Teaching that sticks: Leveraging bingo-based gamification for deep engagement and long-term retention in medical physiology

The Special Master’s Program at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC SMP) is a one year academic enhancement MS program that prepares students for future success in medical school. Its curriculum covers about half of the material in the first year basic science curriculum of Georgetown’s School of Medicine, supplemented with complementary graduate courses. GUMC SMP students attend the relevant basic science lectures with first year medical students (M1), are assessed by completing the same multiple choice questions used for their M1 counterparts and are graded against the M1 average to determine grades for corresponding SMP medical courses. In 2015, a second campus, the Georgetown Downtown SMP (GTDT), was opened that follows the same curriculum, but with all material delivered in a fully “flipped” manner. The GTDT students' average undergraduate GPA and MCAT scores are not different from the GUMC SMP students, whereas the average GPAs of SMP students are significantly lower than GPAs of their M1 peers (3.2 vs 3.7 in M1 class). The GTDT students review the lecture capture (LC) recordings of medical (or graduate) lectures on their own time and attend 2-4 hrs of class time four days per week during which the GTDT instructor provides active learning sessions to reinforce the material. The current research expands on our earlier findings, by evaluating the GTDT cohort performance in six medical physiology exams and three medical gross anatomy (GA) exams over the past five years compared to GUMC SMP peers and M1 students. Using the Student’s t test with the Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons, significance level was designated at p<0.05. Our results indicate that the GTDT students continued to outperform their GUMC SMP counterparts in all exams, reaching statistical significance in three out of six medical physiology exams and three out of three medical GA exams. The GTDT students also had higher average scores than their peer M1 students on five out of six medical physiology exams, reaching significance in three out of the six M1 exams. GTDT averages were higher than M1 students on GA exams, but differences did not reach statistical significance. The higher GTDT performance is most likely attributable to the students being actively engaged in flipped learning in all classroom sessions. Additionally, GTDT students’ responses to anonymous polling showed that they felt the active learning exercises were beneficial to their overall learning and their long-term retention of the material. Overall, our results continue to validate the successful use of the active learning environment in medical education, confirm its successful use in the GTDT program, and suggest that the flipped learning modality results in overall better learning outcomes in a rigorous medical curriculum. Georgetown University This abstract was presented at the American Physiology Summit 2025 and is only available in HTML format. There is no downloadable file or PDF version. The Physiology editorial board was not involved in the peer review process.

The goal of medical physiology education is long-term retention of knowledge and the ability to apply acquired knowledge in practice. The educational literature has demonstrated that this is best achieved using active learning models. In our medical school, physiology education was structured around a passive lecture format, and the application of knowledge primarily occurred via formative and summative assessments. Our goal was to transition physiology education from a passive to an active learning format over a timeframe that allowed faculty and students to adjust to the new format. We developed a 3-year plan. To monitor and assess the success of the transition, we used the evaluative tool known as PORTAAL1, which includes four dimensions. Dimension 1, Practice, was implemented using a flipped classroom model. Dimension 2, Logic Development, employed small group work, followed by Q&A sessions. Dimension 3, Accountability, was accomplished by Readiness and Retention exercises that were required before the Q&A sessions. To achieve Dimension 4, Reduced Apprehension, clinically oriented learning scenarios were released in advance of in-class sessions and groups were called upon to discuss their responses to triggers in scenarios. In contrast to low attendance (< 35%) at most lecture-based sessions, nearly 100% of the class was engaged in the Zoom-based active learning sessions. We continue to monitor and compare the gradual but steady improvement in academic performance to the lecture-style format. The transition has required faculty to develop pre-class learning modules as well as clinically oriented in-class sessions structured around active learning. We anticipate this shift in learning strategies will enhance the movement toward an organ-based preclinical curriculum. 1CBE-Life Sciences Education 2015;14:1-16.

