title: Teaching for understanding in medical classrooms using multimedia design principles.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In line with a recent report entitled Effective Use of Educational Technology in Medical Education from the Association of American Medical Colleges Institute for Improving Medical Education (AAMC-IME), this study examined whether revising a medical lecture based on evidence-based principles of multimedia design would lead to improved long-term transfer and retention in Year 3 medical students. A previous study yielded positive effects on an immediate retention test, but did not investigate long-term effects.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a pre-test/post-test control design, a cohort of 37 Year 3 medical students at a private, midwestern medical school received a bullet point-based PowerPoint™ lecture on shock developed by the instructor as part of their core curriculum (the traditional condition group). Another cohort of 43 similar medical students received a lecture covering identical content using slides redesigned according to Mayer's evidence-based principles of multimedia design (the modified condition group).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Findings showed that the modified condition group significantly outscored the traditional condition group on delayed tests of transfer given 1 week (d = 0.83) and 4 weeks (d = 1.17) after instruction, and on delayed tests of retention given 1 week (d = 0.83) and 4 weeks (d = 0.79) after instruction. The modified condition group also significantly outperformed the traditional condition group on immediate tests of retention (d = 1.49) and transfer (d = 0.76).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study provides the first evidence that applying multimedia design principles to an actual medical lecture has significant effects on measures of learner understanding (i.e. long-term transfer and long-term retention). This work reinforces the need to apply the science of learning and instruction in medical education.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois 60611, USA. nissa@northwestern.edu
authors.forename: Nabil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Issa
authors.forename: Richard E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Mayer
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schuller
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Michael B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Shapiro
authors.forename: Debra A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: DaRosa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D032882:Comprehension; D003479:Curriculum; D004501:Education, Medical / Q000379:methods*; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019359:Knowledge; D008297:Male; D019212:Multimedia; D012153:Retention, Psychology; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*