Improved delayed recall of neurological knowledge with greater satisfaction using visual mnemonics

Abstract Background Medical school requires retaining large amounts of information. Throughout history we have adopted mental scaffolds, such as mnemonics, to enable this. At the extreme, they are used to help memory athletes in high-stakes tournaments. Despite there being a plethora of mnemonic subtypes, within neurology education, there is little research on how they can be used to support learning. This study will be the first to compare visual mnemonics, word mnemonics and non-mnemonic controls, with primary outcomes looking at delayed recall of neurological knowledge and student satisfaction. Methods A single-centre, randomised, subject-blind, controlled study assigned medical students to various arms to learn and recall facts about 3 neurological conditions. Control group were given text with bolded key terms; word mnemonic group were given the same text with initialism or acronym mnemonic; visual mnemonic group had the same text alongside a visual mnemonic. Free-recall was assessed at time-points immediately after, at 1 week and 1 month from learning. Satisfaction questionnaire assessed students’ views on their assigned learning method. Results 38 students evenly distributed between the groups completed the study (56 recruited, 18 lost to follow-up). The visual mnemonic group had significantly higher recall scores at all time-points with a mean score percentage improvement compared to the word mnemonic and control group of 236% and 230% respectively (one-way ANOVA with post-hoc analysis; p < 0.05). There was no difference between word mnemonic and control group recall scores at any time. Subjective satisfaction assessment using mode Likert ratings showed students in the visual mnemonic group found learning enjoyable and felt it should be incorporated into the medical curriculum. Discussion Visual mnemonics demonstrated significantly longer-term recall compared to word mnemonics and controls. In part, this is due to reducing cognitive load whilst simultaneously improving engagement. Mnemonics are not a panacea of learning optimisation; they should be used as an adjunct when information cannot be learnt conceptually. For curriculum implementation, thought needs to be given as to what should be taught mnemonically, whether they be student- or instructor-generated, and how they would integrate with other evidence-based practices such as spaced-repetition and elaborative interrogation