A comparative analysis of computer assisted instruction and traditional lecture instruction for administration and management topics in physical therapy education

Statement of the problem. Graduate Physical Therapy educators must determine how to best utilize new technology such as computer assisted instruction (CAI, defined as supplementing or replacing classroom teaching with the computer) and identify factors that may influence a student's ability to succeed in this medium. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to determine if student ability to learn via CAI was equivalent to traditional lecture instruction (TLI), and to determine if student self identified learning style via the Gregorc Style Delineator impacted ability to succeed. Methods. Prospective, experimental, randomized, single factor, pretest/post-test design. 33 out of a possible 40 students consented to participate in the study and were randomized to two groups: CAI n=17, TLI n=16. The groups participated in an Administration and Management of Physical Therapy course taught in 2004. Ability to learn was evaluated by a knowledge based pretest and post-test and by final course grade. Results. There were no significant differences between the groups with regard to age, gender, GPA or pretest knowledge. When comparing pretest to post-test both the TLI (52.0+/-9.5 to 85.1+/-6.1; p<0.001) and CAI (51.5+/-12.7 to 80.6+/-7.8; p<0.001) groups significantly improved. There were no statistical differences between the groups on either the post-test (TLI 85.1+/-6.1; CAI 80.6+/-7.8; p=0.073) or for final course grade (TLI 90.5+/-3.1; CAI 90.2+/-3.0; p=0.763). The most prevalent dominant solo learning style was concrete-sequential, and 50% of the subjects were identified as being dual dominant learners. When comparing between group outcomes by learning style category, there was no significant differences for either the final exam or final course grade. Within group comparisons were unable to be statistically examined due to the small number of subjects in each category. Conclusions. CAI was as effective as TLI for the teaching of Administration and Management material in Physical Therapy Education. Learning style did not impact either medium. This may allow institutions to hire remote faculty to teach in areas that they do not presently have a content expert, and it may also allow institutions a new medium in order to recruit graduate students from a changing demographic.