Podcasts - an evaluation of their use in Undergraduate Teaching

Objectives: A series of Podcasts, on varying clinical and technical aspects of the dental course, were devised by academic members of staff. These were devised to be around 10 minutes in length and were based around a discussion with two members of staff . The Podcasts were made available on the School elearning environment and also placed on iTunes. The aim of this study was to evaluate how clinical students reacted to the use of such podcasts for teaching of undergraduate subjects

Methods: A questionnaire based on previous work (Walmsley et al., Euro J Dent Educ 2003; 7:27-33) was piloted with first and second year students who had not entered the clinical component of their undergraduate study. These results allowed the questionnaire to be modified which was then distributed to third and fourth year clinical students. The total number of students was 149 which covered years 3 and 4. There were 96 questionnaires returned giving a response rate of 67%.

Results: The students used a variety of formats to listen to the Podcasts. The most popular format was via their computer at home. However many other formats were used and different settings where the students listened to the podcasts. The students valued the subject matter of the Podcasts and all scored highly at the “very good” to “good” rating level. The reasons for using the podcasts were for reading around the subject areas especially during examination time. They particularly liked the podcast as it provided a different medium for learning. It was the flexibility of using such material at their own convenience which was particularly attractive to the students using the podcasts.

Conclusion: Podcasts are a useful vehicle for delivering learning materials to students. It offers flexibility and also matches with students' love of downloading materials to use when they wish.