Online Versus Classroom Training of Auditory-Perceptual Voice Evaluation With the GRBAS-Scale: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of two training modalities for auditory-perceptual evaluation of voice: online training and classroom training.

Materials and methods: A 2-arm randomized controlled trial was conducted with 115 first-year speech and language pathology students randomly divided in two groups. Group 1 was given access to the online training platform Voice-TT for 2 weeks; group 2 received a 90-minute standard classroom training in auditory-perceptual evaluation with GRBAS without access to online training. Two weeks later, the training modalities were changed. Before training and two weeks after each training stage, a rating experiment was conducted. A mixed models design was used to evaluate the effect of both training modalities on the agreement between student and expert ratings. Percentage agreement was calculated to investigate intrarater and inter-rater reliability.

Results: Students' agreement with expert ratings was significantly higher after online training for parameters G, B, and A. Students who received classroom training improved for parameter S. Additional classroom training after online training led to better agreement for parameters G and R, while additional online training following classroom training only improved the rating of parameter G. Although intrarater and inter-rater agreement improved after online and classroom training for both groups, the highest improvement was seen in the group that trained online first. There was no correlation between student-expert rating agreement and the duration and frequency of online training.

Conclusion: In this randomized controlled trial, online training with Voice-TT leads to a more reliable GRBAS rating for novice speech and language pathology students. Combined classroom and online training seems to be most effective when online training comes first.