The Effect of Drawing Microbiology Concepts on Short-Term Retention Before and After Interrupted Learning

Throughout the preclinical education curriculum, medical students learn numerous concepts that must be retained and added to over time. Previous studies have shown that utilizing drawing leads to improved retention of concepts. However, limited studies have investigated the use of drawing at the medical school level. The goal of this study was to utilize mechanism-based drawing aimed at presenting conceptual material rather than strict memorization before and after interrupted learning.

Participants were randomly assigned to a drawing group or a text-only group and both groups received text #1 that explained a microbiology concept. The groups were instructed to read the text, but only the drawing group received a drawing prompt. The groups then completed post-test #1. During part #2 of the study, the groups were instructed to read text #2 with no drawing prompt. The two groups were instructed to complete post-test #2 which covered topics from text #1 and #2. p<0.05 was considered significant.

The drawing group performed significantly better on post-test #1 compared to the text-only group. There were no significant differences on overall performance on post-test #2. However, the drawing group performed significantly better on questions related to the material covered in text #1 on post-test #2.

Results presented here demonstrate that students who draw perform significantly better when assessed on complex microbiology concepts, even after interrupted by the introduction of an unrelated concept. A future study should investigate the effectiveness of drawing after interruption by learning on long-term retention and performance.