THE INSTRUCTIONAL-EFFECTIVENESS OF A RADIOLOGY MULTIMEDIA TEXTBOOK (HYPERLUNG) VERSUS A STANDARD LECTURE

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES. Information overload is a significant proble m for the modern radiologist. This prospective study compares the inst ructional effectiveness of a multimedia textbook (HyperLung) with a le cture. HyperLung is a radiologic multimedia textbook about imaging dif fuse lung disease created using a multimedia authoring tool, the Annot ator (the University of Iowa Second Look Computing, Iowa City, IA), on the Apple Macintosh computer (Apple Computer, Cupertino, CA). METHODs . Forty-nine staff physicians and residents in the Department of Radio logy were randomized to receive instruction either by HyperLung or by a lecture. The instructional content was the same in both groups, and both groups were tested before and after instruction. The actual time spent in each instructional situation was recorded. RESULTS. The instr uctional effectiveness of the multimedia textbook and lecture was equa l. The instructional efficiency of HyperLung was only 60% of the lectu re. Users of the multimedia textbook found it enjoyable and straightfo rward to use. CONCLUSIONS. Multimedia textbooks have a promising futur e in radiology education.