Medical students' attitudes towards the use of virtual patients
Abstract
An increasing number of virtual patients (VPs) are being used in the classroom, which raises questions about how to implement VPs to improve students' satisfaction and enhance their learning. This study developed and validated a scale that measures acceptability and attitudes of medical students towards the use of the VP education tool in the classroom.
This mixed method study first explored attitudes with 11 students in two focus groups. Later on, eight experts performed item reduction and transformation through three rounds of the Delphi‐study method, and an initial version of the scale [virtual patient integration rating scale (VPIRS)] was developed. The scale was administered among 138 medical students to determine its reliability.
A total of 88 medical students responded to the final version of the VPIRS. Principal component analysis was performed in order to determine questionnaire domains. The final, validated scale contains 25 items in four domains, with a reliability of 0.864. The identified domains are as follows: (1) acquiring and maintaining knowledge, (2) facilitation of learning, (3) inauthentic learning and (4) disadvantages of learning.
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time a VP rating scale has been developed. VPIRS allows for targeted engagement with students regarding learning and evaluation with VPs, thereby providing opportunities for student‐centred teaching.
Lay Description
What is already known about this topic:
- Virtual patients have been increasingly integrated in the undergraduate medical curriculum.
- Many assumptions regarding the usefulness and student acceptance of this computer‐assisted mode of teaching have been made in the past.
- As of currently, no tools exist to quantify students' acceptance of virtual patients
What this paper adds:
- This is the first virtual patient acceptability scale to measure how students accept virtual patients and if due to different integration strategies acceptability changes.
- This new method of quantifying VP integration enables a more objective method of technology enhanced learning evaluation.
Implications for practice and/or policy:
- The VPIRS scale represents a valid, reliable tool for measuring the acceptability of virtual patients in the classroom.
- The use of acceptability rating scales can enhance the design of student‐centred teaching.
- Further studies are needed into the understanding about which students accept virtual patients most, is it dependable on learning style and for which this method of learning is unacceptable.
