Transferring the sandwich principle to instructional videos: is it worth the effort?

Anna Bock,Martin Lemos,Florian Peters,Marius Heitzer,Frank Hölzle,Christina Thomas,Philipp Winnand,Ali Modabber

doi:10.1186/s12909-021-02967-3

Abstract

BackgroundThe sandwich principle is an educational concept that regularly alternates between collective and individual learning phases within one learning unit. Applying sandwich principle to lectures has proven to be more effective for learning outcomes than classical lectures. Supposedly, this teaching format also leads to a beneficial knowledge transfer when applied to other teaching formats. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the sandwich principle on instructional videos and how its use was evaluated by students.MethodsParticipants (n = 51) were randomly allocated into two groups. Both groups were given a test to assess the baseline level of knowledge. Afterwards, the control group watched the normal instructional video on cleft lips and palates, while the sandwich group watched the same video modified according to the sandwich principle. The participants then had to answer 30 single-choice questions to assess their knowledge gain and evaluate the instructional video. Long-term retention of the knowledge was tested again 6 months later using the same test questions. The unpaired t-test and ANOVA were used to compare the results.ResultsComparison of the pre-test and post-test results of both groups showed significantly increased test scores (p < 0.0001). Regarding long-term retention, the mean test scores were still significantly higher in both groups than before watching the video (p < 0.0001). For all test results, there was no significant difference between the groups (p > 0.05). The evaluation showed that the students highly appreciated the modified video and found the interruptions for repetition of previously learned knowledge useful.ConclusionThe hypothesis that the modification of instructional videos according to the sandwich principle would lead to an improved learning outcome could not be proved subjectively or objectively. Nevertheless, the teaching format was highly appreciated by the students and may have increased their motivation to learn with instructional videos.

Highlights

The sandwich principle is an educational concept that regularly alternates between collective and individual learning phases within one learning unit
This study intended to investigate whether the application of the sandwich principle to instructional videos leads to improved knowledge gain and how its use is evaluated by students
This study shows that the hypothesis of modified instructional videos according to the sandwich principle lead to an improved learning outcome could not be proven subjectively and objectively

Summary

Introduction

The sandwich principle is an educational concept that regularly alternates between collective and individual learning phases within one learning unit. Applying sandwich principle to lectures has proven to be more effective for learning outcomes than classical lectures. This teaching format leads to a beneficial knowledge transfer when applied to other teaching formats. The most traditional teacher-centred format is face-to-face teaching It is defined as an instructional method in which a person. E-learning, can be described as a set of technology-mediated methods [3]. One of these methods often used in medical education is the instructional video. Due to the recent pandemic, digital teaching, especially instructional videos, have quickly gained prominence

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