Development and assessment of an Android veterinary educational application software: ‘Equine Upper Respiratory Tract Guide’

Summary Background The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of an interactive software application developed to facilitate the learning of equine upper respiratory system anatomy and pathology. Objectives The primary objective was to undertake a comparative analysis of the outcomes achieved by students employing an active learning approach with the application (G1) and those attending traditional lectures without using the application (G2). Study Design All fifth‐year veterinary medical students were eligible to participate in this experimental design. Surveys and quizzes were also conducted to evaluate the levels of satisfaction among three primary groups: fifth‐year veterinary students (G1 and G2; Survey 1), veterinary students (sixth year) and equine veterinarians in Morocco (Survey 2) and veterinary students and equine practitioners abroad (Survey 3). The quizzes consisted of pseudo‐randomly selected questions that were not repeated across participants. Results Statistically significant improvements in scores were observed following the implementation of the application software, with an average score of 12.55 ± 2.10 compared to 10.58 ± 2.60 for the conventional teaching method. It is noteworthy that only three scores fell below the 10.0/20.0 threshold, used locally to validate the training module. In contrast, 11 students in the traditional teaching group scored below this threshold. Conclusions The findings suggest that the application software fosters more consistent and improved performance, as evidenced by the higher mean score and lower standard deviation. Furthermore, the vast majority of respondents indicated that the application met their needs, increased their confidence and efficiency and was user‐friendly. Statistical and qualitative analysis of the data indicated that this software application is an effective tool for improving student performance and ensuring better learning of equine upper respiratory anatomy and disease. All participants in Group 1 and 87% of participants in Group 2 found the application very useful and preferred it as a complementary support for the course rather than the main teaching material.