Retention of basic and clinical concepts in anatomy and the effect of multiple testing

Publication Date

2020

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Philippine Journal of Health Research and Development

Abstract

Background: Clinical competency depends on student's knowledge of basic sciences including the learned concept in Anatomy. But what if students forget the learned knowledge of human anatomy?

Objectives: This research investigated knowledge gain post instruction, knowledge retention (or loss) of basic and clinical concepts five months after. It also compared the effect of delayed-multiple testing and delayedsingle testing in the retention of acquired knowledge.

Methodology: This is an experimental study conducted among first year medical students who underwent neuroanatomy module and later followed-up after five months using a 32-item test-retest. Items were categorized as basic knowledge and clinical correlation. Participants were randomly assigned into two groups; delayed-multiple and delayed-single testing. Mean difference in scores between the 2 testing periods (end-ofmodule and terminal delayed test) were analyzed using paired samples t-test while mean difference between basic and clinical correlation were analyzed using independent samples t-test. The degree of knowledge loss was determined using the computed Knowledge Loss Percentage (KLP).

Results:Knowledge gain was noted at the end of instruction (p value

Conclusion: Knowledge loss occurs post instruction and more pronounced among basic concepts. Clinical correlation and frequent testing demonstrate a significant retention capability. To reduce the effect of knowledge loss among basic concepts, this study recommends the implementation of multiple testing.

First Page

48

Last Page

57

To view the document, please click the DOI link after the APA Citation.

Share

COinS