Hadie SNH, Simok AA, Shamsuddin SA, Mohammad JA. Determining the impact of pre-lecture educational video on comprehension of a difficult gross anatomy lecture.
J Taibah Univ Med Sci 2019;
14:395-401. [PMID:
31488974 PMCID:
PMC6717076 DOI:
10.1016/j.jtumed.2019.06.008]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2019] [Revised: 06/15/2019] [Accepted: 06/19/2019] [Indexed: 11/01/2022] Open
Abstract
Objective
Students commonly perceive gross anatomy lectures as difficult because they contain complex information that requires three-dimensional visualisation in order to be understood. Without prior preparation, a gross anatomy topic expounded via lecture can be cognitively challenging. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the impact of a pre-lecture activity in the form of viewing a video on students' lecture comprehension.
Method
A quasi-experimental study was conducted using 254 first-year medical students with no prior exposure to the lecture topic during the 2016/17 and 2017/18 academic sessions. The students from each batch were divided into two groups and exposed to different video material. Group A watched an action movie, while Group B watched an educational video related to the lecture topic. After 15 min, both groups attended a lecture on the gross anatomy of the heart, which was delivered by a qualified anatomist. At the end of the lecture, their understanding of the material was measured through a post-lecture test using ten vetted multiple choice true/false questions.
Results
Group B's test scores were found to be significantly higher than Group A's (p > 0.001, t-stats [df] = -4.21 [252]).
Conclusion
This study concluded that the pre-lecture activity had successfully provided the students with some prior knowledge of the subject before they attended the lecture sessions. This finding was aligned with cognitive load theory, which describes a reduction in learners' cognitive load when prior knowledge is stimulated.
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