ERIC Number: EJ969867
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Jun
Pages: 6
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1043-4046
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Showercap Mindmap: A Spatial Activity for Learning Physiology Terminology and Location
Vanags, Thea; Budimlic, Mira; Herbert, Elissa; Montgomery, Melena M.; Vickers, Tracy
Advances in Physiology Education, v36 n2 p125-130 Jun 2012
Students struggle with the volume and complexity of physiology terminology. We compared first-year undergraduate psychology students' learning of physiological terms using two teaching methods: one verbal (control group; n = 16) and one spatial and multisensory (experimental group; n = 19). The experimental group used clear plastic shower caps to mark brain regions and affix labels to another participant's head. The control group learned the material verbally through a game. When tested verbally, both the control and experimental groups recalled more of the 10 terms immediately after the activity (+106% and +83%, respectively) and 2 wk later (+53% and +31%, respectively) than at the pretest (P less than 0.0005). When participants' knowledge was tested spatially (labeling a brain diagram), the experimental group recalled more terms at the posttest (+76%) and followup (+73%) than at the pretest (P less than 0.0005), but the control group who showed no improvement at either time point (+12% and +14%, respectively). These findings support the notion that spatial and multisensory learning produces improved spatial recall over time while also supporting the notion of transfer-appropriate processing. (Contains 1 table and 4 figures.)
Descriptors: Experimental Groups, Control Groups, Pretests Posttests, Multisensory Learning, Physiology, Brain, Psychology, Instructional Effectiveness, Teaching Methods, Undergraduate Students, Comparative Analysis, Games, Tests, Spatial Ability, Recall (Psychology), Time Factors (Learning), Foreign Countries
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A