The effect of sequence of instruction on students' cognitive preferences and recall in the context of a problem-oriented method of teaching

✍ Scribed by N. C. Boreham; Margaret Redford Ellis; C. H. Morgan

• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Year: 1984
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 817 KB
• Volume: 13
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0020-4277
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00117575

✦ Synopsis

This experiment investigated two possible sequences in which biochemical theory and the clinical applications of such theory can be presented to pre-clinical medical students. The dependent variables were the students' cognitive preferences and their ability to recall the contents of the instruction. Seventy-two students were randomly allocated to either a Theory-to-application or an Application-to-theory condition. The results indicated that the Application-to-theory sequence of instruction produced a significantly greater preference for being taught the specific facts of pre-clinical medical science, as opposed to being taught about the clinical applications. However, this was achieved at the expense of a significantly reduced ability to actually recall the theory which was taught.