Spaced education and student learning: Results from a medical school
Abstract
BACKGROUND: It is critical for medical students to retain and apply their knowledge of basic sciences to become competent prescribing physicians. Poor long-term retention is a pervasive concern. We investigated the impact of 'spaced education' teaching modules to improve knowledge retention in medical students on a topic of public health: vitamin D and its role in health and disease. It is critical for medical students to retain and apply their knowledge of basic sciences to become competent prescribing physicians METHODS: In a self-matched design, 148 medical students were randomised and evaluated on vitamin D-related topics to assess reinforced and non-reinforced knowledge in a multiple-choice question format. Initial learning and long-term retention were assessed with an estimation of Cohen's effect size at 24 and 72 weeks, respectively. RESULTS: The administration of spaced educational material significantly improved composite formative test scores at 24 weeks (p < 0.001, effect size = 1.33). Although the scores dipped, there was a retention of knowledge at 72 weeks (effect size = 0.48). DISCUSSION: Spaced reinforcement and testing statistically improved knowledge retention among our medical students. Gaps in the present teaching could be bridged by motivating the students to extend their learning time by appropriate spacing intervals and to understand the relevance of course content in different scenarios as a physician. Further research could be instrumental in optimising interventions to enhance learning opportunities for medical students.
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Administration of spaced educational material led to significant improvements in formative assessment scores over a 24-week period and knowledge retention at 72 weeks.
“The findings of Chugh and Tripathi (2020) indicate that the administration of spaced educational material led to significant improvements in formative assessment scores over a 24-week period and knowledge retention at 72 weeks.”
From Systematic Review of the Effectiveness of Neurodidactic Spaced Learning Strategies in Long-Term Memory (2026) · cites this paper as Chugh and Tripathi (2020)
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Silva Sánchez, M., Lainez Quinde, G. A., & Zambrano Vélez, W. A. (2026) · Education Sciences · doi:10.3390/educsci16060962
“The findings of Chugh and Tripathi (2020) indicate that the administration of spaced educational material led to significant improvements in formative assessment scores over a 24-week period and knowledge retention at 72 weeks.”
- Authors
- Chugh, P. K., & Tripathi, C.
- Affiliations
- Safdarjang Hospital (IN)
- Corresponding author
- Chugh, Preeta K
- ORCID
- Chugh, Preeta K
- Venue
- The Clinical Teacher
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2020-06-23
- Volume
- 17
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 655-660
- ISSN
- 1743-4971 (ISSN-L)
- 1743-498X
- OpenAlex
- W3037830481
- Cited by
- 23
- References
- 13
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 5 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 2
- FWCI
- 1.50
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Clinical Teacher (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Innovations in Medical Education
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health and Medical Education
- Keywords
- knowledge retention, medical students, vitamin D, spaced repetition, long-term retention, basic science education, public health education, multiple-choice tests
- MeSH terms
- Clinical Competence, Education, Medical, Education, Medical, Undergraduate, Educational Measurement, Humans, Learning, Random Allocation, Schools, Medical, Students, Medical
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