Using interactive multimedia e-Books for learning blood cell morphology in pediatric hematology

BACKGROUND: This prospective study compares the use of interactive multimedia eBooks (IME) with traditional PowerPoint (TPP) for teaching cell morphology of blood and bone marrow. METHODS: Fifty-one interns from three Taiwan medical schools training by a single teacher in the pediatric hematology department of Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taiwan, participated in this study. 25 interns were allocated for training with a traditional PowerPoint atlas and 26 interns for training with an interactive multimedia eBook atlas. Learning outcomes were examined by pre-test and post-test using the CellQuiz of CellAtlas App. Attitudes and perceptions were collected by survey questions regarding interest, motivation and effectiveness. RESULTS: There was no difference in the pre-test scores between TPP and IME groups (mean score 27.0 versus 27.9, p = 0.807). However, the interns in the interactive multimedia eBook group achieved significantly better scores in the post-test than the ones in the PowerPoint group (mean score 103.2 versus 70.6; p < 0.001). Overall results of interest, motivation and effectiveness were strongly positive in the multimedia eBook group. CONCLUSIONS: Our data supports that interactive multimedia eBooks are more effective than PowerPoint to facilitate learning of cell morphology of blood and bone marrow. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12909-016-0816-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.