Investigating the Effects of Simulation-Based Teaching on Learning Domains Designed for Physiotherapy Students

Siddharth Satish Mishra; Tushar Palekar; Vrushali Panhale

doi:10.18502/jmr.v18i1.14731

Siddharth Satish Mishra MGM College of Physiotherapy, Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS), Navi Mumbai, India.
Tushar Palekar College of Physiotherapy, Dr. D Y Patil Vidyapeeth University, Pune, India
Vrushali Panhale MGM College of Physiotherapy, Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS), Navi Mumbai, India.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/jmr.v18i1.14731

Keywords: Patient simulation; Adult learning; Brain injuries; Physiotherapy specialty; Students

Abstract

Introduction: Simulation-based teaching is a technique for imitating a situation’s behavior or process via a suitable analog situation for training or teaching purposes. Simulation-based teaching is widely used in various domains; however, there is limited literature on evaluating the role of simulated-based teaching in physiotherapy. This study investigates the effect of simulation-based teaching on learning domains for traumatic brain injury topics framed for final-year physiotherapy students.

Materials and Methods: A total of 51 final-year physiotherapy students were randomly selected and allocated into two groups. Group A (n=25) includes didactic with PowerPoint presentation teaching session. Group B (n=26) includes simulated-based teaching sessions. There were eight simulators selected and trained for the Ranchos Los Amigos stages. The students were assessed using a self-designed pre-post multiple-choice questions (MCQ) test for knowledge and a clinical evaluation exercise for affective and psychomotor skills.

Results: This study showed that group B significantly improved in the pre-post self-made MCQ test (t=17.34, P=0.00), and in the clinical evaluation exercise, group B performed 43.66% better than group A.

Conclusion: The study concludes that simulation-based teaching significantly improves cognitive, affective, and psychomotor skills compared to traditional methods for traumatic brain injury topics framed for final-year physiotherapy students.