An evaluation of the training activities provided by videoconferencing in a university hospital centre

Abstract

This paper presents the results of some research that was intended to evaluate the use of videoconferencing as a teaching and learning tool in the context of doctoral training in medicine at a Canadian university hospital centre. The evaluation was conducted by identifying the factors that influence the training of students, their satisfaction with videoconferencing and their perceived effectiveness of the technology as a learning and teaching tool. An appropriate questionnaire was developed and administered to students taking a videoconferencing‐based course for the first time. The results show a consistent difference of opinion and attitude between local‐site students and remote‐site students in relation to several aspects of the technology—such as the social interactions between instructor and students, and the perceived effectiveness of videoconferencing. Initially, this difference was attributed to the physical absence of the instructor and the use of videoconferencing as such. However, students’ satisfaction seems to be linked to other factors as well—such as the instructor’s ability to integrate the technology into his or her teaching method.

Acknowledgements

I wish to thank the members of the Centre Interuniversitaire sur la Science et la Technologie (CIRST), especially, Marie‐Andrée Desgagnés. I am also grateful to M. Jean Bégin, the statistician in the Department of Psychology at the Université du Québec à Montréal and finally the management, the professors and the students of the university hospital centre who contributed to this study.