Developing and investigating an electronic performance support system for skill learning in the simulation environment

Objective Electronic performance support systems (EPSSs) developed in the literature generally use advanced programming. This situation may limit the use of the EPSSs. The purpose of this study was to develop an EPSS without any financial cost and using advanced programming to improve dental and medical students' knowledge and performance in the basic life support course in simulation environment. Materials and methods This study was planned and carried out as a developmental research. The participants of the study were composed of dental/medical students and experts. The academic achievement test, performance test, expert evaluation form and interview form were used as data collection tools. Data analyses were done by SPSS 21 package software. Results Students taught using the EPSS have higher levels of academic achievement and performance compared with the students taught using the lecture format in a traditional way of teaching. Students stated that the system was useful and effective. Conclusion This web-based mid-level EPSS was developed without any financial cost and using advanced programming. EPSSs like present system can be used for supporting learning. The used framework in this study can provide guidance for future works.