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Mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, and laptop computers enable users to search for information and communicate with others at any place and any time. Such devices are increasingly being used at universities for teaching and learning. The use of mobile devices by students depends, among others, on the individual media literacy level and the curricular framework.
The objective of this study was to explore whether there were differences in media use in students from various curricula at the Faculty of Health, Witten/Herdecke University.
During the 2015-16 winter term, a survey was conducted at the Faculty of Health, Witten/Herdecke University, in which a total of 705 students (out of 1091 students; response rate: 705/1091, 64.61%) from 4 schools participated voluntarily: medicine (346/598), dentistry (171/204), psychology (142/243), and nursing science (46/46). The questionnaire developed for the study included 132 questions on 4 topics: (1) electronic and mobile devices (19 questions), (2) communication and organization of learning (45 questions), (3) apps/programs/websites/media (34 questions), and (4) media literacy (34 questions). The questionnaire was distributed and anonymously completed during in-class courses.
Students from all 4 schools had at least two electronic devices, with smartphones (97.4%, 687/705) and laptops (94.8%, 669/705) being the most common ones. Students agreed that electronic devices enabled them to effectively structure the learning process (mean 3.16, SD 0.62) and shared the opinion that university teaching should include imparting media literacy (mean 2.84, SD 0.84). Electronic device ownership was the highest among medical students (mean 2.68, SD 0.86) and medical students were the only ones to use a tutorial (36.1%, 125/346). Dental students most widely used text messages (mean 3.41, SD 0.49) and social media (mean 2.57, SD 1.10) to organize learning. Psychology students considered mobile devices to be most ineffective (mean 2.81, SD 0.83). Nursing science students used emails (mean 3.47, SD 0.73) and desktop computers (39%, 18/46) most widely.
The results show that almost all students use electronic learning (e-learning) tools. At the same time, different profiles for different degree programs become apparent, which are to be attributed to not only the varying curricula and courses but also to the life circumstances of different age groups. Universities should, therefore, pay attention to the diverse user patterns and media literacy levels of students when planning courses to enable successful use of e-learning methods.
The ubiquitous distribution of mobile devices and internet access support mobile learning as a new and global trend in education [
By means of electronically arranged digital learning tools, course content is presented as multimedia content and thus supports interactive and self-directed learning [
The use of mobile devices in teaching and learning, however, also gives rise to controversy as, in addition to its advantages, it may also involve disruptive components, such as distraction, mingling of private and professional matters, inadequate technologies, students owning different equipment, or cognitive overload of users [
Given the fact that Witten/Herdecke University (UW/H) strives to break new educational ground and provide impetus for research-based development of teaching and learning [
The Ethics Committee of UW/H voted in favor of the concept of this study (application number: 144/2015).
The cross-sectional study was conducted at UW/H at the beginning of the 2015-16 winter term at the Faculty of Health, which comprises the 4 schools of medicine, dentistry, psychology, and nursing science. The questionnaires were distributed to the students in the schools at different times, with the aim of generating the greatest possible response rate: medicine and psychology during the compulsory progress test and dentistry and nursing science during course-specific compulsory courses. Students completed the questionnaire voluntarily and anonymously during in-class courses. No other personal data other than the degree program, gender, and age group were collected to avoid reidentifiability of individuals, which would otherwise have been possible because of the small cohorts per semester (medicine: 42 students, dentistry: 44 students, psychology: 35 students, and nursing science: 15 students) and the family study situation at the UW/H with learning in small groups.
Of the 1091 students of the Faculty of Health, 705 students completed the questionnaire (medicine: 346/598, dentistry: 171/204, psychology: 142/243, and nursing science: 46/46; total response rate of 65% students); 20 incomplete questionnaires were excluded. There were significant differences regarding the gender ratio (χ23=30.4;
A questionnaire was developed to answer the research questions. The questionnaire was compiled in a multiple-sample process based on the literature, brainstorming sessions, and discussions, as well as results and experiences from a pilot study of mobile learning at UW/H in the 2015 summer term. Semistructured, personal-expert interviews were conducted until saturation of categories was reached with 10 psychology and 8 medical students. Results of content analysis made it clear that e-learning media were used (ie, computers, smartphones, and apps). On the basis of these results in this study, the research question is being extended to learning with digital media. The developed questionnaire included open and closed questions (4-point Likert scale from
The focus of this study was on the topics (2) communication and learning organization and (4) media literacy, here, especially the evaluation of UW/H duties. Both scales show a very good internal consistency with Cronbach alpha of .926 for communication and learning organization and .869 for media literacy.
The data were analyzed first by descriptive statistics (means and standard deviations) using the SPSS software package (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, version 24 for Windows, IBM Corporation). Nonparametric group comparisons between the schools were carried out using the chi-square test in case of categorical response formats and the Kruskal-Wallis test for several independent groups in case of 4-point scale formats. Results were considered significant with an error probability of 5% (
Students from the various schools showed some similarities, as shown in
Despite these similarities, however, there were also significant differences between students from different schools. These differences are elaborated in the form of profiles and demonstrated in
Similarities between students from all 4 schools of the Faculty of Health regarding their media use (n=705). UW/H: Witten/Herdecke University; WLAN: wireless local area network.
