Two curricular settings of medical terminology class related to student's college knowledge

Abstract

The problem of the study was to evaluate student learning in two different educational delivery methods. The hypothesis tested was there was no statistically significant difference in knowledge of medical terminology between students who completed a course taught with traditional classroom instruction versus those who completed an online course of instruction. The quasi-experimental design used a pre-posttest comparison group. The participants in the study consisted of 60 students enrolled in the medical terminology classes during the summer semester of 2002. Thirty participants were self-selected from each class. Research questions were which method, if either, is the better way of instruction and should the curriculum be changed. The findings from these two questions were then made into recommendations regarding the curriculum for the program.Data analysis used frequency tables and a multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA). The level of significance was set at p<.05. A Guttman split half analysis was used to establish internal reliability of the instrument.Results of the analysis were inconclusive. There was a statistically significant difference in the pretest mean scores of the online class versus the traditional class. This could have been the result of the online class being more proficient at using the technology or could have been due to prior medical terminology knowledge.