مجله ایرانی آموزش در علوم پزشکی
سال سیزدهم شماره 5 (پیاپی 55، امرداد 1392)

Today modern teaching and learning approaches in medical education have received considerable attention. This paper aims to introduce WebQuest as a new method of inquiry-based learning through the use of Internet. Also its application in medical sciences education in general، and especially nursing education is explained.

To find articles related to the WebQuest topic، the popular databases including PubMed، Google Scholar، Science Direct، Nursing Consult، CINAHL، Web of Knowledge were searched using WebQuest related keywords. Very few medical articles were found، and there was no research article published in Iran.

WebQuest is a new method of student-centered، inquiry-based learning which uses computer technology to engage and motivate students individually or collaboratively in exploring، analyzing، and synthesizing data to construct a new understanding or meaning. WebQuests، as a student-centered activity، enhance and facilitate higher order cognitive skills، including analysis، synthesis، evaluation and judgment، critical thinking. They also cultivate students’ exploratory and problem solving mentality. Based on constructivist learning theory and inquiry learning، WebQuests involve learners in collaborative learning process and group projects. There is a strong link between WebQuests and multi-media techniques which provide significant opportunity for utilizing internet resources in teaching and learning experiences.

It seems the concept of WebQuest is still less known both general and higher education، and particularly in medical education in Iran. Introducing this method in medical education which is based on new approaches of teaching and learning processes can provide a different view and encourage students to learn more effectively، deeply، and indelibly.

Student assessment is of the most important responsibilities of a clinical teacher. Application of new methods of assessment is necessary due to significant improvement in clinical teaching methods. In the meantime، new assessment approaches that simultaneously enforce learning have been greeted more than other methods. Therefore، this study was conducted to compare the new methods (Mini-CEX and DOPS) with traditional method of assessment on the clinical skills of nursing internships students in Army University of Medical Science.

This study is a randomized trial which was carried out on nursing students of Army University of Medical Science. All eligible students and instructors willing to take part were randomly divided into two groups of experiment and control. After training the instructors and assessing the reliability of evaluators، three rounds of assessments were performed using DOPS and Mini-CEX for experiment group while control group was evaluated using the routine method. Evaluation of procedures (Vein puncturing، dressing up، report writing، and patient education) in each group was based on valid and reliable check-lists made by the researcher. Results were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics (Chi-square and independent T tests).

There was no significant difference between groups regarding demographic variables such as age، gender، and average (p<0. 05). The mean scores of final assessments in the experiment group (by Mini-CEX and DOPS methods) were significantly (p=0. 000) higher than the control one (traditional method). In other

It seems that applying Mini-CEX and DOPS methods resulted in improvement of clinical skills among students. Accordingly، it is recommended that nursing education centers apply these two methods to assess students’ clinical skills in conjunction with other methods، to help promote their learning.