The Opinions of Students in Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences about studying in Digital and printed Environments

Rapid development of information and communication technology and increasing rate of using electronic media have influenced peoples’ studying behaviors and change of studying behaviors toward studying in digital environments has become a controversial issue. In regard to the variety of theories about the efficacy of digital and printed sources in learning process, the present study was performed to survey the opinions of students in Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences about studying in digital and printed environments. In this cross-sectional study, studying behaviors of 368 students in Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences in printed and digital environments were surveyed through a researcher-made questionnaire. Sampling was done by stratified random method and based on the number of students in each faculty and field of study. The inclusion criterion was using digital sources for at least one academic semester. Data analysis was performed by using descriptive statistics, X2 and Fisher Exact tests. Statistical significant level was considered as p<0/05. Fifty percent of the subjects preferred printed and 26/9% preferred digital sources for studying. According to the students, studying in printed environments has the benefits of continuous concentration (71.7%), deeper concentration (72.8%), better comprehension (60.2%), more profound comprehension (78.2%), more convenient note taking (71.7%) and highlighting (72.2%) and longer studying hours (71.4%), while electronic environments provide access to up-to-date information in a more convenient (75.6%), cost-effective (51.4%) and rapid (67.9%) ways. Further studies in order to design more efficient digital libraries and training students for better use of digital environments leading to continuous comprehension are necessary.