Impact of students' use of technology on their learning achievements in physiology courses at the University of Dammam

OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to investigate the possible relationship between students' use of technology and their achievements in physiology courses at five health colleges of the University of Dammam. METHODS: This study was conducted on 231 students studying physiology during their 2nd year at one of five health colleges (Medicine, Dental, Clinical Pharmacy, Applied Medical Sciences, and Nursing). An online survey was sent to the students regarding their use of technology and the devices they use. The Pearson correlation coefficient and descriptive statistics were implemented to study the frequency of, and relationship between, technology and learning achievement in physiology courses. RESULTS: This study observed a significant relationship between students' use of technology and their achievements in health colleges. The study also demonstrated that the most-used devices are laptops (50%) and phones (42%) followed by tablets (7%) and desktop computers (0.5%). This paper reports on the results of the survey, documenting what was revealed regarding how technology is used among students at the health colleges, as well as the important benefits on their achievements during physiology courses. CONCLUSIONS: Technology usage might produce comparatively more significant increases in academic achievement than would non-usage. Further research is warranted to examine its effects.