The Role of Arduino Coding Workshop in Enhancing Medical Students’ Literacy on Health-related Technology

Purpose : There are several barriers to medical students being conversant with current digital health tools. A few examples of them are an overburdened curriculum, inadequate resources, and financial challenges. The conventional educational environment was unable to fully unleashed students’ literacy on health-related technology. Thus, this study was intended to evaluate whether Arduino coding can enhance students' literacy towards health-related technology as a teaching and learning tool. Methods: In this study, a quasi-experimental model of a pretest and a posttest with a single group was applied. A total of twenty-nine students from medical faculty in Universiti Malaysia Sabah were selected via convenience sampling technique. All participants attended the Arduino coding theory session and were divided into 14 pairs during the hands-on session. Results: There was a significant improvement in the students' literacy on health-related technology. The posttest results were significantly improved compared to the pretest performed before the workshop (p <0.001). The majority of participants (n=26, 91.0 %) were generally satisfied with the workshop. Implication for Research and Practice: The findings of this study indicated that the Arduino coding workshop increased medical students' literacy on health-related technology. The majority of students expressed their satisfaction with the workshop's content. It can therefore be suggested to incorporate Arduino coding program in the medical curriculum as an elective module. Further studies may be conducted to determine the long-term impact of Arduino coding program for enhancing medical students’ skills to create technical solutions for encountered health problems.