Keywords
Plaster fixation
Clinical skills
Practical teaching
Teaching reform
Orthopedic teaching
Submitted : 2026-06-17
Accepted : 2026-07-02
Published : 2026-07-17
Abstract
Plaster fixation is a basic clinical skill of considerable importance in orthopedics and in emergency medicine. Conventional teaching tends to focus too much on theory, to provide little actual practice, to rush the in-class part of instruction, and to neglect mastery after class. The present work applies the flipped classroom idea to the teaching of plaster fixation, proposes a hybrid method combining “online self-directed preview—offline handling of material-on internalization—post-class consolidation or improvement”, and looks at its teaching value. Methods: Fifty postgraduate trainees (in surgery) were chosen and randomly assigned to one of two groups (intervention or control). For the intervention group, flipped classroom methods were used, whereas the control group got traditional instruction. Among the indicators considered for evaluation are theoretical scores from tests, scores of standardized practical skills, and results of the teaching satisfaction questionnaire—all of which are used to assess teaching outcomes. Results: Following the teaching intervention, each group showed a definite improvement (of statistical significance) with regard to theoretical scores, practical skill scores, and satisfaction with teaching scores, which should be evaluated in relation to pre-intervention values. As far as improvement is concerned, each of the indicators studied appears to show much more marked progress in the intervention group than in the control group, with a statistically significant difference between groups (P<0.05). Conclusion: The flipped classroom model seems well suited to increasing theoretical learning among surgical postgraduates and to improving their ability to perform standardized plaster procedures, to reason clinically and to avoid risks—and to do so more efficiently than under traditional instruction. Such results help establish an empirical foundation for pedagogical reform of clinical skills training in medicine.
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