Twelve tips for medical curriculum design from a cognitive load theory perspective

Medical Teacher
Jimmie Leppink, Robbert Duvivier

Abstract

During their course, medical students have to become proficient in a variety of competencies. For each of these competencies, educational design can use cognitive load theory to consider three dimensions: task fidelity: from literature (lowest) through simulated patients (medium) to real patients (highest); task complexity: the number of information elements in a learning task; and instructional support: from worked examples (highest) through completion tasks (medium) to autonomous task performance (lowest). One should integrate any competency into a medical curriculum such that training in that competency facilitates the students' journey that starts from high instructional support on low-complexity low-fidelity learning tasks all the way to high-complexity tasks in high-fidelity environments carried out autonomously. This article presents twelve tips on using cognitive load theory or, more specifically, a set of four tips for each of task fidelity, task complexity, and instructional support, to achieve that aim.

References

Oct 27, 2004·Journal of Learning Disabilities·S PiseccoD B Baker
Jan 19, 2010·Medical Education·Jeroen J G van Merriënboer, John Sweller
Jan 29, 2010·Academic Medicine : Journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges·David M IrbyBridget C O'Brien
May 26, 2011·Medical Teacher·Lambert W T Schuwirth, Cees P M Van der Vleuten
Oct 20, 2012·Medical Education·Kristin FraserKevin McLaughlin
Apr 11, 2013·Behavior Research Methods·Jimmie LeppinkJeroen J G Van Merriënboer
Mar 7, 2014·Medical Teacher·John Q YoungOlle Ten Cate
Jan 30, 2015·Medical Education·Alexandre LafleurJimmie Leppink
May 29, 2015·Perspectives on Medical Education·Jimmie Leppink, Angelique van den Heuvel
May 29, 2015·Perspectives on Medical Education·John Q Young, Justin L Sewell

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

Mar 24, 2017·Medical Teacher·Jasmine RanaBarbara Cockrill
Oct 27, 2017·Medical Teacher·Etienne RivièreGilles Chiniara
Feb 13, 2019·Current Opinion in Anaesthesiology·Marek BrzezinskiJohn D Mitchell
Nov 10, 2017·Medical Teacher·Claudia BehrensErik W Driessen
Apr 20, 2018·Perspectives on Medical Education·Daisuke SonJimmie Leppink
Jan 11, 2019·Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development·Kiri E SundeAndrea N Leep Hunderfund
Jul 27, 2020·AEM Education and Training·Jaime JordanStephen J Cico
Mar 1, 2019·Current Opinion in Anaesthesiology·Marek BrzezinskiJohn D Mitchell
Nov 18, 2018·Medical Education·Marie-Laurence TremblayDiana H J M Dolmans
Feb 14, 2021·Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology : CJASN·Robert A CohenJane O Schell
Nov 19, 2020·Medical Teacher·Nicola CooperUNKNOWN UK Clinical Reasoning in Medical Education (CReME) consensus statement group
Nov 18, 2020·Anesthesia and Analgesia·Susan M MartinelliJohn D Mitchell
Mar 1, 2021·Nurse Education Today·Beth A Rogers, Ashley E Franklin

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Trending Feeds

COVID-19

Coronaviruses encompass a large family of viruses that cause the common cold as well as more serious diseases, such as the ongoing outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19; formally known as 2019-nCoV). Coronaviruses can spread from animals to humans; symptoms include fever, cough, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties; in more severe cases, infection can lead to death. This feed covers recent research on COVID-19.

Blastomycosis

Blastomycosis fungal infections spread through inhaling Blastomyces dermatitidis spores. Discover the latest research on blastomycosis fungal infections here.

Nuclear Pore Complex in ALS/FTD

Alterations in nucleocytoplasmic transport, controlled by the nuclear pore complex, may be involved in the pathomechanism underlying multiple neurodegenerative diseases including Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Dementia. Here is the latest research on the nuclear pore complex in ALS and FTD.

Applications of Molecular Barcoding

The concept of molecular barcoding is that each original DNA or RNA molecule is attached to a unique sequence barcode. Sequence reads having different barcodes represent different original molecules, while sequence reads having the same barcode are results of PCR duplication from one original molecule. Discover the latest research on molecular barcoding here.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Chronic fatigue syndrome is a disease characterized by unexplained disabling fatigue; the pathology of which is incompletely understood. Discover the latest research on chronic fatigue syndrome here.

Evolution of Pluripotency

Pluripotency refers to the ability of a cell to develop into three primary germ cell layers of the embryo. This feed focuses on the mechanisms that underlie the evolution of pluripotency. Here is the latest research.

Position Effect Variegation

Position Effect Variagation occurs when a gene is inactivated due to its positioning near heterochromatic regions within a chromosome. Discover the latest research on Position Effect Variagation here.

STING Receptor Agonists

Stimulator of IFN genes (STING) are a group of transmembrane proteins that are involved in the induction of type I interferon that is important in the innate immune response. The stimulation of STING has been an active area of research in the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases. Here is the latest research on STING receptor agonists.

Microbicide

Microbicides are products that can be applied to vaginal or rectal mucosal surfaces with the goal of preventing, or at least significantly reducing, the transmission of sexually transmitted infections. Here is the latest research on microbicides.