Does the Podcast Video Playback Speed Affect Comprehension for Novel Curriculum Delivery? A Randomized Trial

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Educational Technology

Background:

• Medical education increasingly uses technology to enhance learning.
• Recorded lectures played at various speeds are a recent innovation.
• Previous subjective studies indicated improved knowledge acquisition with sped-up lectures, but objective data on retention was lacking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantitatively compare mean test scores to determine if watching recorded lectures at 1.5× speed significantly differs from 1.0× speed for immediate retention of novel material.
• To objectively assess the impact of lecture playback speed on medical student learning.

Main Methods:

• Fifty-four medical students were divided into two groups.
• Each group watched two videos (ultrasonography artifacts and transducers) at both 1.5× and 1.0× speeds, completing assessments after each.
• Performance was measured by percentage correct on written assessments, with data analyzed using t-tests.

Main Results:

• A significant detriment in performance was observed on the artifacts quiz at 1.5× speed (61.4%) compared to 1.0× speed (72.7%; p=0.0188).
• No significant difference in performance was found on the transducers assessment between 1.5× speed (66.9%) and 1.0× speed (73.8%; p=0.1365).

Conclusions:

• Objective performance on assessments may be negatively impacted by viewing sped-up video-recorded lectures.
• Findings contrast with previous studies reporting subjective improvements in performance with faster playback speeds.