How people learn: insights for medical faculty

Abstract

To increase medical students’ and residents’ understanding and retention, faculty need to teach from a knowledge standpoint and understanding of how individuals learn. We know from cognitive information processing that learners remember only a small portion of what they read or hear but remember up to 90% of information when strong active learning modalities are included. Faculty also need to be aware of different learning styles—kinesthetic, visual, and auditory—and ensure that they are including methods that can reach all learners. The cognitive and information processing theories of learning provide insights to educators related to building on prior knowledge from learning and limiting the number of points taught so learners can process and retain the information. Strategies such as a flipped classroom model and question clicker technology can assist in reaching learning goals. Fundamental conditions for learning include awareness, interest, motivation, relevance, engagement, reinforcement, and support.

Keywords:

• Active learning
• higher-order thinking
• knowledge retention
• learning styles

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

The authors report no funding or conflicts of interest.