The Smart Class Teaching Module for Rehabilitation Medicine English Education in China

BACKGROUND: Learning medical English is particularly challenging for non-native English-speaking medical students. The Smart Class teaching module is a new online teaching module for rehabilitation-related medical English, the efficacy of which has yet to be established in the literature. Gender differences should also not be ignored in our study, taking into account the proven performance differences between males and females in language learning. MATERIAL/METHODS: First-year physiotherapy students in Grade 2018 and Grade 2019 at Guangzhou Medical University were recruited to participate in this study. Grade 2019, as the experimental group, completed the Smart Class teaching module, while Grade 2018, as the control group, completed the Traditional Class teaching module. The efficacy of both modules was assessed objectively using the students’ medical English exam scores and subjectively using the students’ responses to a questionnaire. RESULTS: In total, 242 questionnaires were distributed, and 210 valid questionnaires were returned, of which 119 were from the Smart Class teaching module group and 91 were from the Traditional Class teaching module group. There was no statistically significant difference between the medical English exam scores of the 2 groups (P=0.324). However, the subjective assessment revealed that the students experienced a significantly greater burden from the workload in the Smart Class teaching module group (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: We found both the Smart Class teaching module and the Traditional Class teaching module achieved similar teaching outcomes. Therefore, the former represents a viable alternative teaching option for situations where traditional class teaching is not possible.