Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions



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CURRENT ISSUE BACK ISSUES SUBSCRIBE ADVERTISE ABOUT JCEHP FOR AUTHORS JCEHP AWARD SEARCH (Members only) FULL-TEXT		Volume 28 (4) Volume 28, Issue 4, Fall 2008 J Contin Educ Health Prof 2008; 28(4):235 ORIGIANL RESEARCH Comprehensive Evaluation of an Online Tobacco Control Continuing Education Course in Canada Kirsten E. Sears, Joanna E. Cohen, Jacqui Drope A b s t r a c t Introduction: To respond to the increasing need to build capacity for planning, implementing, and supporting tobacco control strategies, an evidence-based, online continuing education (CE) course aimed at Canadian public health professionals was developed. The purpose of this study was to evaluate comprehensively the course, Tobacco and Public Health: From Theory to Practice (http://tobaccocourse.otru.org). Methods: Rossett and McDonald’s revision of Kirkpatrick’s four-level evaluation model for training programs guided the evaluation design. A pre-, post-, and follow-up single group design assessed immediate reactions to course modules, knowledge change and retention, practice change, and overall perceived value of the course. Six external peer reviewers evaluated course module content. Results: Fifty-nine participants completed all three course modules and the final online questionnaire at time 3, representing a response rate of 78%. Significant knowledge gains occurred between times 1 and 2 (p < 0.001). Although time 3 scores remained higher than time 1 scores for each module (p < 0.001), they decreased significantly between times 2 and 3 (p < 0.001). The majority of participants (93%) felt the topics covered were useful to their daily work. All but one participant felt the course was a good investment of their time, and nearly all participants (97%) stated they would recommend the course to others. Peer reviewers found that module content flowed well and was comprehensive. Discussion: This comprehensive evaluation was valuable both for assessing whether course goals were achieved and for identifying areas for course improvement. We expect this design would be a useful model to evaluate other online continuing education courses. Key Words: evaluation; Internet, online, continuing education, distance learning, public health, Kirkpatrick’s fourlevel model, tobacco control, knowledge transfer, learning object Lessons for Practice Public health professionals can gain knowledge and transfer this knowledge into practice from participating in an online continuing education course. Peer review of course content by experts allows a CE course to be evaluated for accuracy, relevance, and comprehensiveness. With newer technologies, evaluations of CE courses in public health can be conducted entirely online (ie, recruiting participants, collecting data, tracking participant progress, etc.). Building online relationships can be challenging. For evaluations conducted entirely online, participants may need to be contacted several times by telephone in order to enhance response rates. When designing knowledge tests for online CE courses, efforts should be made to test general knowledge constructs versus specific facts and statistics in order to improve knowledge retention. Planning for long-term sustainability is a critical factor to consider in the early stages of developing an online CE course.
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