Retention of a standard operating procedure under the influence of social stress and refresher training in a simulated process control task

In a simulated process control task, we investigated the effects of refresher training and acute social stress on performing a standard operating procedure (SOP) containing a production and monitoring task and knowledge recall after a retention interval of two weeks. In a 2 × 2 between-group design (Factor 1: induced social stress, Factor 2: refresher training), 76 engineering students performed an SOP at t1 in week 1 and at t2 in week 3. A MANOVA in week three (t2) indicated a main effect of the refresher training for the SOP execution containing a production and a monitoring task and an impairing effect of stress on the monitoring task. That means that after a retention interval, stress mainly affects the SOP's monitoring task. An additional correlational analysis showed that knowledge test performance is negatively associated with cortisol level and that retentivity is a strong predictor for knowledge test performance and production task performance, too. Practitioner Summary: We investigated effects of social stress and refresher training on performing a standard operating procedure (SOP) after a retention interval of two weeks. The impact of social stress reduced the monitoring task performance as part of the SOP, but not the production outcome. Without refresher training, performance is significantly worse. Abbreviation: SOP: Standard Operating Procedure; MANOVA: Multivariate Analysis of Variance; CSB: Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board; TSST: Trierer Social Stress Test; P-TSST: Placebo Trierer Social Stress Test; WaTrSim: Water Treatment Simulation; HPA axis: hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis; WIT-2: Wilde Intelligenztest - 2; SPSS: Statistical Package for the Social Sciences; ANOVA: Analysis of Variance.

Twelve tips for teaching twelve transferable skills

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. There is an increasing awareness of the importance of transferable skills. With the internet now allowing almost instant access to information, the recall of factual knowledge no longer has the primacy it has held for centuries. In contrast, transferable skills remain particularly important for medical students because they receive a generic education in preparation for a diverse range of careers. The twelve tips in this article are more relevant for certain skills than others. Transferable skills should be taught in context and students should be made aware of how the skills will play a part in their future. Learning outcomes must be made clear to both staff and students, and without clear assessment of transferable skills students are likely to focus exclusively on knowledge. Students and staff should proactively engage with transferable skills training, rather than taking a purely remedial approach.

Digitally Recorded Education: Effects on Anxiety and Knowledge Recall in Patients Receiving First-Time Chemotherapy

BACKGROUND

Prechemotherapy information is overwhelming, and retention of critical information can be challenging. Patients from a Southern California infusion clinic had varying degrees of retention when nurses used traditional one-on-one teaching with supplemental handouts.

OBJECTIVES

The intent of this article is to determine the effectiveness of standardized, digitally recorded education as an alternative teaching method for increasing knowledge recall and decreasing anxiety in English- and Spanish-speaking patients receiving first-time chemotherapy.

METHODS

Baseline data were obtained from five patients who received traditional teaching. Using a pre-/post-test design, 92 patients receiving digitally recorded education completed a paper-and-pencil instrument that rated their anxiety and knowledge recall.

FINDINGS

The digitally recorded education method produced significant decreases in anxiety and increases in knowledge recall.

Effect of 3D animation videos over 2D video projections in periodontal health education among dental students

Background:

There is limited evidence about the distinguished effect of 3D oral health education videos over conventional 2 dimensional projections in improving oral health knowledge. This randomized controlled trial was done to test the effect of 3 dimensional oral health educational videos among first year dental students.

Materials and Methods:

80 first year dental students were enrolled and divided into two groups (test and control). In the test group, 3D animation and in the control group, regular 2D video projections pertaining to periodontal anatomy, etiology, presenting conditions, preventive measures and treatment of periodontal problems were shown. Effect of 3D animation was evaluated by using a questionnaire consisting of 10 multiple choice questions given to all participants at baseline, immediately after and 1month after the intervention. Clinical parameters like Plaque Index (PI), Gingival Bleeding Index (GBI), and Oral Hygiene Index Simplified (OHI-S) were measured at baseline and 1 month follow up.

Results:

A significant difference in the post intervention knowledge scores was found between the groups as assessed by unpaired t-test (p<0.001) at baseline, immediate and after 1 month. At baseline, all the clinical parameters in the both the groups were similar and showed a significant reduction (p<0.001)p after 1 month, whereas no significant difference was noticed post intervention between the groups.

Conclusion:

3D animation videos are more effective over 2D videos in periodontal disease education and knowledge recall. The application of 3D animation results also demonstrate a better visual comprehension for students and greater health care outcomes.

The effect of selected "desirable difficulties" on the ability to recall anatomy information

"Desirable difficulties" is a theory from cognitive science used to promote learning in a variety of contexts. The basic premise is that creating a cognitively challenging environment at the learning acquisition phase, by actively engaging learners in the retrieval of to-be-learned materials, promotes long-term retention. In this study, the degree of desirable difficulties was varied to identify how cognitively challenging the learning acquisition phase must be to benefit university-level students' learning of anatomy concepts. This is important to investigate as applied studies of desirable difficulties are less frequent than laboratory-based studies and the implementation of this principle may need to be tailored to the specific field of study, such as anatomy. As such, a read-read-read-read (R-R-R-R) condition was compared to read-generate-read-generate (R-G-R-G) and read-test-read-test (R-T-R-T) conditions. The three conditions varied in terms of how effortful the retrieval task was during the learning acquisition phase. R-R-R-R required little effort because participants passively read the materials four times. R-G-R-G required some effort to generate a response as participants completed a word fragment task during the learning acquisition phase. R-T-R-T was thought to be most demanding as participants performed a free recall task twice during the learning phase. With regard to the absolute amount of anatomy information recalled, the R-T-R-T condition was superior at both immediate and delayed (one week) assessment points. Thus, instructors and learners of anatomy would benefit from embedding more free recall components, or self-testing, into university-level course work or study practices.

Role of 3D animation in periodontal patient education: a randomized controlled trial

AIM

This randomized controlled parallel trial investigates the effect of 3D animation on the increase and recall of knowledge on periodontitis by patients with periodontitis. The effects of a 3D animation (3D animation group) were compared with narration and drawing (control group) for periodontal patient education.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A total of 68 periodontitis patients were stratified according to educational level and then randomly allocated to control or 3D animation groups. All patients received: (1) a pre-test (baseline knowledge), (2) a patient education video (3D animation or control video), (3) a post-test (knowledge immediately after looking at the video), and (4) a follow-up test (knowledge recall after 2 weeks). Each test contained 10 multiple-choice questions.

RESULTS

There was no significant difference in baseline knowledge. Patients receiving the 3D animations had significantly higher scores for both the post-test and the follow-up test, when compared with patients receiving sketch animations.

CONCLUSION

3D animations are more effective than real-time drawings for periodontal patient education in terms of knowledge recall. 3D animations may be a powerful tool for assisting in the information process.