Enhancing motivation with the "virtual" supervisory role: a randomized trial

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Instructional Design
• Learning Psychology

Background:

• Investigating the impact of instructional design on learner motivation and knowledge acquisition.
• Hypothesizing that a motivationally-enhanced format would yield superior outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of a motivationally-enhanced instructional design in medical education.
• To assess the influence of this design on resident motivation and knowledge retention.

Main Methods:

• Medicine residents participated in a crossover study with online learning modules.
• Modules were delivered in standard and motivationally-enhanced formats, with randomized assignment.
• Learner motivation was assessed pre- and post-module, alongside knowledge posttests.

Main Results:

• The motivationally-enhanced format significantly increased learner motivation compared to the standard format.
• No statistically significant difference in mean posttest knowledge scores was observed between the two formats.
• Higher pre-intervention motivation was correlated with better post-intervention knowledge scores.

Conclusions:

• While the enhanced design boosted motivation, its effect on knowledge was not significant.
• Learner motivation appears to be a key factor in knowledge acquisition.
• Future instructional enhancements could target motivation to improve learning outcomes.