Reflection as a learning technique may be an important strategy for long‐term retention of information. In this study, investigators used a descriptive design to analyze student reflective writings in a two‐course clinical physiology series. In this course series, students completed multiple‐choice exams, first as individuals and second in inter‐disciplinary student groups (biology, physiology, nursing anesthesia and biomedical engineering). Student groups must discuss each question until the group reaches a consensus on the answer. Following the exam students write reflection essays on three exam questions of their choosing. For this assignment, students are encouraged to pick questions that were particularly difficult or that inspired a lot of group discussion. Students were instructed to write about their thought process for choosing their answer and how the group discussion influenced how they thought about the question. The course instructor, also an investigator, collected student writings over a two‐year period, compiled and de‐identified the essays and organized essays according to exam and semester.The course instructor and a student co‐investigator worked as a team to analyze student writings for levels of reflection. First, the investigators adapted a previously published reflection rubric (Hoffman, Shew, Vu, Brokaw &amp; Frankel, 2016) using student writing from the academic year 2015–2016. The investigators analyzed writings separately using the rubric and then met to discuss the essays, reconcile their individual ratings, and revise the rubric as inconsistencies were discovered. In this way, the original rubric was tested and refined. The adapted rubric is a check list of desired essay components: good writing (spelling, grammar, focus), individual reflection, articulation of group process, use of references and insights about future learning. Once a final version of the rubric was agreed upon, the revised reflection rubric was used to evaluate student writings from the academic year 2016–2017 for inter‐rater reliability. There was no correlation between student exam scores and ratings of reflection; this was an unexpected result.Currently the rubric is being used in the 2017–2018 course series to guide student reflection writings.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.

Trainees often decide to pursue a career in the professions because they see it as a means to attain their life goals: to become the kind of person they want to be, to live the kind of life they want to lead, and to make the kind of impact they want to have on the world. The life goals trainees pursue through a professional career are derived from their conception of their ideal self and are thus the most important and self-defining goals that they possess. In this article, we propose a novel approach for designing training activities to harness the motivational potential of professional trainees’ life goals, toward supporting their deep engagement in training activities. We propose that activities can be designed to help trainees make links between (1) the concepts and skills covered in an activity, (2) the professional practice behaviors that an activity prepares them to enact, and (3) the life goals that are served by enacting these professional practice behaviors. Informed by Control Theory and Self-Determination Theory, we predict that this design may promote trainees’ adoption of activity-specific goals that emphasize deep understanding, long-term retention, and transfer, and enhance their autonomous motivation to attain their goals. However, there are some situations when this design may be less effective for, or even harmful to, trainees’ motivation. Specifically, we predict that helping trainees establish a purpose for learning by linking an activity to their life goals may be most effective when they can adapt an activity to best align with their purpose, when they are confident in their ability to attain their activity-specific goal, and when they become engrossed in an activity because it affords interest- and curiosity-stimulating actions. We package our theoretical analysis into the PACE model of motivational design. When our predictions are supported by more empirical evidence, the model can help educators set the PACE for trainees, thereby motivating them to engage deeply in training activities.

Engagement in action: enhancing students’ interaction through face-to-face learning is a pedagogical approach based on the innovative learning aids created by the lecturers purposely to encourage students' active involvement in the lecture class, instead of assigning them for their independent completion after the class session ends. This study explores the application of this learning aids approach in the Introduction to Public Policy (ADS514) course, aimed at Bachelor of Administrative Science, second year students, from the Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies (FSPPP) at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM). The main objective of the study is to evaluate the impact of an active learning strategies approach in enhancing students' comprehension of public policy concepts and fostering their deeper engagement with the course syllabus. To facilitate this, the instructional framework in the lecture integrated some interactive methods introduced such as short introductory videos, formative assessment in the form of simple quizzes, and tutorial questions tailored to each chapter of the course. These approaches were deliberately implemented to assist students in grasping important concepts quickly, reinforce understanding through repetition in every lecture class, and support more effective revision practices in order to understand the course better. By promoting regular student engagement during class lessons, the activities not only improved students' interest and attentiveness but also contributed to their development of critical skills and improved long-term knowledge retention, and became a fun group learning via the class session. The result from the study conducted suggests that Interactive Student Learning Engagement is a valuable method for helping to enrich the learning experience and enhance academic performance in higher education practice.

