Multimedia-driven teaching significantly improves students' performance when compared with a print medium -: Invited commentary

Background. In this study, we compared the educational value of a multimedia module about aortic valve replacement as a preparation for the operating room with a print medium of identical content. Methods. One hundred twenty-six students were randomly assigned in a prospective study to either use the multimedia course (n = 69) or a print version (n = 57). A 20-item multiple-choice test was performed before and after learning with the respective medium. Both groups participated in an operation during which they were evaluated with 28 standardized tasks and questions. Individual motivation, computer literacy, and didactic quality of both media were assessed with psychometric tests. Results. There were no significant differences in the multiple-choice pretest (multimedia, 30.6% +/- 12.4% versus print, 27.9% +/- 11.4%) and posttest responses (multimedia, 76.7% +/- 13.3% versus print, 76.9% +/- 11.1). Mean percentage of correct answers during the operation was 82.9% +/- 10% in the online group and 64.7% +/- 12% in the print group (p < 0.0001). The multimedia group needed significantly (p < 0.001) less study time (105 +/- 24 minutes) when compared with the text group (122 +/- 30 minutes). There were no statistically significant differences in motivation, computer literacy, and didactic quality of either medium. Conclusions. Regarding factual knowledge, there is no difference between multimedia-driven learning and a print medium. During heart operations, when understanding of complex temporal and spatial events is essential, students' performance is significantly improved by multimedia-enhanced teaching. The latter further proved to be more efficient in terms of study time.