The influence of multimedia resources in and out of biomedical studies

Abstract

With respect to the provision of learning support materials, it is generally accepted that enriched learning environments are better than simple didactic sessions and consequently improved resources ultimately lead to better learning, which in turn leads to improved grades. The use of a dedicated multimedia teaching room specifically set up to create a learning environment for biomedical science within a nursing program has been documented and correlated with the student’s final mark and course retention. The significance of this study is that the results and retention for biomedical science studies are further compared to studies in which the resource room would have been of no benefit. Failure rates and course retention rates were not significantly different between students who did not use the facility (n=237) and those who used it only once (n=47), however there were demonstrable differences between the first group and students who accessed the resource on multiple occasions (n=203). However the results of those students using the resource, show that they were significantly disadvantaged in non-biomedical studies where the availability of the resource did not assist them. Within the limitations of the study, the data does support the premise that access to dedicated teaching materials improves learning, which translates to better grades.