Telepresence In Medical Education: Technology and Educational Effectiveness

Aim: The telepresence technology is the next best thing to being there in person as though sitting together at the same table instead of separated by distances. In this study, it is aimed to investigate the effectiveness of telepresence technology on medical students’ success as an alternative teaching method comparing with face-to-face teaching method in the pathology course.Methods: A quantitative method was used in this study with ( totally N 93) 53 students for the Face-to-Face Teaching Group and 40 students for the Telepresence Teaching Group were used. Measurements were done by “End of Subject Test” and” Final Exam” and repeat times of videos were recorded. The data were analyzed by ANCOVA, one-way ANOVA, Bonferroni correction test, correlation and students’ t test. Results: When End of Subject Test grades was analyzed, the average of the Face-to-Face Teaching Group’s average points was 12,86 points higher than the Telepresence Teaching Group’s average points. For the Final Exam, the average points of the Face-to-Face Teaching Group were 1,12 points higher than average points of Telepresence Teaching Group. When course repeat times were analyzed it was seen that the Telepresence Teaching Group had spent 19,75 minutes more than the Face-to-Face Teaching Group and have an improving effect on both groups students’ success. And correlation analysis showed that 32,5 % of the success of Telepresence Teaching Group and 28,6 % of the success of Face-to-Face Teaching Group result from course video repetition.Conclusions: The outcomes show no statistical difference between success rates and retention of medical students having courses face-to-face and via telepresence method. And it was seen that “repeat times” had a significant effect on student success.