Journal of Education and Health Promotion

Are postgraduate students in distance medical education program ready for e‑learning? A survey in Iran

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

. Tahereh Changiz
. Fariba Haghani
. Nasim Nowroozi
Abstract
Introduction: Appropriate instructional design plays a crucial role in e‑learning success, and
analyzing learners is the cornerstone for instructional design process. Students’ readiness
for e‑learning was assessed in the present study as an example of learner analysis for a
distance course in medical education master program. Materials and Methods: A census
sample of 23 students applied for distance master program on medical education, completed
the “Students’ E‑Learning Readiness Scale” developed by Watkins, via email. The reliability
and validity of the scale has been confirmed before. Average scores in total and 6 subscales
were calculated. The score range was 1‑5 and scores above 3 indicated good readiness.
Data was interpreted using descriptive and non‑parametric tests (Mann‑Whitney U and
Kruskal‑Wallis). Results: Response rate was 100%. The students’ readiness scores in total and
all subscales (“technology access”, “online skills and relationships”, “motivation”, “online audio/
video”, “readiness for online discussions”, and “importance of e‑learning to your success”) were
above 3. Comparing different subscales, students’ mean scores in “motivation” and “internet
discussion” subscales were less than others, although the difference was not significant. There
were no significant gender differences in the readiness scores. Students who were academic
staff had significantly higher scores than others in total and in “motivation” and “online skills
and relationship” subscales. Conclusion: Good learners’ readiness, observed in the present
study, may imply that the instructional designer can rely on e‑learning strategies and build
the course upon them. However, according to the slightly lower scores in “motivation” and
“online discussion” subscales, it is recommended to stress more on strategies that improve
these two components. To generalize the results, it is needed to test students’ readiness in
more different degree programs.

Keywords

E‑learning
Instructional design
learner analysis
learner readiness
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Journal of Education and Health Promotion
Volume 3, Issue 10
October 2013
Pages 1-4

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