Personalization enhances learning anatomy terms
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1Faculty of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. p.ginns@usyd.edu.au
Background:
Personalizing computer-based instructional text with a conversational rather than formal style has been found to enhance learning substantially.
Aim:
An experimental study investigated whether a conversational style would enhance learning anatomy terminology from paper-based materials.
Methods:
Students were randomly assigned to experimental conditions, and hypotheses were tested with a multiple-choice test and self-report scales.
Results:
Studying personalized materials led to better performance on a terminology test and lower mental effort during testing than studying non-personalized materials. However, groups did not differ on ratings of interest/enjoyment.
Conclusion:
These results extend previous research by demonstrating learning gains following personalization using paper-based materials. However, the lack of effect on interest/enjoyment self-reports raises questions about previous theorizing on the role of this variable.
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