The effect of watching lecture videos at 2× speed on memory retention performance of medical students: An experimental study

Abstract

Aim

This study aimed to determine how watching lecture videos at 1× and 2× speeds affects memory retention in medical students.

Methods

A posttest-only experimental design was utilized. The participants were 60 Year-1 and Year-2 medical students. The participants were assigned to one of two groups through stratified randomization: Group 1 would watch the video at 1× speed, and Group 2 at 2× speed. Their performance was assessed using a test comprising 20 multiple-choice questions. The test has been applied immediately after watching the video (Immediate test), and, again after one week (Delayed test). Parametric and non-parametric statistical tests were performed.

Results

In the Immediate test, the mean score of the 1× speed group was 11.26 ± 4.06, while 2× speed group’s mean score was 10.16 ± 2.46. The difference was not significant t(58) = 1.26, p > .05. In the Delayed test, the mean score of 1× speed group was 9.66 ± 3.94, while 2× speed group’s mean score was 8.36 ± 2.80. The difference was not significant t(55) = 1.42, p > .05.

Conclusions

Watching the video lecture at 2× speed did not impair memory retention in medical students. This may help students to save time in their dense curricula.

Practice points

• Many medical students watch lecture videos at 2× (double) speed to save time. While this is a time-saver, the negative impact on their learning is unclear.

• This paper describes a randomized trial that measures the learning impact when medical students watch an instructional video at 2× speed and finds that there is no significant negative impact on their learning.

Keywords:

• Video speed
• playback speed
• accelerated playback
• lecture videos
• medical students

Acknowledgements

We express our gratitude to the medical students who participated in this study, and those who helped us to reach more medical students.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Data availability statement

The datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are available in the Zenodo repository at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7046178.

Additional information

Funding

None.

Notes on contributors

Yavuz Selim Kıyak

Yavuz Selim Kıyak is a medical doctor and has a PhD degree in Medical Education. His research interests include clinical reasoning, formative assessment, and distributed ledger technologies such as Holochain. He dedicated himself spreading the knowledge regarding Medical Education using social media. ORCID: 0000-0002-5026-3234 Twitter: @MedEdFlamingo YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MedicalEducationFlamingo.

Işıl İrem Budakoğlu

Işıl İrem Budakoğlu is a medical doctor, specialist of Public Health, professor of medical education, and chair of the Department of Medical Education and Informatics, Gazi University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey. ORCID: 0000-0003-1517-3169.

Ken Masters

Ken Masters, PhD, HDE, FDE, is Associate Professor of Medical Informatics in the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman. He has published a range of articles and AMEE Guides dealing with the use of technology in medical education. ORCID: 0000-0003-3425-5020 Twitter: @itmeded.

Özlem Coşkun

Özlem Coşkun is a medical doctor and an associate professor of Medical Education in the Department of Medical Education and Informatics, Gazi University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey. ORCID: 0000-0001-8716-1584.