Teaching in small portions dispersed over time enhances long-term knowledge retention

Abstract

Background: A primary goal of education is to promote long-term knowledge storage and retrieval.

Objective: A prospective interventional study design was used to investigate our research question: Does a dispersed curriculum promote better short- and long-term retention over a massed course?

Methods: Participants included 20 gastroenterology residents from the University of Calgary (N = 10) and University of Toronto (N = 10). Participants completed a baseline test of nutrition knowledge. The nutrition course was imparted to University of Calgary residents for 4 h occurring 1 h weekly over 4 consecutive weeks: dispersed delivery (DD). At the University of Toronto the course was taught in one 4h academic half-day: massed delivery (MD). Post-curriculum tests were administered at 1 week and 3 months to assess knowledge retention.

Results: The baseline scores were 46.39 ± 6.14% and 53.75 ± 10.69% in the DD and MD groups, respectively. The 1 week post-test scores for the DD and MD groups were 81.67 ± 8.57%, p < 0.001 and 78.75 ± 4.43, p < 0.001 which was significantly higher than baseline. The 3-month score was significantly higher in the DD group, but not in the MD group (65.28 ± 9.88%, p = 0.02 vs. 58.93 ± 12.06%, p = 0.18). The absolute pre-test to 1-week post-test difference was significantly higher at 35.28 ± 7.65% among participants in the DD group compared to 25.0 ± 11.80% in the MD group, p = 0.048. Similarly, the absolute pre-test to 3-month post-test difference was significantly higher at 18.9 ± 6.7% among the participants in the DD group, compared to 6.8 ± 11.8% in the MD group, p = 0.021.

Conclusions: Long-term nutrition knowledge is improved with DD compared with MD.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Maitreyi Raman

MAITREYI RAMAN is a gastroenterologist, physician nutritionist and medical educator at the University of Calgary. Her research interests include knowledge transfer and procedural skills acquisition.

Kevin Mclaughlin

KEVIN MCLAUGHLIN is Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Medical Education at the University of Calgary, and Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine. Research interests include diagnostic reasoning and instructional design.

Claudio Violato

CLAUDIO VIOLATO is Professor and director of the Medical Education and Research Unit, University of Calgary. His PhD is from the University of Alberta. Dr. Violato has published his research in journals like the British Medical Journal, Canadian Medical Association Journal, Academic Medicine, Pediatrics, Journal of Psychology and Medical Teacher.

Alaa Rostom

ALAA ROSTOM is a gastroenterologist/clinical epidemiologist and deputy chair of the division of gastroenterology. He is the chair of the education committee for the Canadian association of gastroenterology and chief gastroenterology examiner for the Royal College of physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

JP Allard

JP ALLARD is a professor of medicine, gastroenterologist and physician nutritionist at the University of Toronto. She performs clinical research in clinical nutrition and nutrition support.

Sylvain Coderre

SYLVAIN CODERRE is a Medical Doctor, with specialist qualifications in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology. He has obtained a Masters in Medical Education, with a thesis in the area of cognitive psychology/clinical reasoning. Dr. Coderre is currently an Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Medical Education at the University of Calgary.