Preparative reading improves learning in an Anatomy & Physiology course

Abstract

Students often resist reading their textbooks, causing faculty to prepare their lectures accordingly. The question that arises is “Does preparative reading improve learning?”. This project examines the impact of pre‐class reading on student learning in a one semester Anatomy & Physiology course.In this protocol, 4 classroom quizzes were offered during the course. For 2 of the quizzes (READ) students were expected to read the textbook to learn the material for the quiz and the quiz topic was not discussed in class. For the other 2 quizzes (NOREAD) the quiz topic was discussed in class and students were expected to review lecture notes to learn the material. Student performance on 4 essay exam questions evaluated the effect of preparative reading on learning and communication.Students performed better on READ essay questions than on NOREAD questions. Mean scores on READ essay questions were higher than on NOREAD essay questions. Almost all students answered READ essay questions but 10–20% of the students did not answer NOREAD essay questions. In addition, students communicated their understanding better on READ exam questions that on NOREAD exam questions by writing longer essays, incorporating more ideas, and more clearly verbalized the relationship between their answer and the essay question.This project suggests that preparative reading can improve learning and communication of understanding.