PURPOSE: As medical education continues to transition from lecture-based to active learning strategies (e.g., flipped classrooms–FC), maximizing academic performance and learner engagement remain a priority. Different strategies exist to support the preparatory phase, but it remains to be established which is the most effective. We hypothesized that using an interactive multimedia online learning module (OLM) will enhance content retention and academic performance compared to text reading (TXT) or pre-recorded lecture (PRL). METHODS: We first sought to identify students’ perceptions of and preferences for FC preparatory resources and interest in self-directed learning using a survey (Likert scale: 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree) of second- and third-year medical students. Then, three FC sessions focused on cardiovascular physiology were developed for the first-year medical physiology course guided by survey results. For each session, a different type of preparatory resource (i.e., TXT, PRL, &amp; OLM) was provided to all learners. Initial learning of material was assessed using a pre- and post-test for each resource. A readiness quiz and performance on related questions on customized NBME course examinations were used to determine short- and long-term content retention, respectively. RESULTS: Analysis of survey data (n=37) demonstrated a significant effect of type of resource (TXT, PRL, YouTube video – YTV, instructor-made video – IMV, and OLM) on self-reported completion of proposed preparatory material (p&lt;0.01). Post hoc pairwise multiple comparisons test indicated that TXT (mean rank = 2.09) was significantly lower than YTV (mean rank = 3.73, p≤0.001) and IMV (mean rank = 3.26, p=0.016). Analysis of first-year physiology course academic performance found a significant difference in readiness quiz scores between preparatory resources (F(2, 246) = 3.034, p =0.05, n=125). Readiness quiz scores for TXT (-0.132(95% CI, .01 to .253)) were 1.14 points lower than for OLM (Bonferroni) on 10 point-scale quiz. A significant difference in initial learning of the material using TXT (p&lt;0.01) and OLM (p&lt;0.01) was shown by the performance in pre- and post-tests, but no difference when using a PRL (p=0.102; paired t-test). Preliminary data analysis of academic performance on related NBME midterm and final exam questions shows an average performance of 91% on questions related to TXT FC, 73% on questions related to PRL FC, and 90.2% on questions related to OLM FC. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that medical students prefer audiovisual resources over text. Our preliminary results suggest that OLM may be a more effective tool to prepare for FC compared to TXT as demonstrated by results in readiness quizzes. Data analysis of NBME midterm and final is limited due to the sample size and characteristics of the data. The results of this study will help to inform instructors when developing asynchronous preparatory resources to support active learning. There are no financial disclosures to report. This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2023 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.

Retrieval practice improves long-term retention. Use of interactive retrieval practice in large group, in-person and online live classes, in combination with outside resources, is unreported for medical physiology classes. The primary study purpose was to compare student cohorts' performance with or without retrieval practice in renal physiology classes, relative to the national average on customized national examinations in renal physiology, nonphysiology, and all questions. The secondary purpose was to examine the students' educational experience. For the primary purpose, we used a nonequivalent group, posttest-only design. For the secondary purpose, we used cross-sectional and qualitative designs. We analyzed examination results of 684 students in four academic years. For renal physiology questions, students performed significantly better in years with retrieval practice compared with years without it (P < 0.001). There was no change in nonphysiology scores over the four years. Performance in all questions, too, significantly improved (P < 0.001). A large majority (86%) of students indicated retrieval practice helped them learn renal physiology. Student ratings of quality in online classes, which featured interactive retrieval practice, were higher than that of in-person classes (P < 0.001). Qualitative analysis revealed students found interactive retrieval practice, scaffolding, outside resources, and the instructor's teaching style helpful. Educators in medical physiology classes can use our findings to implement interactive retrieval practice.

a basic understanding of acid-base physiology is critical for the correct assessment of arterial blood gases in the clinical setting ([1][1]). In this context, collaborative teaching strategies in the undergraduate classroom setting may be useful, since it has been reported to enhance both transfer