Teaching spirometry with the PowerLab® LabTutor® System: The physiology experience Stefan du Plessis 1, Hans Strijdom 1, Elize Archer 2, Martie van Heusden 3, Ben van Heerden 3 1 Medical Physiology, 2 Clinical Skills Centre, 3 Centre for Health Sciences Education, Stellenbosch University Introduction Physiology is a core discipline in years I to III of the MBChB curriculum at the FHS. Traditionally it has been regarded as a pre-clinical subject. However, in the true sense of integration between the pre-clinical and clinical sciences it is important to provide students with both theoretical knowledge, as well as practical exposure to bridge this gap. With this in mind and to keep abreast with technological developments in student centred training, 4 state-of-the-art PowerLab® LabTutor® Systems were procured. This apparatus allows students to perform practical sessions with minimal input from tutors as it has the necessary software to guide students, while simultaneously integrating the theory with practice. These apparatuses were phased in during the Respiratory 271 module in The aim of this study was to determine whether the students and lecturers experienced the new training equipment as a valuable tool to teach the spirometry practical sessions. Materials and Methods Results The LabTutor® contributed significantly to increase student knowledge (post- vs. pre- test). Both students and lecturers reported the LabTutor® system to be a more user friendly and effective teaching aid to integrate the theory with the clinical concepts. We therefore suggest that in future all Physiology practicals should be performed on the LabTutor® and strongly motivate for the acquisition of more units to decrease student:system ratio and thereby encourage active participation. Conclusion Student Comments The labtutor is "awesome"! Labtutor is more accurate. I personally feel that the labtutor would be effective if given more time, and perhaps used in other modules. Dit sal besonder waardevol wees vir studente indien die Fakulteit in veelvuldige LabTutors belê. LabTutor is modern technology, it would be more beneficial. Labtutor prakties was meer suksesvol en ek het meer daaruit geleer. While the labtutor was more difficult to get used to - the data capture and calculation was better. The spirometer calculations takes much longer, has margin of human error. It is important to know how to work with both so that you understand what you're doing with the LabTutor, therefore back to basics. Die labtutor sal baie meer sinvol wees as die groepe kleiner is sodat almal 'n kans kan kry om die sisteem te bemeester. MBChB II Students (N=221) Semi-structured focus group interviews with the lecturers/tutors Traditional Spirometry Group B Group A Random Division PowerLab ® LabTutor ® Post-Test TraditionalSpirometry Questionnaire Pre-Test * * GraphPad Prism 5 was used for all statistical analyses and P<0.05 was regarded as significant. Tutor Comments This apparatus expose the students as to what is currently in use in the clinical setting. The LabTutor® provides background information, theory and online help to both Tutors and Students – making it extremely user friendly. I was surprised that the students were able to understand the web based type of self-learning quite easily by themselves. The LabTutor® allows students to work independently and at own pace. Pre-TestsPost-Tests Questionnaire Feedback Gender: Male-31% Female-69% The language I speak and understand the best: Afrikaans-40% English-57% Other-3% LabTutor® Spirometer Indicate which apparatus you would prefer to do 66% 34% the practical with. Which method do you think prepare you better 78% 22% for future clinical exposure? Which system needs the least amount of tutor 57% 43% input? Agree Neutral Disagree The practical session contributed to my 94% 5% 1% knowledge of respiratory physiology. This was the first time that I was exposed 22% 16% 62% to computer based teaching and learning. I am confident to make use of computer 72% 19% 9% based teaching and learning. It was easier to use the Labtutor® than 48% 22% 29% the Spirometer. The LabTutor® is a better method than the 48% 27% 25% spirometer to explain the practical component. I would like to use the LabTutor® during 73% 15% 12% practical sessions of other modules. I found the practical session as a whole 92% 8% 0% useful to master concepts of lung volumes. The practical session met my expectations. 82% 17% 1% I enjoyed the practical session as a whole. 88% 11% 1% I enjoyed using the LabTutor® more than using the Spirometer. (3.806±0.071 vs ±0.058, p<0.0001) The LabTutor® compared to the Spirometer enabled me to master the practical component independently. (3.514±0.065 vs ±0.067, p=0.130)