Copyright (c) 2009 All rights reserved. http://works.bepress.com/julie_garrison Recent documents in Julie A Garrison en-us Sun, 31 May 2009 07:57:33 PDT 3600 http://works.bepress.com/julie_garrison/3 http://works.bepress.com/julie_garrison/3 Fri, 23 May 2008 08:08:58 PDT Julie A. Garrison http://works.bepress.com/julie_garrison/2 http://works.bepress.com/julie_garrison/2 Fri, 23 May 2008 07:23:05 PDT As people have more difficulty taking time away from work to attend conferences and workshops, the idea of offering courses via the Web has become more desirable. Addressing a need voiced by Medical Library Association membership, the authors developed a Web-based continuing-education course on the subject of the librarian's role in evidence-based medicine. The aim of the course was to provide medical librarians with a well-constructed, content-rich learning experience available to them at their convenience via the Web. This paper includes a discussion of the considerations that need to be taken into account when developing Web-based courses, the issues that arise when the information delivery changes from face-to-face to online, the changing role of the instructor, and the pros and cons of offering Web-based versus traditional courses. The results of the beta test and future plans for the course are also discussed. Julie A. Garrison http://works.bepress.com/julie_garrison/1 http://works.bepress.com/julie_garrison/1 Tue, 20 May 2008 12:34:54 PDT Objective: Drawing upon earlier research that surveyed students' grasp of subject knowledge after taking either an online or face-to-face EBM course, this paper explores the effectiveness of a Web-based professional continuing education course, compared with an equivalent face-to- face version. The course was designed to teach practicing medical librarians how to participate in and advocate for Evidence Based Medicine at their individual institutions. Methods: Seventy-two practicing librarians, self-selected to participate in either the distance education eight week course or the eight hour face-to-face class. Using a modified version of the Fresno Test of Competence in Evidence-Based Medicine, the authors compared student pre- class, post-class, and six-month post-class assessment scores to assess subject knowledge retention, evaluate student learning, and determine the efficacy of the course delivery methods. Results: When comparing the scores of only those who completed all assessments, the DE students averaged over 10 points higher than the CE group in each test. Based on the raw numbers, it appeared that students in the DE group came into the classroom with a greater knowledge of the subject and retained more knowledge six months after the course had ended. However, after analyzing the data from all participants, the study showed that the differences between the distance education group and face-to-face group were not statistically significant. Conclusions: In this study, the distance education group and face-to-face groups had no difference in level of knowledge retention. Julie A. Garrison