Undergraduate Physiotherapists' Use of the Internet to Fulfil Their Information Needs During a Theoretical Examination: A Randomized Crossover Trial.

Background: The internet is widely used by healthcare students and professionals alike to fulfil their information needs, yet limited research has utilised web log analysis to evaluate how they do so.

Aims: To elicit information needs among students via the administration of a multiple choice questionnaire (MCQ) and to evaluate how they use the internet to fulfil these needs.

Methods: Forty final-year physiotherapy students (63% female) completed a MCQ under two conditions: i) 'assisted' with internet access and ii) 'unassisted' without internet access. Each participant completed both conditions in random order, with a washout period between sessions to minimize potential carryover effects. Generalised estimating equations were used to evaluate differences in exam score and the rate at which questions were answered correctly between conditions. Web log analysis was used to evaluate the kinds of web-based resources and the time spent doing so.

Results: Students' exam scores did not differ between assisted (61% ± 12%) and unassisted (47% ± 13%) conditions; p = 0.056. Students spent a median time of 23 seconds appraising internet resources before submitting an answer in the exam, and exhibited a heavy reliance on Google, which represented 65% of all 'hits.'

Conclusion: Students were unable to leverage internet 'assistance' to improve their examination scores; the limited time they spent appraising web-based information and their heavy reliance on Google warrant further research.