper-based versus digital-based learning among undergraduate medical, nursing and pharmaceutical students in Japan: a cross-sectional study

Objective
Since the emergence of COVID-19, university education has drastically transformed into digital-based learning (DBL). Online education has been well recognised as a promising mode of teaching; however, only a limited number of studies have reported the students’ preferred format for academic learning.

Design
Cross-sectional.

Setting
The study was conducted in a university setting in Japan. A Google Forms online questionnaire was distributed to the participants between April and May 2022.

Participants
A total of 939 undergraduate medical, nursing and pharmaceutical students in the pre-clinical grade were recruited, and 344 were included in the final analysis.

Primary and secondary outcome
The questionnaire assessed students’ format preferences between paper-based learning (PBL) and DBL as it pertained to academic performance and eyestrain. In terms of academic performance, comprehension, memory retention and absorption (concentration) were assessed. We also explored the association between students’ daily time spent using DBL and their digital preference by the Cochran-Armitage trend test and logistic regression analysis.

Results
A total of 344 (191 medical, 73 nursing and 80 pharmaceutical) university students completed the questionnaire (response rate 36.6%). An even distribution was observed in the preferred learning format for comprehension: PBL (32.0%), both formats equivalent (32.8%) and DBL (35.2%; digital preference). Only few students preferred DBL for memory retention (6.1%), absorption (6.7%) and eyestrain (1.2%). Although a positive association was observed between daily time spent using DBL and digital preference for comprehension, there was no association for memory retention, absorption and eyestrain.

Conclusion
Among university students, DBL was just as preferred as PBL for comprehension; however, only a few students reported that DBL was better in terms of memory retention, absorption and eyestrain. A learning environment where students can study using PBL should be continued.

Leggi
Maggio 2024

Design considerations for the migration from paper to screen-based media in current health education for older adults: a scoping review

Objectives
To map the current use of paper-based and/or screen-based media for health education aimed at older people.

Design
A scoping review was reported following the Preferred Reporting Items of Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses for Scoping Reviews checklist.

Data sources
The search was carried out in seven databases (Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, Medline, CINAHL, ACM Guide to Computing Literature, PsycINFO), with studies available from 2012 to the date of the search in 2022, in English, Portuguese, Italian or Spanish. In addition, Google Scholar was searched to check the grey literature. The terms used in the search strategy were older adults, health education, paper and screen-based media, preferences, intervention and other related terms.

Eligibility criteria
Studies included were those that carried out health education interventions for older individuals using paper and/or screen-based media and that described barriers and/or facilitators to using these media.

Data extraction and synthesis
The selection of studies was carried out by two reviewers. A data extraction form was developed with the aim of extracting and recording the main information from the studies. Data were analysed descriptively using Bardin’s content analysis.

Results
The review included 21 studies that carried out health education interventions with different purposes, the main ones being promotion of physical activity, hypertension prevention and psychological health. All 21 interventions involved screen-based media on computers, tablets, smartphones and laptops, while only 4 involved paper-based media such as booklets, brochures, diaries, flyers and drawings. This appears to reflect a transition from paper to screen-based media for health education for the older population, in research if not in practice. However, analysis of facilitators and barriers to using both media revealed 10 design factors that could improve or reduce their use, and complementarity in their application to each media type. For example, screen-based media could have multimedia content, additional functionality and interactivity through good interaction design, but have low accessibility and require additional learning due to complex interface design. Conversely, paper-based media had static content and low functionality but high accessibility and availability and a low learning cost.

Conclusions
We recommend having improved screen-based media design, continued use of paper-based media and the possible combination of both media through the new augmented paper technology.

Registration number
Open Science Framework (DOI: 10.17605/OSF.IO/GKEAH).

Leggi
Aprile 2024