Cited 2 times since 2020 (0.5 per year) source: EuropePMC Medical science educator, Volume 30, Issue 3, 9 2 2020, Pages 1211-1219 Making a Lecture Stick: the Effect of Spaced Instruction on Knowledge Retention in Medical Education. Timmer MCJ, Steendijk P, Arend SM, Versteeg M
Introduction
Poor knowledge retention is a persistent problem among medical students. This challenging issue may be addressed by optimizing frequently used instructional designs, such as lectures. Guided by neuroscientific literature, we designed a spaced learning lecture in which the educator repeats the to-be-learned information using short temporal intervals. We investigated if this modified instructional design could enhance students' retention.
Materials and methods
Second-year medical students (n = 148) were randomly allocated to either the spaced lecture or the traditional lecture. The spaced lecture consisted of three 15-min instructional periods, separated by 5-min intervals. A short summary of the preceding information was provided after each interval. The traditional lecture encompassed the same information including the summary in the massed format, thus without the intervals. All students performed a baseline knowledge test 2 weeks prior to the lectures and students' knowledge retention was assessed 8 days after the lectures.
Results
The average score on the retention test (α = 0.74) was not significantly different between the spaced lecture group (33.8% ± 13.6%) and the traditional lecture group (31.8% ± 12.9%) after controlling for students' baseline-test performance (F(1,104) = 0.566, p = 0.458). Students' narrative comments showed that the spaced lecture format was well-received and subjectively benefitted their attention-span and cognitive engagement.
Discussion and conclusion
We were unable to show increased knowledge retention after the spaced lecture compared with the traditional lecture. Based on these findings, we provide recommendations for further research. Ultimately, we aim for optimized spaced learning designs to facilitate learning in the medical curriculum and to help educate health professionals with a solid knowledge base.
