Applying digital storytelling in the medical oncology curriculum: Effects on students’ achievement and critical thinking

BACKGROUND: Digital storytelling (DST), which combines traditional storytelling with digital tools, can provide a narrative pedagogy that promotes critical thinking (CT). However, we found no previous study in medical education. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The aim of the study was to investigate if DST can promote CT and, if so, which CT skills were improved. Thirty-two students participated in a non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest research study, with 16 in each group. The participants were fifth-year medical students on a hematology rotation. We compared the routine instructional method (control group) with DST (intervention group). The measures of CT used for the pre- and post-test in both groups was the Health Science Reasoning Test (HRST) and knowledge test. We also evaluated the satisfaction of the students in DST group. We used Paired and independent t-tests for comparing the mean scores. To eliminate the confounding effect of pre-test on the results of the intervention, the ANCOVA test was used. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the overall CT pretest scores (P-value = 0.51) between the control and intervention groupsbut the difference was significant for the post-test scores (P-value = 0.03). Although post-test scores showed a significant increase (P-value = 0.002) compared to pre-test scores in the intervention group, no significant increase was observed in the control group (P-value = 0.26). Most students considered that DST improved their CT, deep learning, communication skills and team-working. CONCLUSIONS: The study demonstrated that DST promoted CT. We recommend the use of DST to promote CT in clinical education placements.