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Testing to enhance retention in human anatomy.
Jessica M Logan1, Andrew J Thompson, David W Marshak
1Department of Psychology, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA.
Anatomical Sciences Education
|August 2, 2011
Summary
Repeated testing significantly improves medical students' retention of human anatomy knowledge. Even without credit, this learning strategy boosts scores and final exam performance, highlighting its effectiveness.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Medical Education
- Anatomy
Background:
- Repeated testing is a proven learning aid for material retention.
- Cognitive psychology research supports the benefits of self-testing for learning.
- Traditional anatomy education may not fully leverage active recall strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effectiveness of repeated testing on human anatomy knowledge retention in medical students.
- To assess the impact of low-stakes, online quizzes on learning outcomes.
- To determine if repeated exposure to anatomical concepts improves recall.
Main Methods:
- Development of 39 online fill-in-the-blank quizzes (approx. 50 questions each) covering human anatomy regions and the nervous system.
- Optional, no-credit quizzes administered via Blackboard with immediate feedback.
- Controlled study with 21 future medical/dental students involving repeated testing of nervous system questions at intervals (30 minutes, 1 week).
Main Results:
- Despite initial unpopularity, students showed significant improvement in nervous system quiz scores.
- Scores increased by nearly 9% after the second quiz and 29% after the third quiz compared to the first.
- A positive correlation was observed between quiz performance and final examination grades.
Conclusions:
- Repeated testing is an effective strategy for enhancing learning and retention of human anatomy.
- Online, low-stakes quizzes can be a valuable tool in medical education.
- Active recall through repeated testing positively impacts long-term knowledge retention and academic success.
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