Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-14-2021
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Information learned over a longer period of time has been shown to result in better long-term knowledge retention than information learned over a shorter period of time. In order to address multiple curricular goals, the timing and spacing of anatomy content within the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program at our institution recently changed from a very spaced to a very compressed format. The purpose of the present study was to assess differences in anatomy knowledge retention that might have been impacted by this change. The research hypothesis was that students receiving spaced instruction would have significantly better anatomy knowledge retention than students receiving massed instruction.
METHODS: Participants consisted of two cohorts of DPT students that both received 45 contact hours of anatomy lecture and 90 contact hours of anatomy lab. The LONG cohort experienced anatomy through a lecture and lab taught over a 30-week, 2 semester period as separate courses. In contrast, the SHORT cohort took their anatomy lecture and lab concurrently over one 10-week semester. A pre-test was administered on the first day of their anatomy lecture course, and a post-test was administered to each cohort 18 months after completion of their last anatomy exam.
RESULTS: After controlling for age-related differences in the two groups, no significant differences in mean pre-test, post-test, or percentage improvement were found between cohorts (p = 0.516; 0.203; and 0.152, respectively).
CONCLUSION: These findings refute the hypothesis and show that both spaced and massed instruction in these cohorts resulted in the same level of long-term anatomy knowledge retention.
Recommended Citation
Amabile, Amy H.; Nixon-Cave, Kim; Georgetti, Larry J.; and Sims, Ashley C., "Front-loading of anatomy content has no effect on long-term anatomy knowledge retention among physical therapy students: a prospective cohort study." (2021). Department of Physical Therapy Faculty Papers. Paper 28.
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/ptfp/28
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
PubMed ID
34521411
Language
English
Comments
This article is the authors’ final published version in BMC Medical Education, Volume 21, Issue 1, September 2021, Article number 491.
The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-021-02925-z. Copyright © Amabile et al.
Publication made possible in part by support from the Jefferson Open Access Fund