Which Active Learning Method is More Effective? A Comparison of Crossword Puzzles and Mind Mapping in Teaching...

Effective education on emergency trolley medications is vital for the patient safety. Traditional methods often fall short of promoting deep and lasting learning. This study compared two active learning strategies, crossword puzzles and mind mapping, for teaching emergency trolley medications to anesthesia students.

This quasi-experimental study was conducted on 40 undergraduate anesthesia students of Iran University of Medical Sciences (IUMS) and Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS) selected by census sampling. The same instructor delivered both groups personally. Simple individual randomization was used to randomly divide the participants into the mind mapping group (n = 20) and the crossword puzzle group (n = 20), through a coin toss procedure Two training sessions on emergency trolley medication-related concepts were attended by each group. To examine the efficacy of the intervention, we administeredthree tests: a pre-test, a post-test, and an unexpected retention test (after 3 weeks). Independent t-test and repeated measures ANOVA were used to analyze the data. The tests were constructed following the Bloom's taxonomy Table, and the reliability and validity of both tests were validated using standard procedures.

Demographic factors such as age, GPA, and gender did not impact the results significantly either (P0.05). Independent t-test indicated that there was no significant difference in the two groups at pre-test levels (mind mapping: 5.58 ± 0.47; crossword puzzle: 5.60 ± 0.47; P = 0.985). Both of the methods led to a significant improvement in post-test learning metrics compared with pre-test results (map: 12.87 ± 0.53; puzzle: 13.25 ± 0.59; P = 0.641; repeated measures ANOVA: P < 0.001). However, in the retention test, students in the crossword puzzle group outperformed those in the mind map group (9.36 ± 0.66 vs. 6.52 ± 0.65; P = 0.004), indicating better long-term retention.

Although both methods enhanced short-term learning, crossword puzzles were more effective for long-term retention. These findings underscore the need to tailor instructional strategies to achieve desired learning outcomes.