RT Journal
A1 Potts MJ, Messimer SR
T1 SUccessful teaching of pediatric fluid management using computer methods
JF Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine
JO Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine
YR 1999
FD February 1
VO 153
IS 2
SP 195
OP 198
DO 10.1001/archpedi.153.2.195
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archpedi.153.2.195
AB Objectives 
    To identify and measure differences in knowledge of pediatric fluid management procedures between students taught by computer tutorial and others taught by lecture or seminar.Design 
    Cohort analytic study.Setting 
    Two community-based medical school pediatric teaching services.Participants 
    Eighty-nine third-year medical students with no prior pediatric fluid management experience.Interventions 
    Forty-eight students at one community campus completed a microcomputer-based tutorial program that replaced all teaching sessions in pediatric fluid management. Forty-one students from a similar community campus were taught identical content by a pediatric critical care specialist using a seminar, reading material, and handouts.Main Outcome Measures 
    Scores on 2 free-answer problems on treatment of a dehydrated child, which were graded by a single evaluator blinded to the teaching method used, and scores on a 20-item multiple-choice examination.Results 
    The computer instruction group achieved significantly higher test scores than the seminar group for both the multiple-choice examination (81.1% vs 62.2%; P<.001) and the free-answer test (85.4% vs 61.0%; P<.001).Conclusions 
    The computer tutorial in fluid therapy has been an effective means of meeting the defined objectives of the pediatric clerkship. Compared with traditional methods, students taught using the computer achieved significantly higher scores on tests of both factual knowledge and practical problem solving.