Author: Brian S McGowan, PhD

Objectives  In line with a recent report entitled Effective Use of Educational Technology in Medical Education from the Association of American Medical Colleges Institute for Improving Medical Education (AAMC-IME), this study examined whether revising a medical lecture based on evidence-based principles of multimedia design would lead to improved long-term transfer and retention in Year 3 medical students. A previous study yielded positive effects on an immediate retention test, but did not investigate long-term effects.

Methods  In a pre-test/post-test control design, a cohort of 37 Year 3 medical students at a private, midwestern medical school received a bullet point-based PowerPoint™ lecture on shock developed by the instructor as part of their core curriculum (the traditional condition group). Another cohort of 43 similar medical students received a lecture covering identical content using slides redesigned according to Mayer’s evidence-based principles of multimedia design (the modified condition group).

Results  Findings showed that the modified condition group significantly outscored the traditional condition group on delayed tests of transfer given 1 week (d = 0.83) and 4 weeks (d = 1.17) after instruction, and on delayed tests of retention given 1 week (d = 0.83) and 4 weeks (d = 0.79) after instruction. The modified condition group also significantly outperformed the traditional condition group on immediate tests of retention (d = 1.49) and transfer (d = 0.76).

Conclusions  This study provides the first evidence that applying multimedia design principles to an actual medical lecture has significant effects on measures of learner understanding (i.e. long-term transfer and long-term retention). This work reinforces the need to apply the science of learning and instruction in medical education.

via Teaching for understanding in medical classrooms using multimedia design principles – Issa – 2013 – Medical Education – Wiley Online Library.

Context  Instructional animations play a prominent role in medical education, but the degree to which these teaching tools follow empirically established learning principles, such as those outlined in the cognitive theory of multimedia learning (CTML), is unknown. These principles provide guidelines for designing animations in a way that promotes optimal cognitive processing and facilitates learning, but the application of these learning principles in current animations has not yet been investigated. A large-scale review of existing educational tools in the context of this theoretical framework is necessary to examine if and how instructional medical animations adhere to these principles and where improvements can be made.

Methods  We conducted a comprehensive review of instructional animations in the health sciences domain and examined whether these animations met the three main goals of CTML: managing essential processing; minimising extraneous processing, and facilitating generative processing. We also identified areas for pedagogical improvement. Through Google keyword searches, we identified 4455 medical animations for review. After the application of exclusion criteria, 860 animations from 20 developers were retained. We randomly sampled and reviewed 50% of the identified animations.

Results  Many animations did not follow the recommended multimedia learning principles, particularly those that support the management of essential processing. We also noted an excess of extraneous visual and auditory elements and few opportunities for learner interactivity.

Conclusions  Many unrealised opportunities exist for improving the efficacy of animations as learning tools in medical education; instructors can look to effective examples to select or design animations that incorporate the established principles of CTML.

via Applying the cognitive theory of multimedia learning: an analysis of medical animations – Yue – 2013 – Medical Education – Wiley Online Library.

Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Worldwide, there are essential differences underpinning what educators and students perceive to be effective medical education. Yet, the world looks on for a recipe or easy formula for the globalization of medical education.
AIMS:
This article examines the assumptions, main beliefs, and impact of globalization on medical education as a carrier of modernity.
METHODS:
The article explores the cultural and social structures for the successful utilization of learning approaches within medical education. Empirical examples are problem-based learning (PBL) at two medical schools in Jamaica and the Netherlands, respectively.
RESULTS:
Our analysis shows that people do not just naturally work well together. Deliberate efforts to build group culture for effective and efficient collaborative practice are required. Successful PBL is predicated on effective communication skills, which are culturally defined in that they require common points of understanding of reality. Commonality in cultural practices and expectations do not exist beforehand but must be clearly and deliberately created.
CONCLUSIONS:
The globalization of medical education is more than the import of instructional designs. It includes Western models of social organization requiring deep reflection and adaptation to ensure its success in different environments and among different groups.

via Globalization and the modernization of medical edu… [Med Teach. 2012] – PubMed – NCBI.