The effectiveness of Moodle's “Lesson” feature in pre-learning about arterial puncture and blood transfusion procedures

Background This study evaluated the effectiveness of Moodle’s “Lesson” feature as a pre-learning tool for clinical skills among medical students. Methods The performance of 69 fourth-year medical students during practical sessions on arterial puncture and blood transfusion was assessed. These students engaged in pre-learning activities via Moodle's “Lesson” feature. We analyzed the survey results to gauge students’ satisfaction and perceived usefulness of the pre-learning approach. Additionally, we compared the performance of the 2023 cohort, which took part in the pre-learning process, with students from 2020 to 2022 who did not have this preparatory component. Results Among the students surveyed, data from 59 respondents were analyzed. Satisfaction with the pre-learning segment was high, with a mean satisfaction score of 4.69 (standard deviation [SD]=0.62) and Cronbach’s alpha of 0.918. The tool's perceived usefulness was also rated highly, with a mean score of 4.77 (SD=0.53) and Cronbach’s alpha of 0.956. Students who used the pre-learning tool had a mean score of 84.20 (SD=14.74), whereas those who did not use the tool scored slightly lower, with a mean of 80.40 (SD=13.07); however, this difference was not statistically significant (p=0.196). Nonetheless, the 2023 cohort scores were generally higher across the various percentile measures than those of the 2020–2022 groups. Conclusions The pre-learning tool using the “Lesson” feature on Moodle proved useful and satisfactory for students learning clinical procedures. Further research with larger cohorts is required to validate these findings.