All
Media use characteristics of students from the School of Medicine, Faculty of Health (n=346). UW/H: Witten/Herdecke University.
Media use characteristics of students from the School of Dentistry, Faculty of Health (n=171). UW/H: Witten/Herdecke University.
Media use characteristics of students from the School of Psychology and Psychotherapy, Faculty of Health (n=142). UW/H: Witten/Herdecke University.
Media use characteristics of students from the School of Nursing Science, Faculty of Health (n=46). UW/H: Witten/Herdecke University.
A direct comparison of the 4 schools showed some differences in the 2 considering scales of the questionnaire (see
Differences between students from all 4 schools of the Faculty of Health regarding their media use.
Scales | Medicine, mean (SD) | Dentistry, mean (SD) | Psychology, mean (SD) | Nursing science, mean (SD) | Chi-square value ( |
Cohen |
|
CLa learning | 1.96 (1.04) | 1.40 (0.72) | 1.19 (0.53) | 1.33 (0.73) | 88.4 (3) | <.001 | 0.747 |
CL information | 3.16 (0.60) | 3.11 (0.59) | 2.88 (0.48) | 2.86 (0.69) | 4 (3) | .26 | 0.076 |
CL organization | 2.49 (0.78) | 2.61 (0.69) | 2.46 (0.57) | 2.51 (0.69) | 30.3 (3) | <.001 | 0.403 |
CL communication | 2.20 (0.87) | 2.53 (0.70) | 2.39 (0.59) | 2.37 (0.83) | 21.6 (3) | <.001 | 0.330 |
MLb positive | 2.50 (0.51) | 2.46 (0.47) | 2.24 (0.68) | 2.23 (0.60) | 25.9 (3) | <.001 | 0.367 |
ML negative | 2.73 (0.57) | 2.54 (0.58) | 2.50 (0.60) | 2.74 (0.70) | 20.6 (3) | <.001 | 0.321 |
UW/Hc equipment | 2.06 (0.81) | 2.04 (0.70) | 2.57 (0.80) | 2.15 (0.73) | 31.3 (3) | <.001 | 0.410 |
UW/H media literacy | 2.74 (0.85) | 2.99 (0.79) | 2.75 (0.84) | 3.33 (0.69) | 26.1 (3) | <.001 | 0.369 |
UW/H lectures | 1.33 (0.64) | 1.27 (0.56) | 1.43 (0.76) | 1.83 (1.12) | 10.4 (3) | .02 | 0.206 |
aCL: Communication and Learning.
bML: Media Literacy.
cUW/H: Witten/Herdecke University.
The objective of the study was to identify differences in media use between different curricula at the Faculty of Health, UW/H. Our findings describe profiles that show that the students of medicine, dentistry, psychology, and nursing science clearly differ in media literacy and user behavior. All had in common that media literacy was not, or rarely, taught by the UW/H lectures. For successful use of electronic devices, the faculty has to take into account that participants of interprofessional groups may differ in media affinity and media literacy when implementing mobile learning. This may be considered disadvantageous with respect to initial training and coordination, regarding peer-to-peer learning; however, it can also be seen as an advantage, if this challenge of developing professionalism in compliance with one’s own Web privacy and that of patients is accepted by the students and faculty together. Therefore, the following guiding principle has been defined:
Medical students generally have a wide range of mobile devices [
Many similarities between students became apparent. All mobile devices have been used in everyday life and for learning purposes, especially for looking up and quickly searching for information because clear information is easier to communicate through digital media [
There was less agreement about the use of mobile devices for organizational purposes in learning contexts. For these purposes, students most often preferred face-to-face conversations, despite the fact that a central digital program is available for organizing their studies [
There were significant differences with small effect sizes between students from the schools of medicine, dentistry, psychology, and nursing science of the Faculty of Health, which have to be discussed in the context of age and study conditions.
Medical students most frequently use mobile devices to search for and look up information and believe that mobile learning is crucial to their learning success. More than one-third of students already use the Amboss learning program, and one-quarter would like UW/H to provide the program. Dental students in particular used mobile learning most frequently to communicate about course content via text messages and organize learning. According to Walsh [
Psychology students were the youngest students within the cohort and used mobile devices least often in their everyday life and for learning. Nursing science students pursue a degree program for working professionals; hence, they are older than students from the other 3 schools and are, therefore, no digital natives [
On the basis of a response rate of 64.61% (705/1091) with a gender ratio comparable with the total student sample, the authors assume that the findings are representative for the Faculty of Health, UW/H. Unfortunately, no additional information on the student semester could be given to look at any differences between undergraduate and postgraduate students. In combination with the person variables age and gender, it would, otherwise, be possible to reidentify individuals, because of the small cohorts per semester. However, this study’s findings cannot be generalized easily as the cohort surveyed was very small, and the curricular offers correspond to those of a university with model curricula.
Mobile learning is being applied at UW/H. Electronic devices, mobile devices in particular, are very popular among the Faculty of Health students and used for learning purposes. Since 2015, the recommendations for existing e-learning modules are collected and evaluated by lecturers and made available [
Communication and Learning
electronic learning
information technology
Media Literacy
Witten/Herdecke University
The authors would like to thank Michaela Munk for the professional translation.
None declared.