The Effects of Multimedia Education on learning and Retention in a Physiology Course

Abstract

Introduction: Development of new technologies including multimedia in teaching has revolutionized the educational process. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of multimedia education on learning and retention in the physiology course for the students of anesthesiology at Hamadan University of Medical Sciences.Materials and Methods: In this study, the pretest-posttest design with a control group was used. The population of this study consisted of all students of Anesthesiology at Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, who were selected using convenience sampling method. The total sample size included 57 students in two classes of 29 and 28 students. The instruments used in this study were a pre-test with the reliability of 0.90, a post-test with the reliability of 0.88, a self-made retention test with the reliability of 0.88, and a self-made multi-media course with the reliability of 0.83. The face and content validity of all these instruments were approved by the experts. The independent T-test and the Levine test were used to analyze the collected data.Results: The findings showed that: 1) the students undergoing multimedia teaching were superior to those with traditional methods (Levin test = 0.968 and p < 0.001) 2) the retention rate of students who have been trained through multimedia techniques was higher than that of the students who underwent traditional methods (Levin test = 0.429 and p < 0.001).Conclusion: Due to the impact of multimedia on learning and retention of the students, it seems that this method is useful in medical universities