Content and discontent: a qualitative exploration of obstacles to elearning engagement in medical students

Helen J Reid; Clare Thomson; Kieran J McGlade

doi:10.1186/s12909-016-0710-5

Content and discontent: a qualitative exploration of obstacles to elearning engagement in medical students

Helen J Reid, Clare Thomson, Kieran J McGlade

School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

14 Citations (Scopus)

241 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Elearning is ubiquitous in healthcare professions education. Its equivalence to 'traditional' educational delivery methods is well established. There is a research imperative to clarify when and how to use elearning most effectively to mitigate the potential of it becoming merely a 'disruptive technology.' Research has begun to broadly identify challenges encountered by elearning users. In this study, we explore in depth the perceived obstacles to elearning engagement amongst medical students. Sensitising concepts of achievement emotions and the cognitive demands of multi-tasking highlight why students' deeply emotional responses to elearning may be so important in their learning.

METHODS: This study used focus groups as a data collection tool. A purposeful sample of 31 participated. Iterative data gathering and analysis phases employed a constant comparative approach to generate themes firmly grounded in participant experience.

RESULTS: Key themes that emerged from the data included a sense of injustice, passivity and a feeling of being 'lost at sea'. The actual content of the elearning resource provided important context.

CONCLUSIONS: The identified themes have strong emotional foundations. These responses, interpreted through the lens of achievement emotions, have not previously been described. Appreciation of their importance is of benefit to educators involved in curriculum development or delivery.

Original language	English
Number of pages	8
Journal	BMC Medical Education
Volume	16
Issue number	188
Early online date	22 Jul 2016
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-016-0710-5
Publication status	Early online date - 22 Jul 2016

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Content and discontent: a qualitative exploration of obstacles to elearning engagement in medical students
© The Author(s). 2016. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated
Final published version, 599 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Content and discontent: a qualitative exploration of obstacles to elearning engagement in medical students",

abstract = "BACKGROUND: Elearning is ubiquitous in healthcare professions education. Its equivalence to 'traditional' educational delivery methods is well established. There is a research imperative to clarify when and how to use elearning most effectively to mitigate the potential of it becoming merely a 'disruptive technology.' Research has begun to broadly identify challenges encountered by elearning users. In this study, we explore in depth the perceived obstacles to elearning engagement amongst medical students. Sensitising concepts of achievement emotions and the cognitive demands of multi-tasking highlight why students' deeply emotional responses to elearning may be so important in their learning.METHODS: This study used focus groups as a data collection tool. A purposeful sample of 31 participated. Iterative data gathering and analysis phases employed a constant comparative approach to generate themes firmly grounded in participant experience.RESULTS: Key themes that emerged from the data included a sense of injustice, passivity and a feeling of being 'lost at sea'. The actual content of the elearning resource provided important context.CONCLUSIONS: The identified themes have strong emotional foundations. These responses, interpreted through the lens of achievement emotions, have not previously been described. Appreciation of their importance is of benefit to educators involved in curriculum development or delivery.",

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N2 - BACKGROUND: Elearning is ubiquitous in healthcare professions education. Its equivalence to 'traditional' educational delivery methods is well established. There is a research imperative to clarify when and how to use elearning most effectively to mitigate the potential of it becoming merely a 'disruptive technology.' Research has begun to broadly identify challenges encountered by elearning users. In this study, we explore in depth the perceived obstacles to elearning engagement amongst medical students. Sensitising concepts of achievement emotions and the cognitive demands of multi-tasking highlight why students' deeply emotional responses to elearning may be so important in their learning.METHODS: This study used focus groups as a data collection tool. A purposeful sample of 31 participated. Iterative data gathering and analysis phases employed a constant comparative approach to generate themes firmly grounded in participant experience.RESULTS: Key themes that emerged from the data included a sense of injustice, passivity and a feeling of being 'lost at sea'. The actual content of the elearning resource provided important context.CONCLUSIONS: The identified themes have strong emotional foundations. These responses, interpreted through the lens of achievement emotions, have not previously been described. Appreciation of their importance is of benefit to educators involved in curriculum development or delivery.

AB - BACKGROUND: Elearning is ubiquitous in healthcare professions education. Its equivalence to 'traditional' educational delivery methods is well established. There is a research imperative to clarify when and how to use elearning most effectively to mitigate the potential of it becoming merely a 'disruptive technology.' Research has begun to broadly identify challenges encountered by elearning users. In this study, we explore in depth the perceived obstacles to elearning engagement amongst medical students. Sensitising concepts of achievement emotions and the cognitive demands of multi-tasking highlight why students' deeply emotional responses to elearning may be so important in their learning.METHODS: This study used focus groups as a data collection tool. A purposeful sample of 31 participated. Iterative data gathering and analysis phases employed a constant comparative approach to generate themes firmly grounded in participant experience.RESULTS: Key themes that emerged from the data included a sense of injustice, passivity and a feeling of being 'lost at sea'. The actual content of the elearning resource provided important context.CONCLUSIONS: The identified themes have strong emotional foundations. These responses, interpreted through the lens of achievement emotions, have not previously been described. Appreciation of their importance is of benefit to educators involved in curriculum development or delivery.

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Content and discontent: a qualitative exploration of obstacles to elearning engagement in medical students

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