Lecture attendance and use of digital recordings in medical training

The education of medical students and trainees increasingly involves technology. Learners expect to use technology as part of their studies;1 yet teachers can struggle with this change in learning behaviour. Although digital resources can improve learning, we have insufficient understanding of learners’ experiences2 or choices about using them to supplement or replace traditional teaching methods. Our research aimed to explore medical students’ decisions about using digital resources in order to better tailor our educational approaches.

We conducted mixed methods research using student questionnaires about lecture attendance and use of digital resources, and learning analytics to assess how digital resources were used. The research was conducted with final stage students undertaking their paediatric term at Sydney Medical School from October to November 2014 and from March to May 2015 (with approval from the University of Sydney Human Research Ethics Committee). Here, we report the questionnaire results on lecture attendance and use of digital recordings.

In total, 105/129 (81.4%) students completed the questionnaire (Box). The majority of students attended all or most lectures (89/103) and also listened to recordings (89/101). The most common reasons for lecture attendance were to show professionalism and respect for the lecturer (70/105), and the lecturer’s reputation as a teacher (62/105). Students’ most common reasons for not attending lectures were to listen to recordings at their own pace (61/101) and to improve productivity (52/101). Students valued using recordings to listen to segments that they struggled to understand (65/100) and to pause recordings to look up information (63/100). If recordings replaced lectures, students mostly used the time saved to study other material (56/99) and to exercise (41/99).

When deciding on lecture attendance, students appeared to weigh up the benefits for learning and demonstration of respect and professionalism against the perceived inefficiency of attending in person. Students generally desired to be actively involved in learning while at the hospital. Listening to lecture recordings improved productivity by allowing students to fast forward through familiar sections and avoid lecture days with long breaks. It also enabled students to improve learning effectiveness by reviewing segments that they misunderstood and pausing to look up information or take notes.

Revised teaching methods are required to assist digitally oriented learning and facilitate students’ preparedness for a technology-rich clinical environment.3 A flipped classroom approach, whereby students use digital learning resources to prepare for interactive teaching sessions based on case discussions, combines flexible and active learning.4 Understanding the learning habits and expectations of medical students and trainees is important for adopting targeted, effective teaching strategies.5

There were limitations in our study and, although we believe the results are generalisable, we recommend that further research be conducted with more participants in different settings using a validated questionnaire. Additionally, the impact of contemporary learning habits and digitally oriented learning on clinical proficiency requires evaluation.