Introduction: Traditional teaching methods used in medical education are not able to respond to the rapid changes and growth of information as well as continuous change in educational needs of societies. This study was performed to compare the effect of two teaching approaches, lecture and e-learning on learning outcomes of mother and child health course in nursing students of Tehran Medical University.

Methods: This quasi-experimental study was performed on all third semester nursing students who had passed mother and child health course in 2006 (N=32).It was a one group two-shot study. During the first four weeks, the students received traditional education and during the second four weeks they studied the rest of the subject matter using an on-line learning method. At the end of the course, the students' opinion toward the educational methods was asked using a questionnaire. An exam that covered the content of the 4-week block was also administered. Analysis of data was done by SPSS software using mean, standard deviation, and t-test.

Results: The learning outcomes in both groups were similar. Based on the students' opinion about two teaching methods, e-learning was more effective on "their capability to use the method" and "independence in using the method", and lecture was better than e-learning in "the effect on learning" and "motivation".

Conclustion: E-learning can be used for teaching some nursing courses. It is recommended to use e-learning method with considering appropriate interactive and more attractive virtual environments to motivate students.

Keywords: Lecture, E-Learning, Learning, Mother and Child Health Care, Nursing Student.