Effectiveness and Adoption of a Drawing-to-Learn Study Tool for Recall and Problem Solving: Minute Sketches with Folded Lists

CBE Life Sciences Education
Paul D HeidemanKelsey E Trouton

Abstract

Drawing by learners can be an effective way to develop memory and generate visual models for higher-order skills in biology, but students are often reluctant to adopt drawing as a study method. We designed a nonclassroom intervention that instructed introductory biology college students in a drawing method, minute sketches in folded lists (MSFL), and allowed them to self-assess their recall and problem solving, first in a simple recall task involving non-European alphabets and later using unfamiliar biology content. In two preliminary ex situ experiments, students had greater recall on the simple learning task, non-European alphabets with associated phonetic sounds, using MSFL in comparison with a preferred method, visual review (VR). In the intervention, students studying using MSFL and VR had ∼50-80% greater recall of content studied with MSFL and, in a subset of trials, better performance on problem-solving tasks on biology content. Eight months after beginning the intervention, participants had shifted self-reported use of drawing from 2% to 20% of study time. For a small subset of participants, MSFL had become a preferred study method, and 70% of participants reported continued use of MSFL. This brief, low-cost interventio...Continue Reading

References

Aug 27, 2011·Science·Shaaron AinsworthRussell Tytler
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May 14, 2014·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Scott FreemanMary Pat Wenderoth
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Citations

Aug 19, 2021·Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education : a Bimonthly Publication of the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology·Fernanda MarquesPaula Ludovico
Sep 22, 2021·CBE Life Sciences Education·Jennifer S AvenaJennifer K Knight

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Software Mentioned

MS
RStudio
R
MSFL
VR

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